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👁‍🗨- Talk about someone/something you like, but pretend to dislike

“Romeo and Juliet. Everyone’s meant to hate that play, but I can’t do it. I just want to meet my star-crossed lover — you know? But it’s a bit embarrassing to admit you like it. It’s nothing on Henry VI — even less on the rewrite I’ve got planned, stop cutting Margaret’s lines out — but I do like it. Though I’d play the Nurse because I think getting to yell like that would just be... visceral.”

#alchemistisa #[ answered. ]

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secrets | headcanons | talk about [x] | honesty hour

#asphodel:qday

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✉

meme: five texts alessandra alvarez-montalvo didn’t send, and one that she did ( cc: @march-montalvc )

UNSENT —

[text] — i know work can be stressful so i thought i’d brighten your day with this picture of me looking ridiculous after chilling in the costume department

[text] — i hope you’re having a good day! and that you’re not in a meeting so that I’m not bothering you. 

[text] — maybe i should just send that later.

[text] — Um. I’m sorry I’m not great at this whole being-an-Heir thing. I’m willing to try, though, as long as I can hug some people still.

[text] — you’re so effortlessly cool how do you do it

SENT —

[text] 

#march-montalvc #[ answered. ] #[ marchesa montalvo. ]

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texts | confessions | starters | honesty hour

#asphodel:qday

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march-montalvc​:

While March adored Tessa to the moon and back, her eldest was a touch too serious for her own good - the perfect foil to Alessa’s exuberance, in March’s humble opinion. It had taken their combined powers to wheedle the elder Montalvo sister into an appropriate outfit for the Solstice, but March was entirely pleased with their efforts. Though they did not share a drop of blood between them, no one would deny that the Montalvos did make for a stunningly attractive family. 

“Oh, I do like that one.” March inclined her head subtly to the side, eyeing a beautifully tailored, rich burgundy jacket, its hue complimenting the warm skin tone of its wearer. “Perhaps we could ask where she purchased it - or I could commission something similar for your sister.”

Blood does not a family make. 

The family the Montalvos had made despite the lack of it — but also the many in Asphodel who’d come from blood families that had broken and splintered with members that used each other for gain — attested to that fact perfectly. And yes, they were completely stunning; deserved all the eyes that they had upon them, admiring, the people wishing it were them. Alessa had always felt blessed in many a way to have both Tessa and March in her life, and to call them mother and sister, and even to be an Heir; even if she wasn’t sure whether she wanted the responsibility of being Head of House for herself, she did trust her mother’s judgement more than anyone else’s.

The young woman’s gaze followed Marchesa’s indication, “Tessa would look great in something like that,” she agreed, “that’s beautiful. Did you see the guy in the mermaid shirt? It’s like... audacious but also I respect it, you know? I want to have that guy’s self-confident energy.” 

#[ marchesa montalvo. ] #[ interactions. ]

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nitasamsaradavid​:

Alessa’s description of Solstice, for all its sickly sweetness, did seem genuine. Her utter delight at greeting anyone and everyone at the festival seemed proof enough of that, and her pure joy at the idea of meeting new people and hearing new stories had a tinge of something familiar and painful. 

“Oh fucking hell, you’re fine,” she assured, watching the heir stutter over a series of increasingly distressed apologies. “It’s fine. It’s not like anyone can’t figure out the longest day of the year anyways.” The solstice, after all, was hardly just one culture’s to own, and while she rarely missed an opportunity to scorn as much of the world as possible on behalf of a tribe she barely stayed connected to, even she could offer some allowances. “Plus it sounds like you do shit that actually matters to you, so that’s, you know…fine.” Fine was Nita’s cure-all for feelings she didn’t want to describe with any real detail for a whole host of reasons. Seeing as she’d used it three times in the last few sentences, it seemed best to drop the subject.

“Just…not my kind of fun, okay?” It was the closest she’d get to a compromise, leaning back against the dumb claw machine that had grabbed the other’s attention, resting one foot flat against its brightly painted surface and returning to her duty: scowling at anyone who looked at Alessa with an expression she deemed unacceptable. That was to say, scowling at everyone. “Though I really don’t get how this fucking thing is fun,” she added, gesturing with her head at the game behind her.

Alessa’s relief was indelibly clear upon her face for a few moments; she had meant all that she said, after all, and was going to more than prove it further with her warmth and happiness for the remainder of the two-day celebration. There were many more hugs to be had, kind words to be said, snacks to be eaten and flower crowns to be made. 

‘Fine’ being repeated three times did cause the heir’s eyebrows to furrow slightly in confusion — there were plenty of adjectives and ‘fine’ was the blandest of them —  though it sounded as though that was the point; sometimes it was a playwright or author’s intention to be bland, and just maybe that was the same with people. 

“Then what is your kind of fun?” she asked, “these are fun because you get laughs out of how bad everyone is at them. I’ve only ever known one person win anything, and it was this one guy we passed just now.”

#[ nita david. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ event 002. ]

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elisabonaventura​:

“Sissi!”

Elisa turned immediately after hearing the other’s voice. She felt her own smile grow as the other heir approached her with open arms, welcoming the embrace with the joy of reuniting with a friend. She did not quite remember the last time they saw each other, but to be fair, her mind had been a little dispersed since the incident. She had even almost forgotten to feed Cleopatra a few times.

Out of all the heirs, her own sister included, Elisa had always resonated with Sissi the most. While most of her interactions with the others often consisted in her trying to get them to smile or laugh, Sissi always came with her own ready. It was nice, having someone in your life with whom you could enjoy the simplest but most fulfilling things, like hugging, or making a flower crown.

The genuine concern in her friend’s voice was very appreciated, but it was certainly counterproductive to her strategy for dealing with any traumatic event – denying it until it didn’t matter anymore. “Well, we are all a little on edge, after what happened. And appa had us almost secluded in Linden ever since. But nothing that the Solstice can’t fix!”, her voice was cheerful, almost as if the break in didn’t phase her.

Elisa then remembered the little gift she had brought for the Valerian heir. She picked up her basket from besides her feet. Earlier that morning she had gone to Oleander’s greenhouse to gather flowers for when she met Sissi, among the colors of many other flowers stood the wispy white and bright pink of their House’s symbols. She took the white flowers and extended them to Sissi. “I thought we could make some crowns with both oleander and valerian. I would have brought something to represent Endine too, but that was hard to find a flower for them.”

Alessa enjoyed the warmth of the hug; it escaped her, too, but whether that was the incident or general absentmindedness regarding the things in life that did not involve a stage ( because regrettably, all the world was not one ) it could not be said for certain. 

But she did remember being worried about Lili and Annie — one of whom would allow the nickname and the other of whom decidedly wouldn’t — and missing their friendly habits. The young woman hoped to bring the three houses together by getting Elisa and Irene to do something with her: she wasn’t sure about Dom or Liliane — they both intimidated her — and her sister was busy at the hospital, but they could do something. Couldn’t they? 

Endine, Oleander and Valerian all together in a sign of union in the face of adversity? Or just having fun, really, but it seemed better if it was more poetic and made them sound like good Heirs. She knew Irene cared about being the best Heir that there could be.

“Well, I’m so glad to hear you’re all okay, I was really worried about you,” she offered a beaming smile, taking the flowers in one hand an “but we should absolutely try to have a good time, too! Show whoever it was that they can’t ruin our Solstice.” 

( Dark forces probably could ruin whatever they liked, but such thoughts never troubled Alessa’s mind; she was sunshine unencumbered by clouds, and that was naive, of course. But there was food, and flower crowns, and Elisa Bonaventura, so it was already a success to her; the celebration made her heart warm and happy. ) 

“Yeah, Endine didn’t really get with the theme of the houses, did they?” she chuckled, “it’s a lake in Italy, though. What grows in lakes? Something that grows near lakes maybe, for next time.”

#[ elisa bonaventura. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ event 002. ]

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“Oh, more than I should!” Alessa grinned at Levi, visibly impressed with the striking nature of the sign. Maybe the Carstairs parents wouldn’t have gone amiss working in set design for the Asphodel College drama department, but never mind. Not everyone is destined to be a thespian. 

The other seemed content eating his own baked goods, after all, and they seemed to bring . And so she thought about how much money she had in her pockets, and whether she should get something for Tessa and March, who had both vanished into the seas of people at one point or another. 

“It is the season, though, right, Solstice? If I’m going to indulge it should be on one of our grand days of celebration, no? How’s your Solstice been?”

Location: Cake Stars Fair Booth Status: Open

His parents decided to have a booth during the Solstice, one done up in lurid pink and white stripes, with a couple of rainbow-sprinkled cupcakes dancing on the sign. They decided to keep the menu limited to their best-sellers - crisp, savory pastries, bite-sized cookies, and their renowned, award-winning corn muffins. Teasers to lure people to purchasing regularly from their shop. 

Not wanting to subject his parents to the crowds and the chaos, Levi and his siblings had volunteered to man the booth in shifts, and Levi made the most of his by avid people-watching and simultaneously munching on a couple of baked goods. 

“Hey, what’ll you have?” 

#[ levi carstairs. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ event 002. ]

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“You look amazing, Tess,” Alessa assured, looking her sister over with a hum of sincere approval; the colour indeed suits her wondrously, and she personally enjoys the note of symbolism in reversing their primary gifts with the colour scheme. Eymen may have — unfortunately — been a spoilsport, but that was a job for the next event of grandeur: she’d have their brother in on the Montalvo aesthetic for it, as a matter of sheer stubbornness alone. “Well, I’m very involved in the costuming department at college; especially with a period-set project the right costume can really help you find the character. So we have a lot laying around if you look in the right places.”

The passing child embodies why Alessa had pushed so hard for the outfits, and she smiled brightly, too; seeing that awe reflected in the toothy smile was everything she’d been going for, and she glanced back over at her sister & fellow heir, “See? Isn’t it worth it?”

“Okay, I only feel slightly ridiculous with this,” she kicked up her frock, because really –– that’s what it was, skirt and all, and glanced over at her little sister, “but at least we match. If only we’d convinced Eymen to wear those tights.” Their brother had outright refused to dress up like them but that was fine with Tessa, who’d enjoyed getting ready with Alessa who clearly had a vision for their attire. “And this was all just laying around in the drama department?” she asked as she adjusted her crown, smiling at a passing child who pointed them out to their parents.

@limelightfm​

#[ tessa ramos-montalvo. ] #[ event 002. ] #[ interactions. ]

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@march-montalvc​ ( event starter. )

Their mother had seemed pleased by Alessandra roping her sister into the princess theme — they weren’t about to pass up any opportunity to be the best-looking House representatives, after all, and the heir was glowing with happiness that her efforts had worked. Even if Eymen had been a spoilsport, but she’d tried — at the Solstice, leaving behind any thought of casual wear.  So it made sense that the two Montalvos would be wandering around the grounds, pursued and watched over by Sentinels as they passed comment ( and thus, judgement ) on the outfit choices of passersby, and their skills at the rigged carnival games lining the path. 

#[ marchesa montalvo. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ event 002. ]

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nitasamsaradavid​:

Nita only shrugged at her question initially, acknowledging that she couldn’t entirely write off the idea that Solstice might mean something to Alessa. It helped that, to her point, she wasn’t white, but that didn’t entirely exempt her from the constant societal missteps of appropriation. “Alright fine. Why do you actually care about Solstice then?” There was some skepticism in the question, but she tried not to be a total prick about it, still following along beside her on a quest for whatever caught her fancy next.

“I wouldn’t want everyone to celebrate it the way I would,” she corrected immediately, “That’s the whole point. I don’t want people pretending they give a shit about Hashtahli or–” Nita stopped, gesturing vaguely up at the sky before thinking better of the tangent. She was so busy being indignant about the colonization of holidays that she’d accidentally stumbled into something personal, so instead she returned to a vaguer sentiment. “I’d just like for people to leave me alone so I could celebrate however I wanted instead of having their capitalist rip-off shoved down my throat.” It was the truth, though even as she said it she wondered if this was better. Having something, anything, no matter how garish and shallow, to replace the hollow space where a family celebration should be.

"Well, it’s a very important celebration, isn’t it? All the Houses, bringing in the new members of their families — coming together, to celebrate something together, instead of as a separated triad? It’d be fine without all this,” she gestured to the popcorn stand, to the slushie stand, to the grabber machine she’d earlier referenced, “I just like being able to welcome the new into our lives. To embrace human connection, reaching out to each other, making friends! I love to be friends and get to know as many people as I can because we just have this one precious life until we die, right, and I don’t want to die with regrets that I could’ve seen so many more things and known so many more stories.”

When Nita began to speak of her way of celebrating Solstice, she looked distinctly apologetic. “Oh, I, um... I’m sorry, I assumed — assumed you were going to say something like the second part! About the capitalist rip-off and leaving you alone, or about everyone leaving each other alone. I —” she bit her lip, “didn’t mean to make light of something important to you." Alessa had never heard about Hushtahli before, so knew little, though the brief insight caught her attention, and she made a note to find out about it later. If it was important to the other then it was certainly time well spent. “Or of appropriation... I’m — really sorry. I promise I didn’t mean it like that.”

#[ nita david. ] #[ event 002. ] #[ interactions. ]

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nitasamsaradavid​:

This was usually the point where her conversations broke down into one of two directions: either mutually brooding silence or outright argument. Instead, however, Alessa just laughed, brushing off the insult while quickly excusing her own, breezing on in the conversation as if there hadn’t been a break in it at all. And if that wasn’t a magic power, then she didn’t know what was.

So Nita was left without a sarcastic comeback, anything sharp and vicious dying on her tongue, replaced with a shrugged ‘okay’ in response to Alessa’s commentary on game mechanics. Instead she listened along to her next long-winded tangent, only looking mildly annoyed by the prospect of continuing the conversation this time. And her eyebrows only raised slightly at the new nickname: could certainly be worse.

“Trust me, what I’m allowed and not allowed to do has influenced my choices a lot less than most people would like.” Like Alessa’s mom, for example. “But no, a bunch white people prancing around in flower crowns pretending they give a shit about the solstice while making a quick buck on rigged carnival games is not something I consider fun.” It certainly was very American though, so at least they knew how to stay on brand. This was not, however, how Nita would have preferred to celebrate the sacred day. “So I think I’m just going to stick to following you around and making sure you don’t die. I’m sure you can have enough fun for the both of us Baby Spice.”

Nita’s commentary about the very American celebrations piqued Alessa’s interest, her expression becoming briefly thoughtful. 

“What if you’re not white but want to wear a flower crown but also actually do care about the Solstice while playing rigged carnival games and probably not making a quick buck because you’re terrible at them no matter how hard you try?” she asked, tilting her head, the smile on her face growing when Nita reciprocated her Spice Girls related nickname. 

And another element of curiosity occurred to her, so she didn’t straighten her line of vision, letting out another of her hums. “So if you wouldn’t celebrate it like this, if you had the choice of how to celebrate Solstice, and everyone had to go along with your idea no matter how little they liked it, what would you do?”

#[ nita david. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ event 002. ]

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nitasamsaradavid​:

Oleander heir. Right. Nita wondered mildly if it was the same heir that she’d pissed off just last week, but decided that was a future Nita problem and brushed past it. The fact that one of Alessa’s best friends was an Endine heir, however, struck an immediate chord of discomfort, and she followed her gaze into the crowd, but not with the same excitement. 

“Can’t wait,” she replied, flat sarcasm punctuated with a roll of her eyes. It was almost enough to make her just want to offer up her real name as a substitute, but a few bad nicknames hardly seemed worth the price of her hard-won privacy. Plus, she’d endured plenty of idiotic nicknames in middle and high school, the most loathed of which was Dorothy, a truly pitiful pull at the one tornado-related movie her classmates could think of. 

And so her eyes narrowed at Alessa next comment, her frown, if possible, deepening. “A tornado joke, really? How original.” She couldn’t figure out what weird dig Dungeons & Dragons was supposed to be, but she assumed it was equally petty. “I think I’ll leave all the childish games for the children,” she determined, “So let me know which one you want to stop by next.” It wasn’t a particularly cruel insult, but it was a reactionary one, barbs coming out at soon as she saw herself as the butt of a joke.

It was then that the connotations of her comment struck Alessa, and she burst into giggles, tears of joy pricking the edges of her eyes. Any of Nita’s trepidation regarding her very close friendship with Irene Caruso soared right over her head, and she continued to look for the illusionist & empath amidst the masses.

“Okay, I didn’t even mean that,” she admitted with an easy grin, the intended barb bouncing off the young heir without piercing the skin; indeed she’d barely even registered its intention. “I actually thought Twister would just be fun, but an accidental pun’s just as good as a real one — and Dungeons and Dragons isn’t for children, silly. They’d never understand all the game mechanics!”

She hummed when she could still see neither, and decided to give up for now, continuing to eat her popcorn and looking for the slushie stand she’d seen before, because that was the obvious pairing with her fresh snacks.

“The Solstice is for everyone, too. Just because you’re on-duty or whatever doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to have any fun. Try the grabber games or something! Or just... have a drink if that’s what you’re into.” Alessa chuckled, shaking her head, “it’s a celebration, Scary Spice, you’re allowed to smile a little. Unless that’s a rule you training Sentinels have to learn that I don’t know about? It’d explain why Raf is so reluctant, actually.”

#[ nita david. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ event 002. ]

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@elisabonaventura​ ( event thread. )

“Lili!” 

Alessa’s smile — almost solar in its warmth — widened when she finally caught the Oleander heir in her sights; okay, truthfully, it hadn’t been that long at all, but patience in such excitable times ran short indeed, especially when the focus was on seeing one’s friends. And that was the relationship the young Montalvo tried to cultivate with each heir, and indeed with everyone: friendship. Because then, you got the most happiness, and you knew the most things about the most people, and your life was as interesting as it could be made to be then, wasn’t it? 

And what was better than the warmth of an embrace? Alessa certainly appreciated how tactile Elisa was — happy to hug, and hold hands, kisses to cheeks and happy smiles — though it was often startling to see more formal people after they’d spent time together. There were quite a few of those in House Valerian, and she figured if she tried to hug Sunshine Sammy ( as she now was, permanently, inscribed in the young woman’s mind ) she might just get her head taken off her shoulders.

“Are you alright?” she stepped back, hands gently rested on the other’s arms. “I haven’t seen enough of you lately!”

#[ elisa bonaventura. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ event 002. ]

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nitasamsaradavid​:

Nita balked at the horrendous nickname, but before she had time to be properly offended, Alessa was tearing off again down both a literal and verbal rabbit hole. God she had a lot of energy. Trudging along just a few feet behind the heir, Nita was mildly surprised to hear her cavalier attitude towards what she also considered to be an over-hyped threat. She wasn’t entirely sure if it was a relief to have someone else who recognized the Houses’ ridiculous paranoia or if it was concerning that the woman she was in charge of protecting was the definitive opposite of vigilant. 

“Who the fuck are ‘Lili’ and–no nevermind, I just remembered I don’t give a single shit.” Nita was pretty sure somewhere in bodyguard protocol you were supposed to care about the identities of who interacted with the person you protected, but she was still congratulating herself on remembering Alessa’s name. Her entire plan at this point was just to punch the first person to look at her funny and sort out the names later. “But if you call me Sammy again, there will be a very real threat to your life,” she added.

“What?” The question came out of honest confusion, taken aback by the sudden onslaught of questions. Fucking hell, was this the alternative to her talking with other people? “I mean sure, I have fucking eyes so yea, I see other Sentinels.” Not that she knew who half the Sentinels even were with only a few months of time in the House to get to know names and jobs, a task which was especially hard when she was actively avoiding anything approaching social. “And I haven’t played a board game since I was like six, so I hope they have something better to do with their free time.” Sidling up to the popcorn stand, Nita waited with her arms crossed, giving a glare to anyone who so much as approached the line after Alessa. 

Ignoring the statement of disinterest completely, Alessandra breezed onwards, “oh! Lili is Elisa, one of the Oleander heirs. Irene is my best friend, she’s one of Endine’s. They’re both lovely — I said I’d make flower crowns with Lili tonight, so I’ve just got to find her,” While they were waiting in line at the popcorn stand, Alessa’s gaze swept over the crowd as though to pick up on the presence of either, but came up with nothing, causing a small frown to crease her lips. That frown intensified, however, at the sound of the threat coming from the Sentinel, brows knitting more closely together. 

“Y’know, I think mama might just have something to say in that situation,” she crossed her arms, somewhat petulant, “I’ll come up with something else. It’ll be better anyway.” ( Alessa, in this moment, privately stored away ‘sunshine’ for her own future usage. ) 

She rolled her eyes in something between amusement and annoyance. “Yeah, I know you have eyes, I have eyes to see that. But you know what I meant! I just wondered whether you and Becky—” somewhere on the grounds, Rebecca Bianchi felt something akin to when Harry Potter characters said ‘Voldemort’ — “knew each other. You should really try games, though. You’d have a wild time playing Twister,” Alessa giggled at the image, popcorn received and warm in her arms. “Or Dungeons & Dragons.”

#[ nita david. ] #[ interactions. ] #[ shannon fixes her capitalisation 1 ]

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“sammy i am so glad that you asked,” an expression of faux-seriousness painted itself perfectly across the valerian heir’s features — poised there through practice, ever the actress — for a few moments, before it cracked ( or was released ) back into alessandra alvarez-montalvo’s regularly scheduled bright & bold grins, hands rested jauntily on her hips for a few moments. considering nita for a moment, before she turned back around to face the beaten path and began skipping toward the next point that had caught her wandering attention: the buttered popcorn stand. “yes, i absolutely do!”

alessa knew she’d likely see both her and raphael tonight. raphael was easier to bribe into enjoying activities with her, but she hoped to get her way with the other soon enough. for the past five minutes she had been considering just how pretty it would be if the other woman let her place a circlet of flowers on her head. “hey, i never said i was worried about getting stabbed,” she wasn’t, “everyone’s just really paranoid after what happened and no one knows how to chill out; i just wanna find lili —” ( as she called elisa, one of the heirs to oleander ) — “and irene, do some cute houses-unity stuff and get this show right back on the road!”

she glanced back at her again. “do you ever have to see the other sentinels, too? what’s that like? do you have board game nights or something? that’s always a great way to make friends so long as you don’t play monopoly right out of the gate.”

@limelightfm​

“Do you have to talk to every single person you see?” The complaint came with a matching sigh, already exhausted by her job playing personal bodyguard to Alessa. It wasn’t her job alone, of course, and a handful of Sentinels had been assigned to watch over the Heir in shifts, but Nita suspected there was probably one on standby, ready to leap in the instant she fucked it up. It was the only explanation she had for why March had trusted her of all people with her daughter’s safety; that or it was some kind of test, some weird olive branch of responsibility that was supposed to make her feel like she belonged. Whatever it was, it wasn’t working.

“Look I’m just saying, it’d be a lot easier not to get stabbed or whatever the fuck y’all are worried about if you weren’t constantly inviting people into your personal space.” Nita offered the truly groundbreaking insight as she followed along dutifully beside her, assuming the advice would go in one ear and out the other as soon as a mildly approachable human crossed their path. How a person managed to engage in this much small talk over the course of a single hour was truly mind-blowing, and Nita wasn’t sure if it was her ward’s safety or her own mental sanity that was really in danger this afternoon. 

#[ nita david. ] #[ interactions. ]

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alessandra alvarez-montalvo being determined to be a princess at the solstice

or, the post she made while waiting to see everyone else’s outfits so she could hype them up.

#[ edits. ]