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#and this is before Lucia is in the mix!

stluciabuns · 7 months

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The Historical Accuracy of Kirsten's Dirndl

Despite its adorableness, I have seen many people complain about Kirsten's Swedish Dirndl outfit.

I would kill a man to have bought this for $22.

She wears this outfit for most of Meet Kirsten, being that she is an impoverished immigrant child who does not own any other clothes, and also for continuity reasons.

Frequently, I have seen it claimed that this outfit is not historically accurate and should not have been included as part of her collection. Conversely, I have also seen many German folk costumes marketed as being made for Kirsten. Both of these pain me a great deal (actually they just annoy me).

Nonetheless, I have decided to further procrastinate doing actual, meaningful work and instead set out on a new mission: figure out what the fuck is up with Kirsten's Dirndl.

In this post, I will lay out the research I have done, the evidence supporting the historical accuracy of this outfit, the challenges to its existence, and ultimately aim to answer the question of whether this outfit is one Kirsten plausibly could have worn on her journey from Sweden to America in 1854.

Let's begin.

First, the name. Pleasant Company/American Girl referred to this outfit as "Kirsten's Swedish Dirndl and Kerchief."

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a Swedish dirndl. "Dirndl" is a German term, and refers to folk costumes worn by people in German-speaking areas of Europe (the Alps, Bavaria, Austria, and so on).

Kirsten is Swedish, and before Meet Kirsten has never left Sweden before. It is very unlikely she would have acquired, and regularly worn, a German dirndl. See this gorgeous example of a dirndl c. 1840:

Outfit, c. 1840. Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Münchner Stadtmuseum.

This ensemble is beautiful, but tragically, it is not what Kirsten is wearing.

What, then, is Kirsten wearing? What kind of traditional dress does Swedish culture have?

As it turns out, the proper term for what she is wearing is a folkdräkt. This is a Swedish term meaning "folk costume." Here is an illustration depicting multiple examples of Swedish folk costumes. In proper terms, these would be called "Svenska folkdräkter."

Nordisk familjebok (1908), vol. 8, Folkdräkt. Retrieved from runeberg.org.

These outfits are not quite identical to anything we see in Kirsten's collection, but you can observe various elements that have carried over -- the vertical stripes, black woolen skirts with ornate trim, and white dresses and red sashes (hello St. Lucia)!

Let us dive deeper. What do extant Svenska folkdräkter, specially those made c. 1850, look like? Is there anything like Kirsten's outfit among surviving examples?

Johan Sodermark, "Kvinna i dräkt."

In my few hours of research, this example image is the closest thing I have found to Kirsten's dirndl.

This lovely portrait is a watercolor from 1850 painted by Johan Sodermark. It is very creatively titled "Kvinna i dräkt" -- literally, "Woman in costume." The pattern of this woman's apron is incredibly similar to that of the skirt of the Kirsten doll's outfit -- a dark red base with blue and yellow stripes woven throughout.

Here is a closeup from the American Swedish Institute.

Although it is not shown in the doll-sized version of the outfit, the illustrations in Meet Kirsten by Renée Graef show us she also wears a light-colored, striped apron, which is almost surely the one that comes with her meet outfit.

Illustrations from Meet Kirsten, drawn by Renée Graef.

Notice the fabric of the bodice in the third illustration, though: Kirsten's top is made of red plaid fabric, while Sodermark's girl has an outfit full of stripes. Kirsten, bless her heart, spends an entire book outfit-repeating a potential pattern-mixing fail: plaid and two kinds of stripes and a floral scarf. Did Pleasant Rowland just hate her? Is Kirsten on another, elevated fashion plane far beyond my comprehension? Is there a historical basis for this combination of patterns?

I have no answer to the first two questions, but thankfully can speak on the third.

Komplett Vilskedräkt, Västergötlands museum. Some pieces c. 1865.

The top is plaid and laces up, which is not necessarily the most common way of fastening (in most examples, the bodice pins up), but it is a sensible choice considering both Kirsten's age (9) and the fact that Pleasant Company was making toys for little hands.

The model for the outer shell (the lace up top) belonged to Karl Edberg from Hällestad; it is not dated, but at least one piece of this set (the bag, which is not shown) is c. 1865. Additionally, the blouse here is very similar to the one that comes with Kirsten's winter outfit -- look at that keyhole neckline!

So, Kirsten's Dirndl outfit is actually very accurate as far as the clothing itself goes...the name remains the trouble.

I have no idea why they called it a dirndl. Folkdräkt is definitely challenging to pronounce, but why wouldn't PC just translate it as "folk dress" or "Swedish outfit" and call it a day? Why the insistence on referencing a culture that isn't relevant to the doll or her dress at all?

Perhaps this is a mystery to tackle for another day...

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creative-heart · 28 days

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"In the arms of love"| Enzo Vogrincic

Lucia’s notes: This One Shot was fueled by my lovely @lastflowrr who said she heard the song “Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby” by Cigarettes after sex and wanted to see it in writing. So here goes nothing. I hope you enjoy it, especially my girl Lucy. I also suggest you listen to the song while reading this. 😘😘

+18 MDNI: Please stop reading after the cut if you don't want to read the smut part.

Content Warning: Mention of past relationship trauma, Sex scene, a short mention of heavy social drinking, some degrading name calling.

Word Count: 1.2k

Enzo knew from the moment you two got together for the first time, that getting you to overcome your fears and traumas wouldn’t be easy and he had been trying for the past three years to help you get past what you had lived through. The dark-haired man had to admit, that he liked the little dynamic you had established for yourselves, he didn’t mind being a little bit of a dominant person when it came to you and apparently, it helped you stay centered.

When he saw the way you were drinking at the party in Mati’s house, he knew he needed to tread lightly with you or it could go southways. So he approaches you from behind wrapping his long arms around the middle of your body and whispers “Be careful now baby girl, if you get too drunk I won’t be able to fuck you when we get back, and then I will have to punish you won’t I?” and as soon as you hear those words coming from his lips you can feel your skin filling up with goosebumps, and even through the fog of your brain courtesy of the alcohol you’ve consumed already you are now burning with the anticipation his words brought into the mix. You know full well that Enzo means what he said and so you nod softly before turning around and looking up into his now dark brown eyes biting your lips “I’ll be good, I promise”. The only problem with this is, that you kind of enjoy it when he punishes you because you know he would never actually hurt you, as he’s repeated to you tirelessly, nothing’s gonna hurt you, as long as you’re with him, you’ll be just fine; you know this is true, you trust this man with your life.

When you walk away from his embrace, you’ve already devised a plan for how you will push his buttons and test how serious he is about the punishing part. The first step of this plan is locating the guy you know is going to drive him the craziest you flirt with; you slowly scan the room until you find your target, sweet Santi is sitting on the couch having a beer and you make your way to him, your hips swaying honestly a little more than they should, you sit down next to him your leg crossed in a way your knees are brushing slightly. “Hi Santi, did you do something different to your hair? it looks exceptionally good tonight” You smile playfully playing with his blonde curls. You can already see two things happening, first, Santiago’s already blushing like crazy, and second, you can feel Enzo’s glare drilling into you from across the room.

Of course, it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes for your boyfriend to make his way to you and bend down to talk to you at a volume he knows no one else will hear above the blasting music “What did I say about behaving baby? now we’re gonna have to go home and I’ll have to do something about this” You can already hear the lust filling his voice and you can’t help but bite your lip looking up at him, you can’t help it, you love being a bit of a brat sometimes. Even if you know this may come at a price.

As soon as you walk into the apartment your back is against the wall and your hands are up and out of the way held by one of Enzo’s big hands, the other resting on your hips squeezing just enough to make you feel it. “You enjoy making me jealous by flirting with my friends, don’t you princess?” It’s the tone of his voice matched with the sweetness of the pet names he uses which makes you weak at the knees, your breath hitching at the back of your throat as you nod softly looking at him through your lashes. “No no, use your words, baby girl, you know I like hearing your voice”. Just as you’re about to talk back you feel his right knee pressed up gently against your center and through your opened mouth instead of words comes a whiny, needy moan, your eyes fluttering closed. Just as your eyelids close you feel the grip of his hand on your hip tightening and you know that to be your final warning so you force the words out of your mouth “Yes Enzo, I enjoy it” you say barely above a whisper.

Just as you finish saying that Enzo picks you up tossing you firmly yet gently over his shoulder walking straight to your bedroom “well then… I guess that means there’s no orgasm for you tonight then, that’s what you get for being a little slut” He puts you down on the bed taking your clothes off before folding them neatly on the chair beside your bed. “Come on babyyy” you whine aching for some release between your legs, when he catches you through the corner of his eye he turns his head clicking his tongue admonishingly shaking his head. Once you’re both in your underwear he grabs your legs behind your knees bringing you to the edge of the bed and without breaking eye contact with you kneels down between your legs “now… you know not to flirt with my friends, it’s not respectful to me” he says in his low sultry voice in between kisses up your inner thighs just before depositing the last one right on your already pulsating nub. When you feel his mouth making contact with your already slick aching center you close your eyes a loud moan flowing from your lip before you can even stop it digging your nails on the heels of your hands leaving crescent shapes on them knowing better than to tug at your boyfriend’s hair.

Enzo might enjoy this a little bit too much if he’s honest with himself, but there’s something about having you like that, laying on the bed and at the mercy of his skillful fingers and mouth begging for some release that just drives him crazy. He’s been at this for almost an hour now, his fingers moving in and out of your dripping center which so lusciously tightens around them as he accompanies each thrust of his digits with alternating sucking and lapping at your throbbing core and once more when he feels your breath hitching in the back of your throat and you trying to move your hips into him trying to look some release and pulls away before you can get the so coveted release you so much desire. As he gets back up to his full height he looks at you seeing how distraught you look and smiles softly “Come on babygirl, let’s get you into the shower, a nice warm soothing shower to get you better”.

Before you can protest he’s disappeared into the bathroom running the water, once he’s back by the bed Enzo picks you up in his arms cradling you against his chest and walks to the shower standing under the water gently placing you down as he proceeds to wash your hair and body making sure to give you a soothing massage until he feels you relax under his touch. It's become a habit now, after one of these sessions of yours, he likes taking care and pampering you, he knows sometimes he can get a bit taken away in the situation and more than anything, he wants you to remember nothing’s gonna hurt you as long as you’re with him.

Lucia's notes: I relly hope you enjoyed this little one shot, as usual, reqs are still open for a bit longer until I get in the mood to start my new series.

Taglist: @madame-fear @cyliarys-starlight @castawaycherry @luceracastro @espinasrubi @koiibiito @candycanes19 @nperoconelcositoarriba @lxdyred @deepinsideyourbeing

#enzo vogrincic one shot #enzo vogrincic fanfic #enzo vogrincic smut #enzo vogrincic x reader #lsdln cast fanfic #lsdln cast smut #lsdln cast x reader #santi vaca narvaja #matias recalt #fanfiction #fanfic #one shot

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cosmichoneibeee · 1 year

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Dating Reyna hc's

Reyna is strong and powerful, a true queen and a queen don't fall in love with any mere pawn.

You're truly special

Your abilities on and out field draw her attention first

And your shiny personality keeps her interested

Flirts 24/7

With Reyna, it's never 'if' you like her, it's 'when'

She's as charming as she can be deadly

It's not a surprise when you fall under her spell

"I like you"

"I know, cariño."

Loves to kiss you and is a very good kisser

She has so much fun when she leaves her crimson lipstick mark on your lips and you don't notice, walking around for the rest of the day like nothing happened

Can't go without kissing you or touching you in some way for many hours straight

When you are in the same room, her arm automatically goes behind your back, holding you close

Asks for kisses as a good luck charm before going on missions, even though she doesn't need luck, as she herself says

Missions together are a nightmare for the Valorant leaders

It's usually faster and more efficient, yes.

But at the same time, Reyna begins to ignore the call-outs and the other allies asking for help, striving only to protect and help you.

Loves to friendly compete with you

Likes to bet on things that makes both win, like kisses or dinner

Zyanya loves to show herself off to you, make daring kills, aces, or knife eliminations

She gets really mad if you're not looking when she does something impressive

Hurts her little heart

Makes her have certain passive aggressive moments with you

But she goes back to her passionate ways once you apologize, even though you weren't exactly wrong

Mission-free weekends are dedicated to the two of you. She loves to take you on dates.

You usually go out to dinner and she won't let you go to any restaurant, of course not, you only go to the fanciest restaurants of the region and eat the most expensive food on the menu

Baby you so much

Won't let you pay anything unless you say that's really important to you

Also loves to take you on shopping dates and will only leave if you two have both arms full of store bags

When she is tired because of missions during the week, she likes to stay at home and have a self-care night.

Order pizzas, shower together (if you want and without any sexual intent), let you go through her 15-step skin-care routine with her before finally sitting on the couch and watching a movie marathon or her favourite culebrón [soap opera] all night long

Like it or not, you will end up learning Spanish because Reyna always mixes languages

If you ask her to teach you more than just a few everyday words, she'll be more than happy to help.

A great teacher, despite the rigidity

Tries to learn your language (if it's not English) in secret, and aside from her heavy accent, she does it pretty well.

"It's about having discipline, cariño."

Your shoulder to cry on 24/7, anytime you need it

She would do anything for you, from boosting your self-esteem with honest words to helping you hide a corpse

And secretly hopes that you'll be there for her that way too

It is not a person with a stable psychological state to be honest, being with her is knowing that there may be outbreaks

She most commonly has nightmares, about Lucia and about losing you, in different ways.

But sometimes some triggers make her go beyond

After a particularly difficult mission, comes the obsession with keeping you safe and close..absurdly close

Or some odd noise in the middle of the night and the paranoia that someone is coming to kill you both

At these times, she needs her support and not only to tell her that everything is fine, but also to encourage her to seek professional help

Few of the Protocol know what happens to Reyna and having you help her overcome all these demons, she is very grateful

Despite all this, she is not a jealous partner at all

Zyanya knows her worth and she knows you, you wouldn't dare to do such thing

If someone tries to flirt with you, she just smirks, enjoying their attempt.

But that doesn't stop her from...talking...to this person if they make you uncomfortable

Loves you unconditionally

You are the reason she became a better and more understanding person

And she is the reason you became a braver and more confident person

You are the perfect match, besides all the differences and she would not trade you for anything in the world

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠

@ Do not copy any of my works, translate and/or post it on others websites.

#valorant #valorant x reader #valorant hcs #valorant headcanons #reyna #reyna x reader #reyna x you #zyanya mondragón #zyanya mondragón x reader

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flurry-of-stars · 3 months

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𝒞𝒶𝓇𝒶 𝑀𝒾𝒶

Pairing: Dad Sigma x (Fem)Reader Genre: Fluff, OC kids, No Abilities AU (Sigma is still the general manager of the Sky Casino however) Summary: After a difficult day, your husband goes above and beyond just to see you smile again. Word count: 5.8k (A/N: I was inspired by a TikTok I saw hsdfsdfiajs. It was cute and I instantly thought of Sigma doing this for his wife and kids.) *＊✿❀○❀✿＊**＊✿❀○❀✿＊**＊✿❀○❀✿＊**＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

A gentle sigh escapes the young father’s lips as he finally leaves the nursery of his eight-month-old son, leaving the door slightly ajar just in case he wakes up and starts fussing again. Fixing his thick braid, he moves towards the kitchen to finish preparing his daughter’s lunch for school and dinner for himself and his dear wife.

Sigma moves with a silent air of elegance and the memorization of routine. He grabs Lucia’s beloved duck-themed lunchbox as he moves into the kitchen, stirring the creamy sauce for the dinner he was preparing for your return before moving towards the wooden cutting board.

Right as he starts preparing Lucia’s lunch, he hears the familiar jingle of the bell on your keys, noting with familiarity the way you twist the key the wrong way first before finally turning it the right way. The door clicks open, slowly creaking open as you step inside. All at once, Sigma stops what he’s doing to look at you.

You look exhausted. Your hair, which he had lovingly tied back for you this morning into a French braid, was loose and hanging over your shoulders messily. You drag your handbag in, as if it weighed as much as a bowling ball, finally giving up on it as it drops to the floor. Your make-up looks like it's been running…

“Darling? Are you okay?” Sigma calls out softly, placing star-cut strawberries into your daughter’s lunch box. He wipes his hands on his apron, turning to give you his full attention. His grey eyes fill with sympathy as he steps over to you, arms outstretched. You groan loudly, practically collapsing into his arms. He holds you, heading resting over his heart as he runs a hand soothingly through your hair. “Love?” He asks once more, more softly this time.

You grumble and groan into his chest, a wisp of a sob on your lips as you mumble, “Today was like a nightmare. Everything I did was wrong and I just–” You start getting worked up again, sounding both irritated and like you’re about to cry. You can feel the mix of emotions bubbling up inside you, then escape as a shaky groan. Hand gently caressing your back, Sigma gives you a worried frown and nods.

“Go and get settled on the sofa. I’ll bring you your dinner and you can tell me all about it.” Slowly, he lets you go as if he’s terrified to even just let you go two steps away from him while you’re like this. You pull away, a bit begrudgingly as well, as you move towards the little lounge room. You notice the toddler toys scattered all over the floor and smile fondly. Despite how bad of a day you’d had, you kneel, picking up Gabriel’s favourite plush toy. A white teddy bear you and Sigma had bought for him with his name engraved on the chest.

You sit on the sofa, rubbing the plush toy’s soft fur as you listen to Sigma working away in the kitchen. You look over, watching as your dear husband and father to your two children, works diligently. He goes from checking the taste of the sauce in the frying pan one more time, while cutting up Lucia’s sandwich, to putting her lunchbox in the fridge for tomorrow and pouring you a glass of your favourite wine.

In just a matter of minutes, Sigma was returning to your side, placing your dinner plate in front of you- which seemed to be chicken and gnocchi in a deliciously creamy sauce- and your glass of wine as you placed the stuffed toy on the coffee table. Rather than retrieving his plate, he came to sit beside you, hands going to your shoulders to massage them gently, to undo the day's stress that was knotted away in your shoulders. “There you are, my darling. Be careful, it’s still hot.”

Smiling softly at your husband, you lean closer to him, kissing his cheek softly as you murmur, “You’re too good to me…” With that, you begin eating the meal Sigma made for you both. It’s delicious, of course. ‘When isn’t it?’ you think to yourself as you savour another bite. Then, at last, Sigma gently breaks the silence.

“So…what happened at work today, dear?” That was all you needed to hear. With a heavy sigh, you began lamenting your exhausting, horrible day to your husband. From grabbing a coffee that wasn’t the one you ordered in a rush, to said person who ordered it screaming at you, despite your apologies. From your computer freezing and losing important documents your boss needed for an upcoming court case, to dealing with that one man who wanted one of the lawyers in the organisation where you worked to represent him while treating you like less than dirt in the process.

But the final straw for you was the email you had received regarding your dinner reservation on Saturday night. It was a new, romantic restaurant you had been dreaming of going to with Sigma for the past few months. “But they called to say the restaurant is undergoing urgent repairs and won’t be open for the next few weeks.” It was such a silly thing to get upset over, but after the day you’d had, it had reduced you to tears.

Pulling you closer to his chest, Sigma runs a hand through her hair soothingly, giving your back a sympathetic caress, “You were really looking forward to it, huh?” You nod shakily, a sob almost threatening to leave your lips again. He feels his heart aching as he gazes down at you, beginning to tear up again. He hated seeing you upset like this.

“It’s silly…” You begin before you pause, catching a heavy breath in your throat. You sigh heavily, raising a hand to wipe your tears away before you can begin sobbing again. “But I was looking forward to all of it. The experience, the food, having a reason to dress up.” You shake your head. “They said they’ll move our reservation back but we won’t be able to get in for another month or so.”

You lay your head against Sigma’s chest, mumbling into his apron, “You must think I’m childish to get upset over something so silly.”

Giving you a small amused smile, Sigma pulls you closer, nuzzling the top of your head affectionately as he softly whispers, “Not at all, my darling. I know how much this meant to you after all. It’s saddening that we’ll have to wait even longer to experience it, but at least they didn’t cancel our reservation altogether.”

He can tell by your grumble that perhaps that hadn’t been the right thing to say. You knew he was just trying to be positive and show you the bright side but you didn’t want to see the bright side right now. It was great that you still had a reservation, but as you should after how much you paid to reserve a table there.

Before the discussion can continue, a soft cry comes from the nursery. You sigh as you push yourself up, rising to your feet, “I’ll go check on Gabe. I could do with some toddler cuddles after today.” With a small smile, you excuse yourself from the living room, heading down the hallway and leaving Sigma alone. He frowns deeply, contemplating what he could do to cheer you up. His thumb rubs his wedding band in an almost familiar, repetitive action as he thinks.

His gaze wanders to your half-eaten dinner. He rises to his feet, picking up the plate as he prepares to put it in the oven to keep it warm when it hits him. He stares down at the plate of food, his body tingling as the idea rushes through his veins. Yes…yes, this could work! Hurrying into the kitchen, he places both yours and his plate into the oven before he hurries towards his laptop. He could make this work.

♡ “--And then I wanna go and get one of those sprinkle doughnuts from that fancy place and then–!” Lucia chatters happily as Sigma ties her hair back into a ponytail with an adorable rainbow ribbon as she bounces in place. The seven-year-old was always so full of energy, but today especially so. She was going out for a mommy-daughter day with you. You hadn’t gone out together for such a day since you fell pregnant with Gabriel.

But there was another reason for this. As Sigma finishes tying Lucia’s hair back, he speaks up in a warm, fatherly voice. He keeps his voice hushed, as you are in the next room over, dressing Gabriel, “You certainly have a lot of plans for today, little Lucia. But don’t forget. You need to make sure mommy finds a really pretty dress to come home in, okay? Can you promise me that?”

“Yes, papa!” Lucia happily replies, with a wide, bright smile on her face as she turns to face her father. Sigma gives her an affectionate smile as he begins fixing the ruffles of her dress slightly. “But do you promise I can get the sprinkle doughnut and the mermaid doll and–”

“My, my, it sounds like you have our entire day planned, don’t you Lucia?” Sigma looks up as you step into the room. Even in just a simple floral dress, you looked as radiant to him as the day he first laid eyes on you. You smile sweetly as you walk over to Sigma, passing Gabriel to him, who you’ve dressed in his favourite fox overalls. He squeals with excitement as Lucia hurries over to you excitedly.

As she begins chattering away about her plans, Sigma holds his son close, his mind wandering to his plans. His gaze trails to the cute unicorn alarm clock on Lucia’s bedside table. 10 am. That gave him at least seven hours to prepare everything. He could manage that.

He walks you and Lucia to the front door of the apartment, Gabriel on his hip and your handbag in his other hand. He passes it over to you as he speaks in a warm, though slightly playful voice, “Now I’m not going to give you a spending limit with my card, but at least try and keep it under the down payment for a new home.”

You giggle, nudging your husband softly. His smile sweetens as he leans down, kissing you softly on the lips. You return the kiss, mumbling, “We’ll be back before sunset. I love you.”

“Love you too, my darling,” Sigma softly replies, looking over as Lucia excitedly rushes towards the elevator. He chuckles as he sees her pressing the buttons over and over again, “You might want to catch up before Lucia goes shopping without you.”

You turn, sighing with amusement as you follow after your daughter. After saying farewell, Sigma closes and locks the door. With a determined look, he hurries over to his laptop, picking it up with his free hand and bringing it into the kitchen. He places Gabriel down in his high chair, a smile on his face as he opens his laptop, pulling up the documents he needs.

“Do you know what we’re doing today, Gabe?” He asks the toddler. He makes a few sounds as he slams his hands on his tray. Sigma reaches out to the toys he’d already prepared in a basket on the countertop, passing them over to his son as he speaks, “Mommy was upset because our reservation was pushed back.”

He clicks away on his laptop for a few seconds before a few videos, recipe cards and instructions show up on his screen. He had everything organised, bookmarked and ready to go. He keeps speaking as Gabriel throws a few plastic blocks onto the floor, “So I decided to look up the meals your mommy was excited to try the most and recreate them at home.” He walks over to Gabriel, picking up the blocks off the floor and returning them to his tray. He affectionately rubs his cheek, making him squeal.

“We’re going to spoil your mommy. She deserves it after all her hard work, don’t you think?”

“Maa!” Gabriel excitedly replies, bouncing in his high chair. Sigma chuckles, patting his son’s head. Yes, this was going to be perfect. He had a lot he wanted to get done before you got home but seven hours was plenty of time! He was going to start with the dessert first. A hazelnut tiramisu. It would need to sit and chill for eight hours after all, and besides, baking was like second nature to Sigma! It would be the easiest part of the entire menu.

Or so he had thought. He hadn’t factored in looking after a toddler while trying to multitask baking. As he was in the middle of creating the caramel for the tiramisu, Gabriel seemed to grow bored of sitting in his high chair. He starts sobbing, throwing all of his toys off of the tray, kicking his little feet. With his fatherly instincts kicking in, Sigma leaves the caramel for just a moment. “Shh, shh Gabe, come here…”

He picks his son up, cradling him close to his chest and patting him on the back. He’s just about to reach over and grab his pacifier from the countertop when the smell of burning hits his nose. Grey eyes widening, he turns to see black smoke already rising from the saucepan. He had only left it for two seconds!

He rushes over, grabbing it off the stovetop, a small, panicked sound escaping him. He was usually more careful than this! With Gabriel still on his hip, he rushes the saucepan over to the sink, filling it with water with a heavy sigh. Well, that was okay. He would just have to start over from scratch. It would only take him six minutes to make the caramel.

“Baba!” Gabriel babbles, patting his tiny belly. Well…perhaps he could get started on it after feeding Gabriel an early lunch.

･ﾟ✧

Now with Gabriel on his hip, Sigma begins preparing the seasonings for the slow-cooked chicken dish he’d heard you talking about. It was the one meal he knew you were looking forward to. ‘They say the chicken falls apart in your mouth!’ You’d gushed so many times with a hunger in your eyes. He had to make sure this dish was perfect.

As he scatters one herb inside the pot, he double-checks his recipe as Gabriel gnaws on his plastic spoon. He makes a loud sound as he cries out, holding it out as if asking for more. With a smile, Sigma takes it, scoops up another spoonful of Greek yoghurt and feeds it to his son. He giggles, taking the spoon back and licking it hungrily, while Sigma adds the broth to the slow cooker. Now all he needed was a dash of pepper.

At the moment that Sigma turns to grab the ground black pepper, Gabriel lets out a squeal as he throws his plastic spoon, the bright blue projectile aiming right for the slow cooker. With a gasp, Sigma reaches out, grabbing the spoon…or so he thinks. With the pepper in hand, he smacks the spoon, sending it in another direction, away from the slow cooker.

What remains of the Greek yoghurt still on the spoon splatters across the countertop and splats on the floor while Gabriel giggles, a large dust cloud of pepper gusting up in their faces. Gabriel is the first to start sneezing up a storm, before moments later, Sigma joins him in the sneeze fest. He could feel the pepper tickling his nose and the back of his throat as he sneezes multiple times in a row, holding Gabriel as he moves away from the kitchen.

It’s a good thing he does too. After one particularly bad sneeze, Gabriel decides to pay his father back for knocking his well-aimed plastic projectile away from the slow cooker. Greek yoghurt and this morning’s breakfast end up all over Sigma’s apron and shirt, a loud sigh escaping him before he sneezes again, “Alright you…it's time for a bath…”

･ﾟ✧ With Gabriel bathed, fed and now taking a nap in the lounge room, Sigma finally gets the chance to busy himself in the kitchen. The chicken is in the slow cooker, an aromatic smell filling the apartment as he puts the finishing touches on the tiramisu at last, storing it carefully in the fridge. He looks at the time. 1 pm. He’s making good time. He still has plenty of time to prepare the homemade bread buns and prepare the dining room for your and Lucia’s return.

He breathes a sigh of relief as he leans against the kitchen counter, a warm cup of tea resting between his palms. He smiles softly to himself. He was already beginning to imagine your reaction when you walked into the apartment. The surprise in your eyes. The joy. The way you would finally smile that large, beautiful smile of yours. The one he hadn’t seen properly since your terrible day earlier in the week.

At the end of the day, Sigma didn’t mind if he had to cook one meal, ten or a hundred. He would go to hell and back for you, just to see you and his children smiling. After all, you were the one to finally grant him the one thing he dreamed of most. A home. A place he could call his own. Beyond that, you’d even given him a family. Ever since the day you accepted him as a boyfriend and eventually accepted his hand in marriage, Sigma had felt like his life had become a beautiful dream he never wanted to wake up from.

You had been like a tiny flame in the darkness when you appeared in the casino that night. Life was looking more and more like a living hell to Sigma at the time, his dreams seeming to be growing further away from his touch. He had grown to find his dream foolish, unobtainable. But there you were, dancing by his fingertips, as if encouraging him to hope a little harder, your light illuminating not just his whole world, but deep into his hopeless, sorrowful soul.

You were his light, his love. His everything. He owed you so much. The least he could do was spoil you like you, his darling, truly deserved. He just hoped it would be enough. He looks over at the slow cooker, at the oven heating up in preparation for the buns he had yet to make. He frowns worriedly. Could his cooking truly compare to restaurant-quality food?

His thoughts are disrupted by the buzzing of his phone. He reaches out, grabbing it to check who it is, though he already knows it’s you. He smiles sweetly as he sees your message.

Cara Mia [1:05pm]: Sigma, why is Lucia insisting I buy this two thousand dollar dress? She wants me to wear it home too. Cara Mia [1:06pm]: She says ‘daddy said to.’ Sigma….what’s going on? Sigma winces; well, at least it didn’t seem like Lucia had told you the reason behind buying the dress. He felt bad about lying to you but it was all for a good reason. Besides, he wasn’t technically lying, he supposed. His fingers type quickly as he replies; Me [1:08pm]: Ah, sorry my love. I didn’t get the chance to mention it.

Me [1:09pm]: I have some VIPs coming for a surprise visit for dinner tonight, so I need you to look your best.

Me [1:10pm]: I’m so sorry for the short notice, but I promise to make it up to you. I love you.

Cara Mia [1:13pm]: So suddenly? You’re usually so much more prepared for the VIPs.

Cara Mia: [1:14pm]: Well…alright. But I’m not spending two grand on a dress. And you’ll owe me.

Cara Mia [1:15pm]: You know how ; ) Love you too <3

Sigma feels a shiver run through him as he reads that, his cheeks suddenly heating a little. He still hadn’t adapted to your forwardness when flirting even after marrying and having two children with you. Though he was certain he wouldn’t owe you after you saw his surprise.

But he was more than happy to spoil you in more than one way tonight.

♡ It was almost showtime. With Gabriel back in his high chair, babbling and cooing loudly, Sigma prepares the dining room to look like a five-star restaurant. Using what he has on hand, he’s placed a beautiful white tablecloth over the dining table that is usually reserved for birthdays and holidays. However, he wasn’t sure where you had stored the table runners, so he was resourceful by using a black cheesecloth he had found in the kitchen. He truly hoped you didn’t notice what it actually was.

Setting up the placemats, cups and plates, he begins lighting the candles, much to Gabriel’s delight. He squeals, becoming more excited as he reaches towards the flames that are, thankfully, far from his grasp. He smiles at his son, chuckling as he sees how adorable he looks in the little tuxedo he managed to get on him. He would have to take a photo later of you, Gabriel and Lucia together.

Sigma had also dressed up as well in a white shirt, black slacks and vest, with a small cute bow tie around his neck. His hair was tied back to prevent it from getting anywhere near the food when the time came to serve it. He looks up from the table to check the time; 5 pm. You and Lucia would be here any minute.

Rushing to put on some soft, classical music on a low volume, Sigma dimmed the lights. He had everything prepared and ready to go as he waits patiently to hear those sounds he’d memorised so well. First, before anything else, he hears the excited giggles of his daughter. The warm voice of his love as well, though muffled. The soft click of high heels on the tiled floor outside the apartment.

Then he hears the familiar jingle, the small golden bell on your keys jingling loudly as you insert it into the lock. Twisting once in the wrong direction, he hears Lucia playfully reminding her mother “Not that way! The other way, mama!” Then, the satisfying click! As you unlock the apartment door. All at once, Sigma stops as his breath hitches in his throat.

To say you looked beautiful was an understatement. To Sigma, you had always looked heavenly enough to make angels blush. But right now, you stood before him in a pastel purple sweetheart dress with the same accessories you had worn out this morning alongside your dear daughter, who was wearing a puffy, baby blue princess-style dress with shimmering silver stars adorning the fabric. You’d even gotten her a plastic tiara, it seemed. Your white high heels click on the wooden flooring as you and Lucia enter.

Sigma shakes his head, ignoring the heat rising in his cheeks as he approaches you and Lucia, bowing politely. You’re taken off guard for a moment as you give your husband a curious smile. He usually went the extra mile for VIPs, but he'd never done this before, “Sigma? What is all this?”

Standing up straight, Sigma puts on an all too familiar warm smile. The smile that drew you to him when you first encountered him at the Sky Casino all those years ago, “Good evening, my dear guests. It’s a pleasure to have you dining here with us tonight. Will a table for three be alright?”

You look at your husband in confusion for a few seconds before you suddenly break out with an amused grin. You cover your mouth, taking a step back and shaking your head, “Sigma…you didn't–”

With a sweet smile, Sigma ushers you and Lucia towards the table where Gabriel is still happily sitting in his high chair, babbling away. Your eyes fall on him, a soft laugh escaping you as you see the tuxedo he’s dressed in. Instantly, he coos happily, holding his hands out to you, “Mama!”

Picking Gabriel up out of his high chair and sitting him on your lap as Lucia comes to sit beside you, Sigma approaches, handing both you and Lucia a menu he made by hand, passing a baby-proof menu to Gabriel. You giggle as you open Gabriel’s menu for him, the excited toddler smacking the photo of what looks like pumpkin purée. Sigma steps over, nodding in approval.

“Ah, I see. The young master would like slow roast pumpkin purée for his main?” He smiles at both you and his son, your sweet giggles of amusement filling his heart with warmth. Gabriel squeals and slaps the photo again before you put the menu aside with a nod. You open your own and almost instantly, your heart feels like it’s about to burst with affection.

“Sigma..” You sound so utterly touched and for a moment, Sigma thinks you might tear up. You look up at him as you huddle Gabriel close, your lip quivering. His smile grows sweeter, a faint pink colour rising on his cheeks. But he decides to keep his act up for the moment.

“Would you like to order, my darling?”

“I want the chicken!” Lucia suddenly perks up excitedly as she tugs on her father’s sleeve. As he turns to her, she grins warmly, “Can I have an apple juice too?”

He repeats her words for her, trying to encourage her to use her manners, “Can I have an apple juice…?” Lucia nods warmly, smiling happily. With a sigh, he pats her head, “Please.”

“So can I?” She asks again, making Sigma huff softly. He can hear you giggling in amusement as he turns to you, putting his hands together.

“Alright, so the young master will be having our slow-roasted pumpkin purée, and the young lady will be having the balsamic cranberry roast chicken with a glass of apple juice. Can I get you the same, my darling? Although perhaps you’d prefer a glass of wine? We have a fine bottle of chateau angelus if you would fancy a glass?”

Your eyes widen. It was moments like these that you were reminded just who you had married. Normally you would turn down such a luxury outside of special occasions but just this once, you nod as you had your menu back to your husband, “Yes. That would be wonderful.”

With a nod, Sigma exits the dining room, heading into the kitchen to plate up the meals. In just a matter of minutes, he returns with the pumpkin purée. You stifle a giggle, noticing that it’s the same pumpkin purée you had made the night before for Gabriel’s dinner tonight. Placing the plastic bowl in front of you, Sigma nods, “Here is the slow-roasted pumpkin purée for the young master. It’s one of our best-selling meals.”

“Talk about fast service,” you joke, noticing the steaming, hot dinner rolls Sigma places on the table as well. You breathe in their smell, being able to tell from smell alone that they were made from scratch. You pick up the spoon and begin feeding Gabriel while Sigma returns to plating the main course.

“Mommy, can I have one of the buns?” Lucia asks, sitting on her knees in her chair. She tries to reach across to grab one as you gently touch her hand.

“Not yet, sweetie. They’re still too hot. Please sit down properly, dear.” You resume feeding Gabriel. Although, judging from the puréed pumpkin dribbling down his chin, his meal wouldn’t last much longer. You gently rub his back, “Come on Gabe, you love pumpkin.”

Whining softly, Gabriel tries to shove the little plastic spoon out of your hand, swatting at it with his hands. You sigh, putting the spoon back into the bowl as Sigma returns, serving Lucia her plate first, then yours. You can’t help but hum in delight at the alluring smell of the home-cooked meal being served to you. Looking down, it looks so close to the photos you’d seen online.

“Here we are, two servings of balsamic cranberry roast chicken, with the chicken pre-cut for the young lady.” As he says this, he places Lucia’s apple juice down near the top of her plate. With a grin, Lucia squirms in her chair.

“Papa, can I have one of the buns?” She asks, earning a sigh from you. Sigma nods, reaching over and picking up one of the buns while sliding the plate over so it’s placed more between you and your daughter. He cuts it open with the knife next to your plate, buttering it before giving it to Lucia.

“Be careful, it’s hot.” He warns her gently before he stands up, touching your shoulder as he adds, “I’ll be right back with your wine, my darling.”

You smile sweetly as you look down at your plate, a sharp gasp escaping you as you see Gabriel already shoving his tiny hands into the mashed potato on your plate, “Gabriel!” You pull him back as he whines, threatening to cry. Grabbing a napkin, you begin to wipe one of his hands as he sticks the other in his mouth, enjoying the taste of the mashed potatoes. You sigh a little, rubbing his back softly, “Why don’t we share, Gabe? Here, look.”

You move to pick up the spoon in his pumpkin purée, preparing to wipe it down before feeding your son. But the moment he sees the spoon, he whines, as if expecting you to start feeding him the purée again. He waves his clean hand, smacking it down on the table, snagging the lip of the bowl. You cry out as thick, pumpkin purée splatters all over your dress, staining the gorgeous fabric a vibrant orange.

At the same moment, Lucia pushes her plate away, completely untouched after finishing her apple juice along with the entire plate of bread rolls, a huge smile on her face, “I’m finished with dinner, Mommy!”

It’s safe to say that your husband wasn’t expecting this much chaos to unfold within the thirty seconds it took him to return with your wine.

♡ You sigh heavily, dropping down onto the couch wearing just a fluffy white robe as you begin drying your hair with a towel. You already left your new dress to soak in the laundry while Sigma put the kids to bed. You breathe in deeply, noticing the smell of cranberry in the air and smile softly. You think he must have put my serving in the oven to keep it warm. Sigma was always so thoughtful and caring. Not just with you but with everyone. But tonight, he truly went above and beyond for you.

You stand up, moving silently towards the hallway. You quietly sneak towards Lucia’s room, the door slightly ajar, soft, yellowish-orange light seeping out into the hallway from her bedside lamp. You can hear her beloved music box playing a soft melody, while Sigma reads to her.

“--And at that point, my big old dream, which was once in a drawer, shook and climbed, took to the sky and soared…and soared…and soared…” He softly reads the last line, noticing that Lucia is already starting to drift off to sleep in her bed. He smiles affectionately, leaning in to kiss her forehead. He turns off the bedside lamp as he murmurs, “Good night, my little Princess. Pleasant dreams.”

With a tender touch, he runs a hand over her head. Then he gets up, looking up at you as he heads for the doorway, the affection in his smile bursting with warmth as he approaches you. You step back as he steps out, closing the door with a gentle click. He speaks in a hushed voice to not disturb the children, “Both Gabe and Lucia are asleep. I’m going to reach out to an old patron of the casino in the morning who’ll know how to get that stain out of your dress.”

His arm wraps around your waist as he pulls you in. Your arms instinctively find their way around his shoulders, pulling him closer as his face presses against the soft, fluffy fabric of your robe, “I’m sorry, my darling. It seems my surprise didn’t go quite as I had planned it to.”

Your hands move from his shoulders to tenderly cup his cheeks, turning his face towards you. You smile lovingly at your husband, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. A small, faintly surprised look crosses his features before he melts into your soft kiss, his hands gently caressing your waist for a heartbeat before you pull back.

“Oh love. Just because it didn’t go to plan doesn’t mean it wasn’t one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me,” you whisper, caressing his cheeks with your thumbs, feeling as they faintly start to heat up. “I can’t believe you went through all the trouble of looking these recipes up, just for me.”

Sigma’s hands lift, tenderly taking hold of your hands. He intertwines his hands with yours, his thumb caressing the back of your hand, his grey eyes, full of devotion and love gazing deeply into your own. His voice is full of unshakable devotion as he whispers, “My darling, I would move heaven and earth just to see you smile for a moment. Researching and recreating these recipes is the least I could do for you.”

He pulls you in once more, hand rising to caress the back of your head, his fingers running through your hair. He kisses the top of your head, murmuring, “Your happiness and well-being along with our children’s is the most important thing in the world to me. I love you, Cara Mia.”

“I love you too…” You whisper back as you feel him pressing another kiss to the top of your head, the heat in your cheeks growing. As you gaze affectionately up at your husband, he gazes down at you. His heart swells as he sees it. The way your lips quirk up slowly. The radiant glimmer in your eyes. The way his heart fills with warmth that slowly seeps into his entire body. Yes...that's the smile he wanted to see. The one that was on your beautiful face the first day you'd met each other. You go quiet for a moment, your fingers gently tapping the back of one of his hands as you ask in a playful voice, “Soo…I don’t suppose you also made their famous tiramisu as well…~?”

Sigma blinks a few times, then with a chuckle, he smirks at you. Sliding his hand around your waist, he begins to guide you back towards the kitchen, “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. And don’t think I’ve forgotten what I still owe you. Tonight is your night, my darling. And I plan to spoil you in more ways than one." *＊✿❀○❀✿＊**＊✿❀○❀✿＊**＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

#bsd sigma #sigma x reader #bsd imagines #bsd x reader #sigma fluff #bungo stray dogs x reader #bsd sigma x reader #Flurry-of-writing

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porlatamconlouis · 30 days

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louis in panamá! louis back in latam!!! louis is back in his spirit home!!!

the crowd was amaaaazing! listen, every louis show i've been to holds a special place in my heart for different reasons. but being in a crowd where everyone around you gives out the same energy, even when they don't fully know some songs, is something i've been craving for a long time now, and it's just the beginning and i'm sooo excited. the venue itself was kinda meh inside, the way they used the space was terrible in my opinion but as a brightside, gaby and i had lots of space to jump and dance and lose our entire minds.

the setlist order change threw us off, but god i love it. the 'chemical' cover... idk how to explain it but the videos i've seen so far (which haven't been many, i'm on wifi most of the time) don't do it one bit of justice. his voice! his voooooooice! that's all i kept saying throughout the song. because i didn't know the song, and the arrangement was so punk that i thought it was a song from an early 2000s pop punk band that i wasn't recognizing. but duuuude, his voice. i hope we get a good version, because that boi whined away with his whole chest... honestly. and i can't fucking wait to see how more and more comfortable he'll get with the song and more people singing it with him, and just... yeah!

oli, krystle and helen were in the open space where there were no chairs, right in front of us... oli walks to not draw attention to himself, but boi, most of us know you by now. i didn't see anybody coming up to them which was nice. they went to the sound booth for a big chunk of the show. and during ooms krys and helen came back to jump and dance to the side there. i loved seeing them like that!

the happiness we felt when we saw lucia coming down! gaby and i were jumping up and down screaming "lucia! lucia is back! lucia!", hajshajshs. and theeeen, at the end, as i always do if possible, we went to the soundbooth to thank my friends (jdelf, tom and oli c.) for the show, and we thanked them for bringing lucia (the lightbulb) and not leaving her behind, and they were amused (and probably a bit weirded out (they've seen me in the same shirt at least 4 times lmao)) and saying thank you for appreciating them and just yeah. i like to think maybe they already knew her name was lucia, but also, i'm glad someone on the ground straight up told them how fucking appreciated she is. 💚 look at herrrr! (lol)

living all my favorite songs live again was so cathartic. didn't know how much i needed it, wow. also, how are we gonna call that insane set of songs before the encore? my vote is for "rip steve's arms" or "no breathing mix" or "lose your shit time". because going from 505 to bty to kmm to ooms is fucking wild, man. it was absolutely incredible, i think i ascended a little bit and was fully exorcised, thanks.

oh! the kmm lights? soooo good! i know they've been done at all the shows after '22 but like... idk. it felt a bit extra special? and he sensed it as well, he couldn't contain his little smiles. and he gave it a shout out. literally everyone knew they had to do it. so cool!

as a sad note, during sibwawc, the lights from the stage weren't really colourful, they just kinda went from orange to white from what i remember. gaby and i waved our flags for the entirety of the megamix (and a bunch of other songs too, hajshajs, duh) and since we were going off the whole time, and not as many people were, he did see us all the way to the back and pointed at where we were and we looked at each other and just kept going. we then corroborated our stories in the hostal, hajdhaj. enjoy the following video as if you were next to us and just jumping around, okay thanks (when you see everyone else jump around that's when he comes to our side).

anyway, i wrote all of this while on the airplane that's gonna take me to puerto rico, which is a bit delayed. oh, and el puma rodríguez is on this flight, lmao. iykyk. some ladies, while boarding, just stood in front of him and took a selfie, eeep. right, here's some carpet photos.

i'm so lucky i get to do this insane adventure, i'm so happy.

(meant to save this in drafts while the video uploaded but guess it got posted instead, hajshajsh. anywaaaay... thanks for the lovely notes, loves.)

#jules blah blah #show ciudad de panamá

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anki-of-beleriand · 1 year

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Do not hesitate

Summary: After two years of relationship you and Wanda finally got on a well-deserved holidays. You have plans, but at some point you get sidetracked and she has to redirect you where she wants you to be.

Pairing: Wanda/Female!Reader

Warnings: None, just fluff, suggestive themes and reader being foolish.

Author's note: This particular story was born out of something and someone I met recently. I dedicated this story to her even though I know she would never read it and it is part of those unrequired love stories we sometimes found around.

Since I wanted it out there, I changed the name to that of Wanda because R and Wanda deserve a hapy ending.

Do not hesitate

The first thing you noticed were the heavy drops of cold rain hitting the glass of your window.

The lady in the PA was informing the rest of the passengers of the oncoming arrival to the Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia. There was a shiver of anticipation running down your body, your eyes turned directly to the window to see the silver waters of the lagoon that has surrounded the City of Bridges ever since it was established by the time Rome was still an Empire.

Your eyes followed the sweet movement of the water, the sight of boats and poles all through the waters leading to the city that had been hidden behind the rain and the fog of the early morning of February. Your heart beating with anticipation, the train travelling down the bridge getting closer and closer to its final destination.

“You look like a child that has never seen the sea before.” The sweet voice of Wanda called your attention, her eyes gleaming amusedly while her lips drew that smile that had always made you forget your own name.

“I have never seen such a sight before.” You replied without losing the smile, her hand wrapped tenderly around yours and you had to wonder how it was possible that with the smallest of gestures from her part your heart still leaped with affection.

“You have seen this before, doofus.” She snorted when you placed a hand on your chest, the faux offensive gesture made her snigger while shaking her head.

“Excuse me, but every time I am here, it is as if it was the first time…” You turned to the window once more, this time around the different buildings and the station are starting to fill the imagery. “I love coming here, you know?”

Her features softened lightly, and without you even noticing her eyes took a closer look at your frame. The tug on your hand made you turn, and soon you found yourself being kissed with tenderness. You couldn’t help it but leaned in and kissing her back, last time you were in Venice life had been different and your sister had been your only company.

Now, looking into deep brown eyes, you have to wonder how you got so lucky in life to be here with the one woman you never thought you would find.

She rolled her eyes poking playfully at your head before standing up, her hand still pretty much wrapped around yours.

“Sometimes, you think loudly, and you think too much. Let’s move it, it is raining, and I hope you can prepare me a warm bath before going out into the city.”

“God, have you always been this bossy before?” You chuckled wincing playfully at her light punch on your shoulder, both of you lowering the bags from the overhead rack.

“If I remember correctly, you fell in love with my bossiness.” Her smugness could be read in her face, she winked at you, and you just snorted following her out of the car knowing she was right.

She was always right.

The city of Venice was a world of its own creation.

The streets were made of stone, and the edifications spoke of a past that reverberated in the present while the tourists and the locals filled out the streets in the midst of a rainy morning in February. The sound of music and laughter mixed with the conversation and the preparation for the Carnival that would start the next day.

“This is amazing.” The overwhelmed statement was followed by a beaming smile while her eyes swept around the plaza leading to the Rialto Bridge. “You can actually see everyone is getting ready for the Carnival. But those masks must be expensive at this time of the year, right?”

You broke your stance, glancing around while covering the flush of embarrassment in your cheeks. She almost caught you staring, your heart breaking through your chest when you grabbed your hand trying to get your attention.

“Did you hear me? Or where you checking out the group over there?” Her teasing was quite obvious, and she pointed with her head a group of young women all talking animatedly in a corner.

You opened your eyes shaking your head, but she just chuckled shrugging while glancing back at them then at you.

“It’s okay if you were watching, you know? They’re quite attractive, the brunette one seems to be your type.”

“Why do you think she is my type?” You sputtered glancing at the young woman she was mentioning.

The woman was beautiful, soft features adorned with wavy, light brown locks and a huge smile breaking into her face. You blinked a couple of times, she looked taller than you and her body was of average build.

“You’re staring again.” She mumbled looking away while giving her back at you.

There was a single moment in which something changed around you, there was a tension you were not sure where was it coming from. Wanda walked away to one of the stores glancing at the merchandise, her eyes trying to focus on the articles inside the store instead of your reflection. You approached her placing a hand on her shoulder, after a moment she turned to you and her eyes had a hardened glint with a stretch of her lips.

“I wasn’t staring at them before you mentioned them.” You clarify, furrowing your words knowing that your explanations were not necessary but having the need to make sure she knew you had eyes for no one that wasn’t her. “Are you jealous?”

It was a simple question, but one that made you think this was something that had never happened before. Jealousy had not been part of your life for quite some time, for everyone it was quite obvious you were smitten by the woman standing before you. And while you might feel it from time to time, it had been quite innocent leaving as suddenly as it had come.

But she…she had never been vocal about those emotions.

Now, though…

She clenched her jaw looking away, pursing her lips while trying to focus her attention on the closest store.

“Should I be?” She replied harshly, her cheeks burning lightly at the simple show of weakness.

If there was something you had learned in the time you two had gotten to know one another, it was that she hated to be this vulnerable. She was a logical person, certain emotions were natural but should not transcend the scope of her own brief moments of weakness. She knew who she was, what she had, and her place in the world.

This didn’t mean she didn’t hesitate…or that, from time to time, she didn’t wonder…she didn’t question herself…

The main difference between you and her was that you wore your heart on your sleeve, while she hid it from everyone. Sometimes, including herself.

You chuckled, then broke into a fit of giggles that were your worst decision at the moment.

Her eyes opened wide, lifting her chin to the sky she turned around and started walking away.

You chuckled some more sprinting towards her, your hand on her shoulder only to have her reject your touch. You winced, laughing had been a bad thing to do when she was being this vulnerable. But you couldn’t help it. Really.

“Wait, wait…love…”

“What?” She stopped death on her tracks facing you until you had to stopped yourself from crashing against her.

Her face was a mask of emotionless danger, her eyes gleaming dangerously at you but otherwise there was no other indication that told you she was ready for you to continue with the laughter. You gulped lifting your hands in a gesture of peace.

“Did you know that you are kinda cute when angry and jealous?”

She rolled her eyes, huffing before walking away again.

You chuckled shaking your head, you knew you would pay dearly for that. But she did look cute, and it was the first time after two years of relationship that something like this happened, so better take advantage of that.

Wanda reached the bridge just in time for you to wrap your arms around her waist. You smiled placing a kiss on her cheek, the tension on her body was an indication she was still mad but not indifferent to your proximity. You kissed her cheek again nuzzling your nose on her neck.

“Did you know I’m so in love with you that I was actually checking you out and imagine what my life would be like if I have never met you?” You whispered in her ear, your lips drawing a smirk at her shiver and the intake of breath when your breath and lips teased her ear.

“You know you can’t talk your way out of your idiocy?” She replied though didn’t make any attempt to get away from you.

You took that gesture as a victory on your part, stepping away a little you wrapped your hand around hers walking down the bridge with a huge smile on your face. This trip couldn’t be any better, your eyes glancing around the place before putting her closer to you.

“I know you think my idiocy is cute from time to time.” You replied, tilting your head putting her closer to you. “And, I’m not talking my way out of this…I was really looking at you. You are looking beautiful today.”

She tried to hold back her smile. Once more she rolled her eyes but this time around, she leaned in pecking your lips.

“You better take me someplace nice, and I will think about rewarding you for such a sweet talk.”

The first day in Venice was filled with long walks down the streets and small talk in between.

It was quite curious how even after all this time, small talk about work and life could happen in such a natural way. The rain had not stopped all through the day, and the cold had been almost unbearable if it wasn’t for your clothes and the tea and coffee you both consume all through the day stroll. Night had fallen by the time you reached the shores of Saint Mark’s Square; the yellow lights surrounding the place alongside the fog took you back in time. The stories about vampires and ghouls at the tip of your tongue, but the woman walking beside you was not someone that would enjoy such folklore stories at the moment.

“Are you alright?” You finally asked, your brows knitted together in concern at her shiver.

“I’m tired, and cold.” She mumbled, though she offered a weak smile. “But I know you want to walk in this weather we could…”

You cup her cheeks in your hands, leaning in to place a kiss on her forehead before placing your scarf around her neck.

“We could go back to the AirBnB and get a warm bath, something to eat and watch some TV while I give you a nice massage and get ready for tomorrow.” You wrapped your arms around her, whatever form of protests she was going to manifest cut short by your lips placing themselves on hers.

“But…” She chuckled when you kissed her again, and again whenever she tried to speak. “Let me talk!”

“Okay, Lyubov’, go ahead.” She crunched up her nose at your nickname for her, but didn’t make any attempt to walk away from you.

“I know that you are dying to see the creepiest places in here while in this weather, and that you wanted to keep strolling around…” She tried to make a point, though by the look on your face she knew she had failed.

“You really look tired, and you look cold.” The sound of chatter surrounded the both of you, the lights were enough to make of this a scene pulled out of a movie. “Let’s go back, and tomorrow, and the day after that, and so one will be another day.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

The room was warm, and the sound of the TV filled the room in a sweet lullaby she enjoyed for a moment before succumbing to the sweet embrace of sleep. Your heart soared with affection at the sight of her face completely relaxed, with a tiny smile and her hands wrapped tightly around your pillow.

The day had been long, and both of you had walked enough to feel a pulsating pain in your feet. Putting your pjs’ on, you sneaked inside the blankets putting another pillow under your head. A single hand lifted to brush away some strand locks from her face, you placed a kiss on her forehead while your eyes drifted to your backpack.

This trip was the first one you two decided to make as a couple.

A lot of things had happened in between, and now that life seemed to be getting easier you had come to an important decision for yourself and her. Your friends had been asking non-stop about this, and you had been evading their comments up until the time you popped the question. So far, you had been a coward…

The ring you had bought for her was still in the backpack, waiting for you to dare and take that step forward.

The fear of rejection had been so latent that you hadn’t dared to do much. And the object had been always travelling with you, everywhere.

The screen on your phone came to life with the notification of a new message. You chuckled rolling your eyes when you saw the name on the screen, as soon as you opened the message the name of one of your best friends popped out. He had been the first one you revealed your intentions, and he had been with you when you chose the ring; you knew he was dying to tell this secret to everyone, mainly because of this kind of news he could not keep a secret.

His message was clear, and you knew he would be mad as soon as you answered him.

You better tell me you already pop the question, or I’m going to explode over here!

You pursed your lips, your fingers moving through the keypad of the phone. You waited, until you saw the Typing message and moments later his answer came in.

You have to do it! Why are you stalling on this? Are you having second thoughts?

‘What if she says no?’ You answer almost immediately, Wanda stirred in her sleep turning towards you, the pillow forgotten to let her arm sneak around your midsection. When your eyes went back to the screen, he had the answer you been playing with at the back of your mind.

Stop doubting yourself, and her! I expect good news soon!

The conversation died there, and you glanced at the phone for a long time before putting the object away and snuggling into the bed.

Tomorrow will be a new day.

But nothing happened the next day, or the day after that.

In fact, four days letter the trip to Venice was about to end and you hadn’t been able to give the final step.

It didn’t matter.

A part of you convinced itself that, in reality, the final question didn’t matter as long as you could hear her laugh and enjoyed her time walking down the streets of Venice while meeting different places inside The Serenissima. She was just as excited as you to visit the library of Acqua Alta, and while you distracted yourself with the local cat she was right inside reading the many titles adorning the narrow space inside the local. It was a paradise, the place itself was decorated with the spirit of the city and the water could be seen on the floor of the establishment while the low tone of conversation made you think of a library more so than a store.

The gondola holding books of history about the city made for the perfect decoration alongside the damage books on the small yard in one of the entrances. The place had its magic embedded in the spirit of books, secrets that only those fortunate enough could unfold while grabbing the right book.

You left the store with five of them.

She left with only two.

Without her knowledge, your footsteps lead you to the former church of San Barnaba. Your childish smile made her give in when you ran around the plaza while talking about Indiana Jones and the beautiful scenes filmed in the old library of the city. Wanda would follow you while listening to your non-stop babbling, and whenever it was time for you to be quiet, she would talk about her experiences and her thoughts, she would bring over facts while also possibilities.

Neither one of you said it out loud, but the both of you always thought about the obvious differences between you two. Everyone was always mentioning this, the logical and organized side of Wanda, how methodical she was and how hardworking she turned out to be. Her spirit to always be a perfectionist never leaving anything to chance but trying to control up until the last detail of the situation so the results would be what she expected them to be. She always had a plan, even when everything seemed to be alright, there was always something else she had under her sleeve to save the situation.

You were a force to be racon with.

You went right ahead with passion, and without thinking up too much of the consequences. Sometimes, you plan ahead, some others you just improvise and pray for the best result. Whether it was because you had a lucky star above your head, or because you were good at what you did, in the end you could always get the best of every situation. Even while walking around the streets of Italy, and while everything had been planned and put up in a planner and a schedule, you would come up with the most unthinkable ideas and improvise the best situations Wanda had experienced during the trip.

The both of you were so different that at some point you complemented one another.

Some said that was good, that you two would endure.

Some others said it wouldn’t last. She would get tired, and you would mess up.

There was no sun that day, and the grey clouds glided right above your head with the same wind that brought the salty aroma of the Adriatic Sea. Her hand never left yours, and her excited chatter brought a smile to your face while she talked excitedly of the piece of history, she had read for you.

“So according to tradition this bridge was for some rival gangs to fight over, and the winner was the one that threw the other to the canal. Which is the reason why this is call the Bridge of Fists.” She crunched up her nose leaning in to see the green waters down below before turning to you. “Which, let me tell you doesn’t look sanitary at all at this time, I can’t even imagine how awful must have been in the Sixteenth century.”

“Oh, imagine the smell, the appearance…the rats!”

She shivered making a face while you laughed at that, “you’re imagine it, aren’t’ you?”

“Of course, I am! Look at these waters right now!” She exclaimed waving her hands away while pointing at the waters of the canal. “They don’t look that sanitary at all, and according to some these are still one of the most contaminated waters in the world.”

“Yet this is the most beautiful and romantic city in the world!” You exclaimed wrapping your arms around her, she chuckled as you pressed her against the rails of the bridge.

“Wanna go to the Plaza and visit the Bridge of Sighs?”

“Why do you like that place so much?” She would never say it, but the stories you two had heard from one of the guides a couple of days ago still made her shiver.

You shrugged lifting your face to the sky, it was past midday and soon the afternoon cold would bring with it another fit of fog to the bay. You knew you enjoyed the sight of the open sea alongside the Lagoon and the entrance the Grand Canal. At this time of the day, the water would start lapping at the shore while still holding back and the lion in the plaza would stand with pride under the yellowish light of the lamps.

“It’s just magical, you know? But okay, it’s not so much the bridge but its location.”

“You mean the Saint Mark’s Square?” She tilted her head nodding, it was a nice sight but your eyes were just shining with something strange in them.

“Well, yes but…”

Wanda narrowed her eyes at you, the way you were fidgeting was a sign that you were hiding something from her. She just needed to know what exactly it was and how it was going to affect her and the itinerary she had prepared for that day.

“What have you planned?” Her tone of voice was between exasperate and amused.

You made a face lifting your right hand and pointing to the general direction of the square and the Grand Canal.

“There is a place that I want to show you, and it seems to be the right time to do so.” You shrugged stepping back, your hands on your pockets and your head hanging to the side. “If you want to, of course.”

All of a sudden, the small box hidden in your pocket was made unbelievably heavy and your hands started sweating while your heart was threatening to leave your chest. Her brown eyes, vibrant and full of questions pinned you to the spot, but instead of looking angry or really upset, she merely softened her stare and the warmth inside them made your soul shiver.

“Today is your lucky day, Mrs. Firenze.” You snorted at the nickname shaking your head while offering a grin.

“I hope not only the day, but the night as well.” You winked at her, and Wanda just laughed walking down the bridge shaking her head.

“That depends on this surprised, perhaps you will be lucky before we get home.”

You stood there with your mouth hanging open, your eyes following her frame before you shook your head.

“You mean, I can get lucky in one of the alleys?”

“You never know!” She replied waiting for you in the distance.

You knew it would never happen, at least not unless she was really into getting down and dirty in public. And it would never happen because whenever you were with her in a sexual way, you loved the fact you could take your time with her until the both of you were to spend to do nothing else but sleep into each other arms.

By the time you two arrived at your destination, night was already fallen.

Your jacket was tightly pressed against her frame, protecting her from the cold and the drizzle of the afternoon. Just as you predicted, the fog was filling out the bay gliding inside the Grand Canal and the city slowly but surely.

Punta Della Dogana was the triangular formation were the Grand Canal and the Giudecca Canal met. The wind was stronger here, the place was almost empty as many of the tourist coming to this part of the city would go directly to the museum and admired the contemporary art pieces instead of the sight of silver waters with a hidden sun and cold colours illuminating the sky.

Wanda loved it, though.

Even through the cold, she stood at the edge of the piazza admiring the boats coming into the harbour and entering the Grand Canal. She pointed to the far away islands, and the possibility of what was beyond the poles in the water. You wished you could focus your attention to the open sea, and the lights starting to create a mystical sight at the other end of the canal.

But your eyes were on her.

Her sharp features, softened only by the excitement of her smile and the brightness of her brown eyes. Her hair falling wildly on her back, and her body covered with two jackets, and white tennis that made sure she was completely protected from the cold of the afternoon. The sight of her usually stopped your heart, and made your breath caught in your throat. She was like a dream, and a part of you would always be afraid to lose her.

There was a single pole light standing right at the very edge of the land, the light twinkled for a few seconds before it turned on completely. The yellowish light fell upon her frame, and your heart stopped beating for a moment, this time around you came closer to her but it was her the first one to make contact.

Her hand was cold against yours, your eyebrows knitted together while you wrapped her hands in yours.

“You’re cold.” You whispered, she shrugged stepping closer to you.

“This is amazing.” She whispered back, and it was as if you two were sharing a secret. The sounds of random conversations filled in the space and you could feel the eyes of some of the people in the plaza on you.

“So, I will get lucky?” You wriggled your eyebrows playfully, and she couldn’t help it. She started laughing snuggling closer to you.

“Yeah, you deserve to get happy wherever you want.” The sultry tone of her proposal made you shivered, your arms wrapped around her and you glance at the sea and the sky watching as the night fall around the world, and the temperature dropped slowly.

The sound of the waves hitting the stone and the shore soothe over the hushed conversation around you, the lights of the city made it possible to see a beacon of possibilities from the darkened sea. There was something mystical about this world, and this moment; Wanda lifted her face and you found yourself looking into her eyes.

“You got silent all of a sudden, are you alright?” She was looking concern, you snorted shaking your head placing a light kiss on her lips.

“That was quiet doesn’t mean I am not okay, perhaps I was trying to choose the place I want to have my naughty way with you.”

You opened your eyes taken aback by the soft blush on her cheeks, she lowered her gaze and the bashful sight of a smile on her lips almost stopped your heart.

“And, have you chosen?”

You laughed stepping back for a moment, disbelief touching your features.

“Of course, I have! The AirBnB, Mrs. Venice.” You winked at her trying to use the same kind of nickname she used early with you, the name of the cities either one of you had chosen to visit on this trip. “I want you all to myself, so I will need you expose and begging.”

“You wish.” She replied slapping your arm playfully. “Last time, it was you who beg.”

“Shh, that’s a secret.”

She chuckled stepping back into your arms, this time around with her back against your chest, your arms wrapped around her waist glancing into the distance.

“This is really beautiful. Thank you.”

You nodded but said nothing else.

Your lips were near her ear, your warm breath making her shiver.

Biting your lower lip, trembling lightly you opened your mouth and closed it again. Then you closed your eyes and she was the one talking at first.

“I never thought I will be here with you.” Her voice was soft, full of memories and something else you couldn’t pinpoint. “It was kind of difficult to imagine myself with someone like you.”

“Aw, baby you’re so romantic.” The sarcasm was not missed by her, she tilted her head to give you a glance, you pressed your lips together letting her talk.

“I just mean…this has been different, surprising. And I love it.” She leaned back her head falling on your right shoulder. “I love you. I really do, and I’m just glad we haven’t’ complicated things with formalities and foolishness, just enjoying one another.”

Her words pierced your heart with a cold, sharp blade. You looked away from her, and your body tensed lightly while she continued.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love living with you but…just you and me without any formalities, or labels.” She pursed her lips, turning in your arms. “You know what I mean, right?”

You were caught of guard, nodding like a fool while smiling weakly at her.

“Totally.” She scratched the back of your head, trying to forget the silver ring made with a turquoise stone only for her. “I mean, marriage and other such titles complicate things, right?”

Your question carried with it the weight of your intentions; you gauged her expression and it seemed as if you had said the right thing. She nodded eagerly without missing her content expression, she went back into your arms glancing around the coast with your heart breaking a little.

The ring in your pocket never forgotten.

Winter in Venice was a chance to walk in the dark during the early hours of a Friday morning.

The watch on your wrist showed the 6 a.m. time, but the sky outside the window of your AirBnB was completely dark. The sight before you were that of the canal’s waters calmly lapping the stone edifications, the lights on the windows told you there were more people waking up at such an hour getting ready for the day.

Inside the room you could spot the black cloak with a hoodie you had chosen for your costume, the colombina nera venetian mask, and the black cane that would complement the attire. Your lips curled into a subtle smile, you had chosen the appearance of an Eighteenth-Century gentleman, while Wanda had kept her own clothes a secret from you. After almost two hours of her kicking you out of the room you were highly curious as to what she was going to wear that day, your stomach tingling in anticipation while your imagination ran rampant with the many scenarios you were capable of creating in the solitude of the living room.

As it was your custom, you favour black and silver as the colours for your garments.

For a long time, you admire those black trousers rolled up to the knees and the black tights covering the legs. The black waistcoat finished with silver braids had been a surprised, and the contrasts of these materials with the white shirt you wore underneath with the cuff lacing and lace jabot gave it a Renaissance tone that only made you chuckled at the possibility. The shoes, black and silver buckles and the black gloves were just a complementary accessory you indulged yourself with, much like the tricorn hat, the black cloak, and the black stick.

You chuckled when you remembered the options you put on the table to Wanda. Either was that or the Plague doctor. The Eighteenth-century gentleman look won in the end.

The silence inside the room became almost unbearable for a moment, the distraction dressing up and thinking about the Carnivale was not enough to make you forget the day before and the missing opportunity for the proposal.

The ring was, for the very first time ever, forgotten inside your backpack.

Once you two had arrived to the flat, your torture yourself with thoughts of what could have been and what would never be. You always assumed that Wanda would like to get married; that perhaps her past experience was not enough to deter her from trying to join her life with another. Then again, she had sworn herself to never be in another relationship and, here she was with you after two years.

Marriage though, was another thing.

Something you thought…well…

It was foolish, really.

Getting married didn’t mean you two would be forever, or even happy. It was just a title that many used as an excuse to not be alone, and she had been right, you two were just fine the way you were. There was no need for a ring, or a ceremony…

You shook your head going towards the mirror while putting your hair in a ponytail. The door of the room opening and her voice reaching out to you.

“Okay, don’t laugh and please be honest because I feel foolish.”

“I won’t laugh…I mean you didn’t…” You trailed off as soon as you turned to her.

It was as if the world had stopped completely and it was only her and you.

She had light make-up on her face, the hair had been pulled up in a half ponytail with her light brown locks falling in waves on her back. She had chosen a baby blue and grey courtesan dress that contrasted with her white skin and the pink on her cheeks. There was something adorable in the way her face broke into a bashful smile, her eyes gleaming mischievously as the settle on you while she chewed on her lower lip while playing with the fan in her hand.

“Well? What do you think?”

The bodice squeezed up her torso, highlighting her chest and her slim figure. The low neckline showed off her neck and collarbone, letting you see the softness of her skin while the sleeves fell down her arms to her hands decorated with white gloves. The gown was divided in two skirts, one that would cover the outer side of the gown, and the second one that would fall freely around her legs and the small high heels she had chosen for herself. She too had rented a cloak, dark blue, with a tricorn had of the same colour and the colombina cigno mask.

“You…” You trailed off shaking your head before approaching her taking her hands in yours while bowing your head in a dramatic way. “You look beautiful, Signora.”

She snorted looking away rather embarrassed, her cheeks burning brightly under your gaze and sincerity. You leaning nuzzling her neck and placing soft, featherlike kisses on her skin, your lips teasing her earlobe.

“You really look beautiful.” You whispered, the intake of breath on her part was all you needed to know you had affected her.

“We better get going, or all this time dressing up is going to go to hell.” She replied huskily, her eyes burning into yours.

You chuckled raising a single eyebrow at her, “why? What happened?”

“You’re gonna pay for that, you know that, right?” She replied playfully just as you put on your cloak, the mask fitting on your face just as you opened the door and placed your hat on your head.

“I don’t care as long as it is with you, Wanda.”

Even if the light of the morning had not shown by the time you left the house, the streets of Venice were full of people dressed up and ready to enjoy what The Serenissima would bring during the Carnival. It had been a dream for you to come to the city while dressing up and wearing a mask, getting lost in a world that would sometimes get lost in the best of the past and the present.

You could hear the laughter, the greetings from the locals and the admiration your outfit and hers awoke in some of the passersby. The sky started clearing up b the time you two reached the Saint Mark’s Square, you helped her up the flood ramps positioned all through the streets. The water still covering the stone of the Square, while people filled out the place wearing plastic boots.

“We didn’t think about this.” Wanda commented wincing lightly when she almost fell from the ramp.

Your arm wrapped protectively around her waist, winking at her you lift the cane in your hand offering it to her.

“My dear lady, I wouldn’t oppose to you carrying this stick if it will assure your safety during this trip.”

Her laughter was everything you needed at the moment; she slapped you playfully on your arm shaking her head while grabbing your hand.

“I prefer your hand, that stick is better off with you.” She rolled her eyes at your obvious innuendo behind the wriggling of eyebrows. “Stop your dirty mind there, doofus.”

“But you love my dirty mind!” You whined walking alongside her to the other end of the square, passing right in front of Saint Marks.

The Lagoon was cover with dark blue waters, and the light was sneaking inside the clouds and the sky bringing with it the morning mist. The daybreak was gold and red, cold winds brushed against your skin, though for the very first time Wanda and you could enjoy the breaking of the morning sun in a world that was breathing celebration.

The sound of laughter was followed by music.

Violins and drums, the screams and singing from a group of youngsters made you turned to the group that was lifting up a small scenario near the harbour. Many tourists approached the group hearing the stories and the songs while the day in Venice started with a bang.

You had been to many parties all through your life.

The world you life in was full of festivals and carnivals, they were full of tradition and happiness in itself. Many of them were a cultural mark of the place you had been born to, and while a part of your heart and soul loved what they represented; never before had you been in such a celebration.

For venetians this was part of their identity.

History stated this started around the year 1169, after the Venetian Republic won a war against Ulrico di Treven. The story itself became a legend, and the celebration started taking different forms and meanings as time passed by. Modernity only enforced this believes and engraved in the hearts of venetians the need of celebrating each year the victory of life over dead, of fun over boredom, of passion over dullness.

Walking down the streets while observing the many people dressed up as Renaissance individuals was something that had your heart leaping with happiness. Your mind had forgotten the sadness of the day before, the possibility that this relationship you had built with your heart might crumbled under the weight of small details, of great differences of thinking.

But, just as one of your bosses had said once, the devil was in the details.

“Did you see that?” Wanda was in awed, a couple of young people had started a pantomime improvisation, their ability to catch the attention of those passersby was enough to have everyone waiting for the next act.

Wanda grabbed your hand, leaning forward she laughed alongside the audience when one woman and a man crashed comically in an explosion of confetti and blue smoke. Magic and theatrics was the main component of these presentations, and soon many were giving away the price they put to such entertainment.

Your lips broke into a content grin, Wanda stood up walking towards the closest mime while placing a single note. You observed her from afar, your expression falling while you thought of the uncertainty that had grown inside your heart.

“Everything okay, baby?” Her hand cupped your cheek, the mask covered the upper side of her face but made her eyes that much darker and mysterious.

“Yeah, I just…” You leaned into her touch and decided you didn’t need a ring…to love her the way you did.

“I think I’m beat and I need a drink.”

She didn’t look convince; she knew you enough to know something else was bothering you but for now you had focused your attention in the celebrations happening around the city to delve any further into your emotions. Either way, you wouldn’t allow it as long as there was a possibility of Wanda smiling and enjoying herself the way she was doing at the moment, your selfishness was something that exasperate her sometimes. But for now, she would indulge in your stubbornness, for she knew this was a day you had been waiting impatiently as much as she had.

“I love you.” Wanda blurted out all of a sudden, your eyes opened wide at the revelation, it wasn’t as if you didn’t know that or she hadn’t said before.

It was just that she didn’t mention it as often as you did. With a single smile she leaned in wrapping her lips against yours, the warmness of her mouth made your darker fears scattered away while the sweet taste of her was enough to fuel your soul.

“So, AirBnB or something to drink?” You wriggled your eyebrows enjoying her laughter just as she stretched her hand to help you up.

“Drink first, then we will go to Rialto Bridge to see the boats.” She declared watching her mobile, or more exactly, the itinerary. “There is a couple of things I would like to see, and that I know you will love and then, if your good, tonight…You can do whatever you want with me.”

“Damn, woman, I will hold you to that!”

Wanda winked at you; her mischievous grin was all you needed to know that night you wouldn’t get any sleep.

The waters of the Grand Canal were of a deep dark green and blue, the place had been decorated with the symbol of the Lion and the Italian flag while the shores were filled with people either dressed up as participants of the Carnival or as simple tourist. The bridged was full, you placed yourself protectively behind Wanda while putting out the phone to get ready for the pictures.

The drinks had been enough, and at the moment she was still carrying an orange juice for her, and an ice coffee for you.

“This is so exciting, though I hate there is so many people.” She all but whispered for you, you chuckled nodding.

“I know, this should be only us and those who are coming in those boats and gondolas. No need for the rest of the world.” She rolled her eyes though never contradict your version.

The music filled the canal, and the chatter died off as everyone saw the different boats approaching with the many colours that adorned the celebrations. You heard her gasp, leaning forward resting her hands on the stone rail of the bridge; she grabbed your hand and the excitement in her face was quite obvious as she started pointing around while her grin almost broke her face.

Boats decorate with the colours of the Pride flag came in, people dressed up in the most ridiculous yet amusing costumes came in greeting everyone and wishing the participants the best of lucks. The music increased and every single one of those boats had put on the same song, the same playlist that resounded into the canal mixing up with the laughter and the greetings from the rowers.

Many boats came in, some of them carrying with them the red and golden lion that represented the Republica of Venezia, and some others came in with the green, white, and red representing Italy.

“Look at that one!” You pointed to a black sailed one, filled with people dressed up as Plague doctors, behind them was another one that came in with men and women dressed up with changed roles and wearing the most beautiful dresses you had ever seen.

“They look beautiful.” Wanda commented almost pouting when one of the men dressed in a bright purple courtesan dress greeted her with a wave and a kiss from his position on the boat. You returned the gestured and he merely laughed greeting you with a swing of his fan.

For more than an hour you two observed the people rowed down the canal, many of the presents had started emptying the bridge but you and Wanda had enjoyed the show too much. The conversation grew around the organization and the tradition, how simple things such as the pandemic of 2020 could have affected such events and how people endured and continue on regardless of those issues.

By the time the last boat crossed the Bridge, it was time for a late lunch.

Wanda guided you through the narrow streets of Venezia. She had a hand on her mobile and another on you, her eyes drifting from the screen to the names on the plaques hanging by the walls, as you two walked deeper inside the alleys, you stopped hearing the sound of chattering people.

"Where are you taking me?" You asked for the tenth time, the woman in front of you grinned, shaking her head.

"Nu-uh, you have taken me to so many places, this time around is my turn." She declared with a hint of pride in her voice, you cocked your head raising your brows at her declaration.

"Did you really go all the way to find something in these streets?" the hint of surprise disbelief, she furrowed her brows at this turning to you with wrinkles around her eyes.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Her inquired was made to question you more so than to receive an answer she already knew.

You shrugged shaking your head, “I just…I think you always surprised with the most incredible gestures, that’s all.”

She halted her rush walk, her brown eyes locking with yours for what seemed like an eternity. Whenever she got that look in her face, you knew she was analysing what you said and what you meant; but instead of showing her disapproval she just softened her features and her hand squeezed yours in a tender gesture.

“Kiss me.”

You blinked at her command, she stood there defiantly for a moment nodding towards you.

“Go on, kiss me.”

“So bossy…” You mumbled and she merely sniggered.

“You like me bossy.”

With that you couldn’t argue.

Leaning in you closed the space that separated you from her, a hand on her waist and the other holding her right hand brushing your lips against hers while feeling her warm breath against your lips. It was a featherlike touch, the sweet teasing just before you sealed the command with a searing kiss. It was as if you had never kissed her before, lips moulding to the needs of the other while the electric shock that went from the connection stirred your heard and mind warming up your limbs while she pressed tightly against yours.

At times, kissing Wanda was like fighting over dominance, it was like a game that would always bring a smile to your faces and leave the both of you breathless. Some other times, like this one, it left you two with a beating heart and a need to just exist with the other.

When you finally broke apart, your forehead rest against hers, only the mask preventing for your skin touching hers. Wanda grinned goofily nuzzling her nose with yours.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever you want, Love, you know that.”

Wanda stepped back nodding, “I know, now let’s keep going.”

You chuckled shaking your head while glancing in faux exasperation to the sky.

“So bossy.”

The sun positioned itself above your heads, and while the wind brought with it the cold breeze of the Alps, you still felt the heavy warmness of the star above your heads.

People filled out the streets, the music and the laughter accompanied you two down the road leading to the Saint Mark’s Square down to the harbour and the road leading to the tail of Venice. You had been there only once, with your sister when the adventures you shared were only shared with your family and not with the woman you had fallen in love with.

The commercial side of Venice started dying out, and these parts became of a green that still surprised you whenever your eyes fell upon them. Grass and trees decorate the streets, and the stone on these places had been renewed quite recently. People walked around wearing their everyday clothes, with just a couple of the passersby wearing the customary clothes for the Carnival.

Whenever you crossed a bridge, people would greet the both of you with a smile.

And you soon found in a different world.

This time around you had the ocean to your right, and the love of your life to your left.

The world had changed from a Renaissance era to one of contemporary forgetfulness. It was a land in which time did not pass, yet it had come in the form of peace and familiarity. The parks spread before your eyes, the silence was most welcome to your ears, and soon the loneliness became a welcoming change.

“I was trying to look for a place that could…impact you.” Wanda started talking slowly, the sound of her heels resounding in the empty streets. “I search for a good place, something tranquil for you and me. And then I came across this restaurant, and I thought that it would be the perfect place to enjoy a nice lunch with you.”

Your heart shrank at her words, the tingling in your chest spread out until there was a delicious sensation of anticipation in your abdomen.

“I know sometimes I’m hard to read, and I’m not very open with you…” She continued, taking your silence as a way to continue the conversation. “I just wanted to show you that…I have never wanted anyone beside me but you in this place. Living these adventures.”

“My, Wanda, since when are you so romantic and emotional?” You teased breaking the tension she had formed around herself, when she lifted her face to yours she was smiling bumping against your shoulder.

“I learned from the best.”

“You better!” You exclaimed shaking your head. “I have never thought you were not open, or hard to read, Wanda. I have always understood your silence, but I take what you’re saying…thank you for letting me be a part of this.”

“You better be thankful; I took most of the day looking for this place instead of working on a report I had to submit at that time.”

You laughed shaking your head, this confession only made your heart leaped with contentment. If that was true then she really had put her mind and heart into this search; there was nothing in the world that would make her procrastinate her job. Nothing and No one.

The place had been built it in a residential part of the city, it oversaw the lagoon and the entrance to the Adriatic while at the same time enjoyed the fortune of a park and trees that gave the district a livelier and more natural. In here, you could almost taste the salty texture of the sea and the coldness of the north. By the time you reached your destination, the canals and the bridges were forgotten and for the very first time you understood the nickname of the city: La Serenissima.

The restaurant ended up being a homey place with kind patrons, and not many people.

You chose a table right outside the restaurant, an old man with a passionate speech brought the menu and talk about the specials. His English was broken, and with your broken Italian the both of you enjoyed a light banter Wanda observed from afar. For her it had always been quite a sight to see you interact with people, for a person that looked shy and insecure at times, you were always ready to be the first to speak and take over conversation if the situation demanded it.

You turned to her smiling, pointing to the best dishes while also ordering their best Spritz Aperol as an opening. The lights around the local had been turned on, and the dark clouds announcing rain were approaching from the Adriatic. The conversation soon turned to work, the latest happenings and the future of your position, the gossip couldn’t be missed and as soon as food was served you two started talking about the family and friends.

There was always something to talk about, but even if you tried to make it all look natural, Wanda didn’t miss the fact you hold yourself in a very important aspect of the conversation. You never mentioned your future together.

“Do you think we are going to last?” Her question caught you by surprised and you almost choke on the piece of pizza you had just swallowed.

Wanda stood right away patting your back with a frown on her face, the concern was evident in her expression while she tried to offer you some water that you took quite grateful. After a couple of minutes, she sat down, and now it was quite evident the whole situation was amusing for her.

“Woah, I take it you don’t think we last?” Her tone had a hint of teasing in there, but her eyes were asking with seriousness for a real answer.

You shook your head placing your hand on hers, for a brief moment you thought about the ring and how this could be your chance. But the conversation of the day before, and your own insecurities stopped you from doing something foolish; instead of that, you decided to just answer with honestly.

“Never.” You stated clearing out your throat and drinking some more water. “The moment I saw you I thought you were not for me. I always thought you were perfect, like the kind of woman I had been looking for but…but could never had.”

“Love…” Wanda started but you stopped her with a gesture, the softness of your lips curling upwards told her you were talking with honesty about then and now.

“I just…I was so afraid to even ask or do something else…I didn’t want to miss my chance with you, even if I only got to be your friend.” You shrugged lowering your glance to the table remembering all those days, weeks, and months in which you broke your head trying to make sense of everything you felt for the woman sitting right next to you.

“And then, when you and I finally got together well…You are the love of my life, and I will be with you for as long as you have me, Wanda.” You finally stated shrugging. “I don’t think it will be possible for me to stop loving you in the way I do so now, if anything, I think everyday I love you even more.”

“God, you always have such a way with words.” Wanda said after a long paused, she grabbed your jabot and pushed you forward crashing her lips to yours before letting go. “You really…I think we need to pay this and go for a walk.”

You blinked confusedly at her sudden changed in attitude, afternoon was already falling and many lamp posts were starting to ignite with the yellowish lights of the night. Wanda came in after having paid for lunch, grabbing your hand you were once more dragged down the park and through the grass to the farthest corner of the city.

The sight in here was completely different.

From this part of the world, you could only see the waters of the Lagoon whole the world became a blurry line of buildings and lights. There was not a single sound that you could make, and even if there were people around the both of you were alone standing at the shore glancing the dark waters and feeling the breeze in your faces.

You admired the sight before you.

A city that had survived time and war, a place that had stood through the centuries while becoming a beacon of modernity and rebirth. Wanda stood by your side, her arms wrapping around herself while she too observed the waters of the Lagoon.

“Thank you.” You mumbled smiling softly. “This is amazing.”

“I knew you would like it.” She replied shrugging, her hand went to the purse she had been carrying around, her cheeks soon turned an interesting shade of red that made you tilted your head in curiosity.

Wanda took a deep breath and put something from her purse while turning to face you.

“Yes.” She said with her voice firm, full of conviction even though her lower lip was quivering and her hands had been fidgeting nervously.

You raised a single brow, your eyes showing the confusion you felt while you pursed your lips to the side.

“What?” You replied almost laughing when your words died in your throat, your eyes going wide open when she presented her left hand and the ring with the turquoise stone shining into the venetian afternoon.

“Yes.” You replied bouncing lightly on her feet, you opened and closed your mouth several times, frowning while taking a step back.

“How…I mean, why do you…” You started asking but unsure of what exactly you wanted from this conversation, Wanda stepped forward grabbing your hand.

“I found it in your backpack, and I knew you wanted to do this because…you’re not very subtle.” She said lowering her gaze before lifting her eyes at you, this time around the sight of unshed tears was quite visible for you.

“I never thought…You didn’t want to get married.” She said softly, and you remembered that first conversation you held with her. Your past, and your previous relationship. “And then I discover this and I…you wrote what you wanted to tell me and I realized…I wanted to surprise you. And yesterday, when I said what I said I knew I was right…you were sad, and so…and still…”

“And still, I wanted to be with you.” You mumbled understanding her reasoning. “You thought I was doing it out of commitment and not because I wanted to be with you like that.”

“Yeah.”

“Wanda, I love you. I never thought about marriage, that’s true…but with you, everything changes.” You took her left hand, your eyes on the ring. “So, you will be my wife?”

Her laughter came out with a choked sob, her arms wrapped around you and you could hear her soft voice in your ear.

“Yes, I will.”

The night finished with the both of you whispering into the night.

It was neither rushed, nor was it adventurous.

It was passionate.

With soft caresses and sweet promises, with mischievous games and subtle confessions of love.

By the time she had fallen asleep in your arms, you could not sleep. Your eyes had been focusing on the ring she had stolen from your backpack and was now wearing proudly on her finger. She was not a lover of social media, if anything, she preferred to be anonymous to the world while it was you the one posting the pictures of the trip. That day it had been her the one posting the cold afternoon sunset, and the sweet images of people having fun. It had been her the one posting the picture of the both of you dressed up for the Carnival with the mask and the hats, the smiles and the promises of the future.

The ring had been visible, but her main focused had been the promises given that day.

The pictures had been part of the promise of what the future held.

Next time, when you and her returned to Venice it would be as more than a couple.

And that, was all that matters.

#Wanda Maximoff #Wanda/F!Reader #Wanda/Reader #Female reader #a truth story #personal #fanfic #wanda maximoff x reader #wandaxreader #imagine wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x female reader #reader

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atdawnweryd · 1 year

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Lucia Appreciation Post

I wasn't in the fandom when S1 came out so hopefully this isn't something that everyone has already rehashed to death, but! I want to give some love, and my own interpretation to the S1 Lucia scene.

First of all, I know we can all agree that it is a thing of pure beauty artistically! But beyond that it's such a great scene because of how it shows a very critical moment in Simon and Wille's relationship:

We know that Simon is a caring person. This is one of his core characterizations that comes into play over and over again throughout the series (eg taking on the role of protector to Sara; playing peacemaker for his mother and Sara when they are not understanding each other well, and then working hard to make sure Sara keeps in touch with their mother while she's living at Hillerska; giving Wille 2nd, 3rd, 4th chances after he gets skittish and pulls away in S1, then not allowing Wille to believe he and Marcus are dating because it will make Wille sad. The list goes on!). Seeing someone he cares about hurting or needing help is something that Simon cannot turn his back on, he truly believes in giving people chances to grow.

So, as the scene starts there is a big conflict happening within Simon, and you can see it clearly in the amazing acting by Omar. When they walk into the classroom, he has already calmed down significantly from the anger he was previously feeling- now that he knows that he's not going to get expelled - but he's still upset. He's not shouting or defensive anymore like he was in the music room, he's listening, but still skeptical of Wille's intentions. He maintains a physical separation between them that shows clearly that all is not forgiven yet.

Wille has really hurt him here by allowing Simon to be put into a position where he might be expelled. Where the rich kids would get away with it while the outsider feels all the consequences. More importantly, Wille showed Simon that he didn't understand or anticipate how upsetting that would be for him during their argument in the music room.

But now Wille responds with honesty and sincerity. He doesn't try to beg, plead or excuse his actions, or worse - try and convince Simon that it wasn't a big deal, minimizing his feelings.

And you can see how much that resonates with Simon here. You can see his defensiveness melt away, leaving him feeling a little lost on how to proceed. Does he just forgive Wille right way? Is it enough? Is this relationship even worth it if this is the kind of B.S. he's going to be exposed to around Wille?

But Wille continues. He opens up and makes himself vulnerable to Simon, revealing how important Simon and their relationship are to him.

He tears up, showing just how scared he is of losing Simon. And Simon, who is a caregiver at heart, can't help but respond to that.

(Me too fr, let's have a brief moment of admiration for Edvin's acting and unreal kicked puppy eyes!)

This following moment right here is so important!! The emotional climax of the scene in my opinion.

You can see it in Simon's eyes, the exact moment when he gives in - when he realizes that his feelings for Wille and his need to comfort Wille overpower his own feelings of hurt and frustration.

But it's not an easy decision for him - he looks almost pained, like he has fought a battle with himself and lost. Like maybe he had no choice at all, this was only going to end one way....

He pulls Wille into an embrace, and it's forgiveness, emotional release, and relief that this is not the end of them. Relief mixed with a very strong feeling on both their parts that their relationship has taken on a new dimension.

Before, they had admitted to liking each other, but their relationship was limited to lighthearted (and sexy) hookups, teasing, and generally enjoying each other's company. The honeymoon phase.

But this is the first time their relationship has been affected by external influences outside their control. It's been put to the test, and although they choose to overcome it together, it leaves them shaken.

Wille gets his first taste of reality - that Simon comes from a different world and does not see things from the same perspective, nor will he put their relationship above his family or his morals (ok yeaaa it's going to take a few more lessons for this one to fully sink in, but I said first taste!). Simon is not a sure thing.

And Simon realizes that being with Wille is not all fun and games, but it's something he wants anyways.

This conflict is unpleasant and jarring for them, but ultimately leads to a better understanding of one another, and new depth in their relationship.

They end this scene with a kiss that is pure comfort. Wille, who craves touch from Simon when he needs reassurance of closeness, goes in for one quick kiss before he pulls back slightly, and they just breathe each other in, Simon lightly stroking Wille's hair and cheek. We very much get the sense that there is an intensity between them that wasn't there before.

This scene was necessary to have before their video was leaked and everything went to hell. I don't know that Simon would have been so certain about sticking it out with Wille, or that Wille would have tried defying his mother for Simon if they hadn't gotten this taste of being apart first, cementing their desire for this relationship.

Because Simon is a very good, caring person, yes. But - he's not a bleeding heart who will stick their neck out for just anyone (for example, he doesn't exactly seem bothered that Alexander's going to be thrown under the bus instead of himself). He's the kind of person who generally prefers to mind their own business unless he or a loved one is involved.

I think that this scene is the first time Simon consciously realizes that he's in a bit over his head with Wille, that the depth of his feelings for him far surpasses what he had believed. Because Wille is now one of those people whose needs Simon will put before his own. He has become a loved one.

#they love each other your honor #this scene is everything #young royals #young royals analysis #simon eriksson #wilhem #wilmon #lucia #long post

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arkbeyond · 9 months

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May I have hcs on Liv and Skk reader trying to teach Lucia how to cook?

I was reading Lucia Plume's Dancing Ripplet coating story event, where Lucia gave a reason why she's not a great cook. Like she has to scrounge up as much food as she can in her childhood, as little as food source is, so I imagine that she wouldn't have the opportunity to experiment with cooking or mixing with spices and such. So now that she's in a better position where it's possible, now she's got other people to rely on to teach her with cooking! ^^

THAT'S THE REASON????? i don't have plume and i think i was taking a break from the game at the time so i definitely missed that ... that's so......... cat screaming dot jpeg..........

this is such a cute request, and i hope i did it justice!! i think it's a little shorter than the rest of the stuff on this blog so far, but i hope you enjoy, anon ^w^

liv and the commandant teaching lucia how to cook

content warnings: none

➸ Any and all jokes about it aside, LIV thought it was really sweet of Lucia to come to her for help with her cooking, but she can't help but wonder if she's really the best teacher... And that, dear Commandant, is how you get involved: I would feel a lot more reassured if you could help me out, Commandant... But only if you're free, of course! Lucia also perks up a little when she sees you there too, clearing away any clutter from the kitchen before you begin. Regardless of whether you're any good at cooking or not, you'll definitely know if it tastes passable, right?

➸ It starts out with picking a recipe in the little cook book Liv brings along — something simple since you're just starting out, maybe soup or stew, or something else if you prefer? Liv clasps her hands together with a smile and says that maybe once you get the hang of things, Lucia, we can try other kinds of dishes!

➸ Dutifully, Liv lists out what ingredients you'll need while you help Lucia prepare them. Neither of them need much instruction for any slicing and cutting, but every so often Liv will give some other pieces of advice as you put everything together — It's a bit too salty, but that's fine, we can just do this... or, It feels like it's missing something... Maybe we should add some more of this? Lucia listens with rapt attention to anything you or Liv has to say; this is new territory to her, and your advice has her realising that maybe she's been a bit... overzealous in her previous cooking attempts.

➸ She's not dissuaded, though! When you have some downtime while waiting for the food to cook completely, she asks you and Liv for some extra advice. What does she do if it gets too dry? How would she know when it's finished? Once the timer you've set goes off, you help with putting everything onto plates and setting them onto the table (maybe if you're lucky, you'll happen to catch Lee?).

➸ Of course, your first taste is far from perfect, but considering her track record, it's a very good attempt. Lucia perks up as Liv echoes the sentiment — and if you're so inclined, maybe the two of you would want to help her again on the next day off? Her smile is bright as she suggests it: maybe sometime, she can treat everyone to a homecooked meal, too.

#pgr #punishing gray raven #pgr lucia #pgr liv #pgr x reader #punishing gray raven x reader #pgr lucia x reader #pgr liv x reader #bee.writes

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realistically-shifting · 4 months

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🛶 do you have any DRs that are NOT based on fictional worlds or some type of fame DR or waiting room?

💍 are you married in any of your DRs?

🫶 who is your favorite person in your DR that is NOT an S/O?

🐶 do you have any pets in your DR?

🛶: I do! I’m copy-pasting from another post, but I have a DR where I’m part of a nonbinary idol group called ‘N.B’. The group has five members, ranging in age from 21 to 30, and all of us typically present neutrally but we fluctuate between feminine and masculine too. The five of us work with smaller artists to develop our albums, plus each member has an album dedicated to their personal music preference mixed with pop. We’re globally popular across age groups and genders, and we probably have fan blogs dedicated to the femme and masc versions of ourselves. I haven’t even finished the script yet, but I’m excited. I wonder what this will do for my fear of publicly dancing/singing in my CR.

💍: Generally speaking, I have S/Os that I intend to marry, but I haven’t experienced it yet. That won’t stop me from taking this chance to talk about them though!

In my zombie apocalypse DR, Orion, I originally had 12 wives (and Remus is our husband). I’m not sure if I should add them back to my script atm. I didn’t include all the faceclaims because I don’t remember the t.o.s and I don’t want to be flagged, but-

Carina is a botanist and gardener who takes care of our current greenhouse. She somehow manages to spoil Hana more than I do, and almost all the rest of us spoil Carina too.

Daphne is a MMA trainer with a passion for picking fights with the Helvigs. Felix falls for her taunts quite easily. She keeps all of us in shape and all of us have to be trained by her.

Ivy is a mechanical-electrical engineer and was actually my girlfriend in college before we were separated, thought each other dead, and I met Remus. We were in a band together in college, we both love mechanical-electrical engineering and music.

Circe was a lawyer before the apocalypse, now she’s taking this free time to study more branches of law while we go over what the new society should look like.

Aaliyah is an investigative journalist and radio personality, she also has a radio show. She set it up after the apocalypse, since she had nothing else to lose anyway.

Sylvie is an assassin. Is, not was. But since we don’t really have people we want assassinated, she’s basically retired. When she’s not training or helping Daphne train us, she’s lounging. She can be really intense with her eye contact, but I love that about her.

Valentina was a logistician that’s currently helping to handle our supply distribution. She and her twin brother are typically fighting, but he lives with us because they’re inseparable after what happened during the apocalypse.

Lucia was an architect, now she’s using her education and skills for some urban planning. She loves having something to sip on (as an oral stim, not alcoholism), so she often has a glass in her hand. She’s super giggly and she’s tied with Carina for most spoiled because we can’t seem to help it.

Nadia’s educated and trained as an ethicist, but she prefers beekeeping. Hana prefers it too, since the honeycomb from Nadia’s hives are perfect for her sweet tooth. When she’s smoking, her personality completely flips and she loosens up.

Adele is a general surgeon that would love to not be working, but the Helvigs like putting her to work. Even with super healing, we still need things taken out, aligned, etc.

Jade was a psychologist. She was working towards her own private practice before the apocalypse, now she has her hands full with us. But she’s considering training people to be counselors to take on some of the work.

Yasmin is a political historian that was working as an archivist, books and research are part of her special interests. She’s super easy to get gifts for, since she loves old books and the apocalypse happened and everything.

Other than them, I don’t have solid plans to marry in most of my other DRs. My only other husband would be…

🫶: HANA To be honest? My CR little sister who shows up in about half of my scripts as my little sister. If not her, then Juliet Starling, who is my opposite aesthetic best friend in my Lollipop Chainsaw DR.

🐶: Yeah! Not many, though. In several witch DRs, I have a white Burmese Python named Velvet. She’s just a baby and she’s the sweetest thing. She’s my familiar, so she helps me with my magic, protects me, and we have a psychic connection that allows us to communicate. This is what she looks like at only four months.

I also have a Bernese Mountain dog named Titan. Technically, he used to be Remus’ trained dog, but the hard truth is that he just likes us better lol

Thanks for asking!

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coolstuffiseverywhere · 4 months

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I have a kinda batshit insane theory that might make sense?

So, I like Tohya and Ikuko’s existence, but Ikuko always felt off to me. We don’t have enough to really grab onto to start building much of a character from her writing unlike Tohya, despite her writing more of it. I know Sayo=Ikuko is a common theory, and I think it works by the logic I’m about to suggest. This is another alternative that I find interesting though.

Ikuko is Rika. Hear me out. Tohya isn’t Battler, in other words, he isn’t the detective. The closest we have to a detective of the future is Ange, who can still see magic. Meaning we don’t actually get an objective viewpoint of the future ever.

This works based more off Featherine, but let me explain how it works in reality: Sometime after breaking the loops, Hanyuu leaves, etc(ignore Gou I’ll get to that) she decides to leave Hinamizawa, setting up a remote place to live with some servants. As heir to the furude family, she has the funds. This doesn’t actually have to be 1986, as finding Tohya and bringing him back immediately aren’t necessarily true and are also a little lucky. My guess would be she finds Tohya while on the way to look for an estate, brings him to the hospital, and they later live together. Together, they lie about her age upon finding him, as she often uses makeup to appear older(and by the time Ange or anyone meets them she’s old enough for it to not matter), to feel more her age after the loops.

Now, my actual reasoning: Featherine on the meta level always seemed weirdly divorced from Hanyuu. I can see some connections of course, it’s all the parts of Hanyuu that got buried in Matsuribayashi. But I never really could get what all their lines about master/servant meant, considering some lines Lambda said and some implications that don’t seem true in Higurashi. Thus, I suggest: Featherine is a mix of their author persona and a witch for Rika to deal with Hanyuu leaving despite being there for her entire life.

This explains Featherine being more of a recorder(although you could also read this as Ikuko’s influence, recording both Ange’s thoughts and Tohya’s story) and watcher then a writer despite also writing. It explains what Bernkastel means by “you taught me”, as she’d be quite literally talking to a manifestation of Hanyuu and Rika, the second of which presumably making Bernkastel as a way to deal with the looping and her trauma, as well as to personify her depression. Hanyuu ofc did teach actual Rika, but Featherine was always not actually Hanyuu, and a lot of the commentary was always more about Featherine anyway. The broken horn thing may make more sense as well: it’s a combination or the Hanyuu inspiration and talking about Rika’s loops.

It also explains the higurashi as a book references: they probably did also write those, Sayo might of read them!

In this scenario, Lambda would be written to be her way of dealing with Takano and her not really getting consequences, as well as her separated friendship with Satoko. Which, on that note:

Gou! I think this would be Ikuko and Satoko, but mostly Satoko, writing it! For the same reasons as the show. And I think it works better as an actual book. She’s trying to use loop’s mechanics more to understand Rika’s experience better, and also they’re both trying to process their friendship ending. I think in this scenario either Rika left before they started high school, or they just went through all of Saint Lucia’s without a loop. Regardless, I think Satoko tried to go to Rika’s school, which was likely fancier. This was just their way of trying to see how that’d actually go for them, and better process that their past relationship was unhealthy.

I think she may of also helped write some of the Lamba parts of Umineko, but that’s mostly conjecture.

This was a bit of a mess, and I’m sure more contradictions and evidence is around, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else suggest that some of the last book’s non-Ange future scenes are fantasy scenes. So I hope that at least helps.

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cerezzzita · 2 years

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Half angel reader? BET! I like to think they have the same/similar power buffs as Dante (accelerated healing, strength, ect) but would they have an equivalent to Devil Trigger? Would could they turn into? Also which basis of angels would like to use? Like the scary biblical angels, the pretty ones in old art, or based in a game that has angels (my mind goes straight to Bayonetta and its lore)

Notes: *bayonetta's voice* Morning! Yeah, that's me finally answering this, um, request? It is more like an headcanons post, so here I brought y'all some headcanons of my own of what and how angels/half-angels would be in DMC Universe. It took me, at least, months and months of researching because goddamnit- it doesn't looks like, but angels have so many informations about them from Christian to Abrahamic religions, yet I think most of my hcs here came from Christian concept with a mix of DMC Universe, I think. I hope I don't offend anyone with this, btw.

So! Let's rock! Thank you for requesting and enjoy the experience as much as you can! (Again, this is more of an general hcs post, I'm just adding this 4Dante gif bcs it's somewhat I aimed to, y'know, relate + I love 4Dante with all my strength <3)

✦ Sidenote/To start off: Angels in the Devil May Cry universe do not "exist", they're treated like mythological beings and are mentioned throughout the whole series frequently. The DMC wiki suggests that demons once were angels, then there's The Fallen on DMC3 whose appearance is very angel-like and their description says they were in Heaven once. There's also The Seven Deadly Sins — said explicitly that they fell from celestial grace — Lucia's DT, the Angelo Knights (although they're demons but "Angelo" is the Italian word to angel, anyways you got the deal) and many more. I personally believe something happened to them, like, all of them fell and turned into demons, they're hiding somewhere or they were purely extinct… Also, this post is an open-one, that means y'all can reblog and add another headcanons of your own as much as you want!

These celestial creatures and their descendants match with the demons in general abilities such as superhuman strength, speed and durability, healing regeneration, and elemental control. However, there are facts that differentiate them from the infernal creatures, and they are:

Mortals faithfully believe that angels are humanoid beings of ethereal beauty with a singular and grandiose pair of wings. Depending on their placement in the angelic hierarchy, they range from human-like bodies to the most animalistic ones, and those that are "equal" in having a human shape are indeed heavenly beautiful. As for their wings, an angel can have one or more pairs of wings — again, all according to their position in the Celestial Spheres.

Contrasting with the demons' dark color palette, they have a more loaded palette of light tones such as white, blue and gold and in certain cases, brown. In their Angel Trigger, their bodies may or may not evolve further from their humanoid and animal-like molds with a kind of armor made of angelic stone that makes the most "human" angels vary between female and/or male silhouettes, their halos are on display and their faces take on a texture similar to a marble sculpture and do not move as they speak and express emotions; they're also able to control elements such as fire — restricted only to seraphim —, lightning, nature and ice.

As stated before, their ATs are usually able or not to evolve their basic bodies. For example: the cherubim are large and leonine, when they have the Angel Trigger activated, they become a triple combination of angel, eagle, a human head and four pairs of wings of divergent sizes. Seraphim, with a body that merely resembles a human one and with elements of fire for their clothing, become extensive flaming serpentine figures with six pairs of wings.

Angels are literally cold-blooded. Their natural icy blood differs from the warm blood of demons so they can withstand the lower temperatures of high reliefs, cold weather environments, and Heaven itself. Still, it's not a total benefit to the hybrids as thanks to their human half, they constantly need to be warmed up when exposed to these low temperatures for too long.

The halo of angels is made of light and a part of their soul, as it is what carries their identity according to their function in their respective Celestial Sphere, going from the most detailed to superior positions — seraphim, cherubim, thrones — to the simplest for lower positions — principalities, archangels, common angels. Halos, when exposed, can make the angel vulnerable to greater amounts of damage and in extreme cases on a battle, lead them to death.

All hybrids have only one pair of wings, regardless of which angel they descend from. They can measure between 5 to 8 meters in length and the color of their feathers can be entirely white or have brown, golden, silvery or bluish shades. Although they can be summoned at will, they only appear when a hybrid "matures" — around fourteen or fifteen years old —. It's not a pleasant process, the wings don't magically appear, they literally rip the flesh off the back and break some rib bones. Due to the high amount of damage, not all hybrids survive during the appearance of the wings, and those that have resisted the pain are able to regenerate in around two to three hours.

The term used to designate the hybrids, "Nephilim", is extremely offensive since its concept comes from the fallen and impure angels who failed to hide their children from the supreme forces of Heaven. It also refers to the infernal giants that, by their angelic reminiscent appearance, were associated with the heavenly creatures. "Nephilim" is commonly used by demons as a way of offending and despising their children, a remembrance to the angels' hypocrisy.

Angels and Demons cannot touch each other when using their powers or activating their Triggers during battle. This is also valid for half-angels and half-demons. Once their opposing essences collide, accidentally or not, the sensation will be the same as having been fatally burned, the place hit will present purple and/or blue veins with a golden energy for the angels and another fuchsia for the demons.

ꗃ special tagging: @tefimaysimp @aldryrththerainbowheart

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kagedbird · 6 months

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TESSDE AU (+ Lucia :]) (??? part 2)

Everyone walks out to the front doors where the priests have been waiting. There are three total, one Imperial, one Breton, and one in the front, an Argonian.

Allora: *clears her throat and nods, looking them all over* …Hi. You wanted to see me?

Argonian: *bows with the other two, smiling wide* Honoured to be in your presence, Great One. I am Athrodite, thirteenth generation of Jeelius, priestess of Arkay. I now run the Temple with my fellow priests, Hilio, and Elona.

Hilio + Elona: *dip their heads reverently* Honoured to be in your presence, Great One.

Allora: *strained, uncomfortable, giving a very awkward smile* …Nice to meet you too. What can I do for you? I apologize for the, ah… sudden destructive stuff that happened yesterday, if that's what this is about.

Athrodite: Your actions yesterday were only a fragment of why we are here. It has been a long time since a chosen of Akatosh has been on our doorsteps. We would be most honoured to have you pray at our Temple, in your draconic scaled form.

Lucien: *blinks, frowning* I… with all due respect, I don't think she should do that.

Allora: *looks to him curiously* Yeah?

Lucien: It's not as if there's a fantastic history of those going in there with monumental status such as Pelagius Septim the First and Calaxes Septim being assassinated in there, as well as Martin Septim's sacrifice, turning him into stone.

Allora: *wrinkles her nose* Yeah. No, I don't feel like having another attempt on my life again so soon. Sorry.

Hilio: Please, Great One, we promise you nothing will come of it! We merely wish to have Arkay's light shine upon our once beloved Temple again.

Allora: I don't really worship Arkay though. I helped Auriel out with vampires and stuff, and got his bow. I guess I'm his champion as well… but Akatosh has my soul. *pauses* …And two others, but it's not that important right now.

Elona: Arkay's blessings have reached you, and He is of Akatosh's closest kin! Please, Great One, we implore you!

Davidicus: *furrows his brow* Are you referring to her as the great ‘One'? As in what the Temple is named after?

Athrodite: Never have we felt this magnitude of power radiate from one so clearly. It is She who must be given such a title.

Allora: *waves a hand, shaking her head* I'm really not… all that…

Athrodite: So humble, Great One. Rarely do we meet anyone such as you with your sense of ease in self.

Lucia: *frowning, looking up at Kaidan, who was carrying her* Papa? Can we go with her if she goes?

Kaidan: *frowns, shifting from foot to foot* …I don't know if we should bring you there, or if it'd be worse to leave you behind…

Allora: *frowns* Yeah, no. I'm not leaving Lucia anywhere. If you want me to go pray, we all go.

Athrodite: *perks up, tail swishing* Yes, yes, of course! The Temple has not seen so many people in ages, it will be most pleased!

Lyra: *crosses her arms, frowning* I should report this to the head of the Imperial Guard before we go. Some added protection couldn't hurt.

Inigo: Should we really bring armed forces to a prayer? Mr. Dragonfly thinks that is like mixing Sweetrolls with vinegar. It just does not work. I agree.

Taliesin: Yes, I have to agree with the dragonfly on this one as well. If we just go in and get out, then the process will be much smoother, and far less contrived.

Allora: *turns and takes Lucia in her arms, feeling anxious* Let's just go all ready. I want this over with, so I can focus on relaxing. As is what we were here to do, but never seem to be able to anywhere we go.

Athrodite: *bows with the other two again* Thank you, Great One, thank you. This way, if you please…

#skyrim #TESSDE AU #Lucia #Athrodite oc #Elona oc #Hilio oc #Allora #Dragonborn oc #Lyra Flavius #Davidicus Flavius #Lucien Flavius #Lucien Skyrim #Kaidan Khim #kaidan skyrim #inigo the brave #inigo skyrim #skyrim taliesin #Too many damn NAMES ugh

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bluedalahorse · 7 months

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As my identified reference about Sara and August, I have a question for you about the end of s1.

When Sara goes to August's room to confront him, they end up kissing. Before I saw S2, I thought Sara was not really consenting, giving the way she looks away. I thought August was taking avantage of her.

Do you think she was "enjoying it" at that time, but maybe was wondering what was happening ?

Thanks for your ask! I’m happy to be your sargust expert.

And now to address your question. It’s an uncomfortable question to answer, but I’ll do my best to answer it all the same. Content note that we’re about to get into discussing consent and other difficult topics related to sexuality.

Generally my read on the situation is: yes, Sara consented. At the same time, she’s conflicted about her feelings for August in that scene, so I think what we’re seeing when she looks away is her struggling with her feelings about her desires.

While we talk a lot about the more positive depictions of sexual behavior in Young Royals, one thing that’s true about the show is that it actually depicts a range of sexual behaviors. Earlier in season 1, we have Simon nervously but happily kissing Wilhelm on movie night, but we also have Felice showing up at August’s room and initiating a hookup not out of desire but out of feelings of anger and insecurity. Felice and August both consent to the latter encounter, but both of them do so while in a negative headspace. Sara’s encounter with August in 1.6 occupies a sort of middle space between these two extremes. This is even evident by how the scene is blocked and directed. Sara showing up at August’s door reminds us of the way Felice shows up, but her first tentative kisses remind us of Simon on movie night. Sara does feel genuine desire—she’s the one who initiates the kissing, at first—but she’s also struggling with that desire and what it means for her understanding of herself, her relationship with her family, etc.

Another piece of important context for the confrontation scene is that both Sara and August are in not the best headspace. August has been grappling with the fact that he betrayed his core value of discretion released the video, and a lot of the buried resentment he feels toward Wilhelm has come to the surface. This is coming on the heels of August barely avoiding being kicked out of Hillerska after not being able to pay his boarding feels. Sara encountered her father in person on Lucia night—something caused by Simon going behind her back—and her house is now being hounded by journalists and her mom is threatening to pull her out of a school where she’s finally made friends. While neither of them is in as awful or traumatic a place as Wilhelm or Simon, for obvious reasons, I don’t imagine either of them has been sleeping well or taking care of themselves. This is likely something that’s cutting down on their usual inhibitions, and their decisions are driven partially by bad mental health/a stress response.

Regardless of the fact that Sara consents, I also think we’re meant to feel uncomfortable in that scene because we know how quickly things could go in a negative direction where Sara’s consent is disregarded. We know August’s views of women are crap. He has a lot more privilege, between the two of them, and he’s physically taller and stronger than Sara. If I recall (I’m trying not to rewatch the scene right now so I don’t accidentally rewatch Young Royals when I need to get work done) we even see him lift Sara up and put her on his desk. In a more idealized/less realistic teen drama, the directors might have tried to turn this into a ~sexy move~ via camera work, lighting, and sound mixing. But here it’s merely a demonstration of physical strength, and one that Sara’s not initially expecting. I don’t think Sara’s feeling threatened or coerced, in that moment, even if she’s surprised and even if all of this physical contact is new to her—I imagine season 2 would have played out very differently if she had felt that way—but I do think that we, as audience members, are supposed to feel the possibility of that threat, and worry for her.

(Something I also have considered in season 2 is the way that Sara is initiating a lot of the physical contact at the beginning of season 2, while also knowing August’s secret. Theoretically she could have blackmailed him into hooking up with her by threatening to go to the police with information. She doesn’t attempt to blackmail him, and August consents to physical contact with her even when he’s surprised by it. But the context in which Sara kisses August in 2.2 is supposed to bring this idea into our head, I think. Maybe. I go back and forth on what the writers want us to think there.)

Another way to think about these scenes, also, is that some sex educators recognize multiple categories of consent. For instance, Angela Chen recognizes four in her book on asexuality. Chen would probably label Sara’s consent in 1.6 as willing, but not enthusiastic. Likewise with August’s consent in 2.2.

Tl;dr consent is a complex topic and different sex educators have different paradigms about consent. Young Royals wholly acknowledges the importance of consent in sexual situations, while also acknowledging that not everyone who consents does so at perfect times, or with pure, uninterrupted feelings of love and desire in their heart. And I think being aware of that makes it easier to interpret scenes like the one above.

Hope this answers your question! There really are a lot of emotional layers to this show.

#young royals #sara eriksson #august young royals #sargust #consent talk #asks #cw consent violations #(there’s probably a better label for this but I’m struggling for words)

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arcanemadman · 1 year

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How exactly is Subhuman lyrical character assassination for Dante?

Ok. I'm not looking forward to writing this but…

So you've probably seen that there are some mixed opinions on this particular song, so allow me to clarify. I would like to preface this by stating that Subhuman is one of the few things in the world that I feel genuine hatred toward, which is either amusing to think about or outright pathetic. I actually can't listen to any part of the song without feeling anxiety or anger. As such, I have avoided listening to the song again.

First of, lets talk about the original version of the song. The original was sung by suicide silence, who at one point a popular deathcore band until the death of their main vocalist, after which they spiraled into disaster and alienating their fan base. Their version on the song, without exaggeration, sounded like pigs squealing. High pitched, badly mixed music by a washed out band who's new main vocalist also happened to be a pedo. These factors culminated into the song, upon being released, getting over 13,000 dislikes before the video was deleted from YouTube. Seriously, when people first did listens like you do they were, at best, laughing.

youtube

So they replace the vocalist, problem solved right? No. This is actually the second attempt by composer cody matthew johnson at a theme for Dante, the first being a remix of Devils Never Cry for Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, and is largely considered the worst and only bad version of the song. And when advertising this song on his website, he advertised it as the theme of "the foul mouthed anti-hero" Dante, AKA reboot Dante.

In other words, he made it for the wrong character. Johnsons reaction to the backlash was to throw a tantrum and saying he's "happy to stir the pot", ignoring the fact that the original version was actually painful to listen to (this isn't hyperbole, seriously don't take my word for it and listen to the original version and you'll get what I mean) and the fact that it was sung by a pedophile. Recently he also related the backlash he got to the abuse targeted at actress Lily Gao for her performance in the Resident Evil 4 remake, which is deeply insulting considering she was subjected to racist abuse and harassed off social media.

And even then, the song itself good for what it's supposed to be. As a character theme, it's character regression for Dante. It's an angry, spiteful song that goes on about how Dante struggles with this evil inside him, how he hates all demonkind and how he's a rage filled monster that tears through everything in his way. But that's not Dante. At one point, Dante did have anger towards demons and hate that part of himself, but his character ark in Devil May Cry 3 was accepting that part of himself and growing as a person. DMC3 is a prequel, mind you. In universe, he got over those feelings over 25 years ago.

When faced with demons, he often offers to show them mercy even if they don't accept, because he knows that just as any human can do evil, any devil can do good. He spares Trish in DMC1, a demon created for the sole purpose of killing him, and in turn she becomes his trusted friend. In DMC2, he refuses to let Lucia kill herself because her fear of hurting humans proves she's not a monster to him. In the anime, he's hired to kill a demon called Brad and instead finds him in a bar, talks with him to figure out what his deal was, and then helped Brad protect his human girlfriend and kill his demonic master. In fact, he's far more merciful to demonic enemies than his human ones, who he kills without ever offering mercy, because at its core those that give up their humanity are worse than those that never had it to begin with.

youtube

That's mainly it. The thesis statement of the entire series is this - The human ability to care for others, to love someone, be it family, friend, or romance. If you care enough to cry, THAT is what makes you human. Dante is powerful not just because of the demonic power of his father, but because of the human heart of his mother. He is the son of both Sparda and Eva, and he's proud of that. But the very title of subhuman contradicts the entire point of the series. It implies he is less than human, but he's not more human or more demon, he's both, and that's the point of him as a character. Vergil rejected his humanity, while Dante embraced it. He's reached an equilibrium in his soul and grown as a person, embodying both worlds as a devil with ability to cry. Subhuman doesn't focus on Dante's humanity at all, it's all about how he's inhuman.

youtube

You remember how in Devils Never Cry the harder and softer lyrics are separate and initially clash, representing his demon and human halves, but in the end they come together into a singular song, representing Dante's acceptance of both sides of himself. There's none of that nuance in this song.

And removing the character assassination, it's just not a good representation of Dante. As I said it feels angry and violent, but Dante is charming and stylish. Of course he does have some resentment to aspects of his life, at times wishing he could have a normal life, but he enjoys what he's got. With the other character themes, the lyrics feel like something the characters would say in battle; With Devil Trigger, I can see Nero smirking and shouting "Bang, bang, bang! Pull my devil trigger!" as he throttles his sword as his enemies charge at him. With Crimson Cloud, V talking in poetry all the time so "Saviour! Bloodstain! Hellfire! Shadow! Heaven on a landslide!" sounds like something he'd read out to himself as his demons tore up the battle. And with Bury the Light, Vergil would totally proclaim "I am the storm that is approaching!" before unleashing a devastating attack.

But with Dante, who taunts by throwing a rose at his enemies, laughing and pointing, and playfully beckoning at his enemies to keep trying their best, I can't see that person screaming at the top of their lungs in fury "YOU CANNOT KILL ME!" Dante isn't someone who feels the need to prove anything to himself or his enemies. It's part of his charm that powerful demons will fight him, expecting a respectful battle with the son of the legendary Sparda, but instead they get their ass beat by an idiot more interested in seeing what he can do with a hodgepodge of weapons than taking things seriously. And when he does get serious, it's more quite, closer to "you've got my attention and I'll make you regret it." It's too insecure. A better line would be something like "Just try to kill me!" but even then, it's still screaming. There's no subtlety here.

None of this is helped by the fact that the song is so plodding. The low BPM makes it feel plodding, and while I'm certainly no expert on music that sort of feeling hurts in a game as fast as DMC, especially for Dante, who while not as fast as Vergil is by far the most chaotic character to play as. Teleporting, swapping guns, swapping weapons, swapping styles, Dante has over 100 potential actions that can loop into each other freely. Subhuman doesn't capture how chaotic it feels to play as Dante. It's going for the power fantasy of Kratos, an unstoppable juggernaut as opposed to the power fantasy of a stylish showdown. You don't play as Dante to strike fear into demonkind, you play him to see just what bullshit you can get away with even in the most dire situations.

youtube

That is ultimately why Subhuman fails and betrays Dante as a character.

I'll admit, from my personal experience I tried everything to get myself to like the song. I listened to every edit trying to salvage it, every version that changed it up, all hoping that Dante would get the theme he deserved. But I think that's why I hate it so much now. I desperately wanted it to be good. But at it's core, the song is fundamentally flawed it what it sets out to do, represent Dante as a character, and it needed a full overhaul that was never realistic within the time frame of it being revealed to the public and the games release. Honestly, after what he did to Devils Never Cry they should never have given Dantes theme to someone as inexperienced as cody and his works before and since have been middling at best. But he was the real thing that killed subhuman for me. Anyone that listened to the original version knows it was BAD, but he acted like he was a visionary who was too smart for the rest of us and ignoring all criticism including, need I remind you, HIRING A PEDOPHILE. The recent thing with Lily Gao I find particularly infuriating because what she has been going through is unquestionably awful, yet he made it about himself. As if a white composer who complained about the whole thing on twitter suffered the same abuse as an asian woman who was chased off social media. That inability to self reflect on anything and blaming everyone that disagrees with you is just arrogance in the end.

I always get really angry whenever I think about this song. If I had the same passion for writing things I actually cared about I'd be an acclaimed author by now. I don't like how much I think about this song so much. As I said at the state hating a song this much is either amusing or pathetic. But Dante is a character that holds a certain importance for who I am so I care more than I should. I know not everyone had the same experience I have, or don't really care about the music so long as the game is fine, but the music in Devil May Cry has always been spectacular, and the character themes have been brilliant ways to prove who the characters are deep down. So for Dante, the face of the series, to be stuck with the worst one in the entire series in the grand return of the series until the next game comes around… it's fucking infuriating.

#devil may cry #dmc #subhuman #why subhuman sucks ass #took me long enough to answer this #copy and pasted from somewhere else #Dante isn't an angry or hateful person #he doesn't hate his demon half and he doesn't struggle to control it #he doesn't resent who he is #he doesn't see himself as subhuman #dante is the son of sparda and eva #that's why subhuman is shit #i will never not shit on subhuman

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schtrawberry · 1 year

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dressing based on my zodiac signs: cancer ascendant, aries venus, aquarius lilith

[!] i am not the biggest fashion person out there. these are all mostly based on my personal style with a hint of whatever ~vibe~ each of my signs gave me.

brief description. cancer is the nostalgic presence of the zodiac that floats between the past and the present. as a rising sign, she is soft, compassionate, and gentle yet able to stun with their elegance and ability to run with the currents of life.

really leaning into the fact that cancer is probably the most earthy water sign; hence the heavy amount of pale greens and yellows as my inspiration.

a lot of house of sunny bc i feel like they capture that casual comfy yet feminine vibe that i think cancer embodies really well. knits, pastels, the occasional 70's funk-inspired patterns and styles— the nostalgia!

another brand that comes to mind is réalisation par for a more soft look. the brand features lots of flowing fabrics, sustainably-sourced cotton, mini dresses, pretty floral prints, and more subdued colors.

pale pinks and yellows partnered with all different shades of blue and green!

chunky knits, light cardigans, and flowery or retro-ish patterns.

in terms of jewelry: a single mini freshwater pearl necklace paired with a gold figaro chain choker would be nice. copious amounts of minimalistic rings bc as i've said before, cancer is still a material girl! perhaps more on the minimalistic side for all her jewelry in general with just a few simple, high quality pieces that only enhance her elegant and feminine side.

brands that come to mind: LoQ the brand, ciao lucia!, faithfull the brand, posse, realisation par, reformation, house of sunny, rachel antonoff.

brief description. the first sign of the zodiac, aries channels youth and the start of new things! in venus, she is in touch with her childlike nature whether it be in the bright colors she chooses, the eye-catching prints that make her heart go 'thump-thump!', or her unconscious pull towards red.

one particular piece that i feel captures the playful fieriness and undeniable sexiness of the aries venus is the luz dress in havana by réalisation par! google it and you'll see why.

aries is the child of the zodiac. i see them channeling boldness and vibrance in their clothes; whether it be through the colors, cut, or patterns— hence the neon colors to cut through the pinks and reds.

the feminine influence of venus brings with it bright shades of pink and yellow to complement the fieriness of aries.

gimaguas x lea colombo collection comes very much to mind as well. i used a lot a lot of the photos used for this collection's lookbook in my lil moodboard because i think the play between the vibrant shades of pink, red, and yellow and boldly body-loving nature of the sleeveless bodycon dress really fit the vision that i had for aries venus— lively, forever in motion whether it be in love or otherwise, and completely in tune with the boldness of mars. [i recommend checking the artworld post by sarah bassett for this collection; i found it to be rlly cool :)]

in terms of jewelry: i only see chunky rings for this sign! i would hate to overstimulate the senses with too many different things going on in one look so i think chunky rings and the right amount of light jewelry will be more than enough.

brands that come to mind: tach clothing, tyler mcgillivary, gimaguas, rua carlota [bc aries is environmentally-friendly like that!], mirror palais, some of the looks by réalisation par.

brief description. aquarius is the visionary of the zodiac. in lilith, she is attracted to all that is unordinary and liberating; every outfit, hairstyle, accessory, is a new experience. her promiscuity and independence shines through in her style— she screams "i don't dress to please any man!"

for aquarius: just... whatever paloma wool has got going on.

lots of paloma wool pieces come to mind. the mix of color and irregular shapes that are distinctive of that brand just fit the archetype of the spunky and colorful aquarius.

special mention: the nika milano x paloma wool collection reminds me so much of the naturally electric eccentricity that comes with the planet uranus. the heavy use of strong-colored gradients and form-fitting fabrics only add to the boldness associated with uranus. in lilith, she is perhaps even less afraid to let loose and show that.

i see dark, shimmery material like rayon or viscose for this sign; cloths that can carry a lot of color and funky prints. this can then be partnered with more solid fabrics like structured cotton or leather!

pieces by ed curtis and his art [find him on ig @ed_curtis_] also inspired the vision i had for this sign. there's just something about his use of bright swirls and roughly stitched fabric that feels reminiscent of the aquarius 'idgaf' nature.

in terms of jewelry: something with opal on it— whether it be a necklace pendant, an earring charm, or an adorned piece of body jewelry. the shade will have to depend on the distinct aura of the wearer; as no two aquarius natives are alike and it's influence can present itself in different ways, depending on an individuals other signs and personality. perhaps a mood ring as well, i don't know, i like to think that an aquarius lilith would bravely wear their heart on their sleeve like that.

brands that come to mind: other than paloma wool, akyn, distal phalanx, jungles jungles, suicoke, laagam [esp their neptune dress!].

so that was it for my zodiac! i recommend that everyone do this w their own signs bc lawd, i enjoyed making this.

#alis does astrology #dressing like my sign/s #zodiac #zodiac signs #astrology #amateur astrology #cancer ascendant #cancer rising #aries venus #aquarius lilith

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jungle-angel · 6 months

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Warm As Can Be (Miles Miller x Reader)

Summary: You and Miles are excited as ever for Thanksgiving, your sons are both with his parents for the day and it leaves the both of you alone for just a little while

God the house smelled so good, the best it had in a long time since you and Miles had moved to his family's ranch in Montana. Thanksgiving had come at last and soon the entire family would convene on the land to spend the evening with you and Miles, leaving the two of you to deal with the chaos that was dinner prep.

"It's times like this I wish Dan was here," Miles said as you dumped a tablespoon of cinnamon into the pumpkin pie mix he had been stirring. "That man could command a kitchen like it was an army unit."

You laughed. "Well, him and Lucia will be up in a few days and so won't the others. George I heard closed the hotel for Thanksgiving so he and his family could go back to Texas to celebrate."

"Which is unfortunate for the travelers," Miles chuckled.

You heard the pattering of little feet entering the kitchen, only to find a yawning, half dressed Benny, clutching his stuffed puppy. "Momma, Dada, I need help," he chirped.

"C'mere honey," you told him.

You straightened out his little green turtleneck and fixed his overalls as best you could before Miles picked him up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Did Jesse wake up?" Miles asked him.

"No, baby still sleepy," Benny answered again.

"Alright, go get your shoes on for when Papa gets here," Miles told him.

Benny ran off to go and get his little boots on before Otis came in through the kitchen door. "Alright am I stayin here and helping you or bringing your ghouls back to the house?" Otis asked, stamping his boots off on the mat.

"Might wanna bring them back to the house for a bit," Miles answered. "As soon as we need help with the bird, do you mind coming back?"

"Not a problem," Otis said with a wave of his hand. "Your ma's making breakfast over at the house so maybe I'll take Benny and Jesse for a bit."

"You sure you can get down the path with them?"

"Yeah it's no big deal," Otis replied. "I remember when you were born I went trudging to your gram's house up the street with you tucked into my coat."

Otis gathered up Benny and Jesse, heading down the path to the farmhouse where Kathy was waiting. As soon as Miles saw his father going up the back steps of the porch with Jesse in his arms and Benny by his side, he turned his attention back to you.

"Looks like it's just us," you purred.

Miles hummed as he pulled you close to him, kissing you passionately before he switched on the radio on the counter. You and Miles danced as Vaughan Monroe's "Let It Snow" began to play, the snow outside falling hard, just the two of you enjoying your time together alone as dinner cooked away in the oven. You giggled a little as Miles littered your cheeks with sweet kisses, happy as ever to be in a home of your own and near the people you loved best.

#miles miller #miles miller x reader #bad times at the el royale

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