#alessia.1

[alrikhart]

@alessiathepath location: Nornwatch Keep notes: family bonding

There was an adage about surviving the war and living through everything that would come after, but the two had yet to survive this. They would because, of course, they would, but there had been a moment when the mages had descended upon Yggdrasildal, when the fighting had started, and the explosions had gone off that Alrik wondered if this was where their thread ended. He'd never worried that Alessia hadn't made it; if his sister was dead, Alrik would have known.

Stories had power, and Iskarans were fond of their oral traditions; in the years to come, depending on how things unfolded, the Aetherians would be viewed as either bloodthirsty conquerors or liberators who'd broken the chains of countless witches and other supernatural creatures. The truth was that neither of these things felt entirely honest; conquerors may be indiscriminate killers, but for every soul they liberated, there had to be another four that were clapped in irons.

They had survived; they always did; now, here they were at some frost-ridden keep that reeked of death and blight, sitting at the edge of the world, waiting for their liberators to come set what remained of their world on fire. Alrik could focus on the positive; being alive was something to look forward to, but no one told them anything - where they were going, what they would do from here. They'd walked for weeks through the dark just to find a ruin of criminals and legionnaires who thought they would make a difference here.

"What do you think this is anyway?" The legion called it mead, but Alrik wasn't entirely convinced the deadmen hadn't pissed in a barrel and passed it around to the refugees. Alrik looked about the crowded space, women weeping as they held their children, grown men who hadn't seen the sun in weeks staring idly through the broken rafters towards the clouded sky above. Misery and shock.

[tracksuitlesbian]

[pernillecfcw]

Alessia Russo photo dump💓

[updownlately]

1 - but she loves me, she loves me

series masterlist

~~~

“You’re shivering…” 

Looking up from your phone with a guilty look plastered on your face, you forced yourself to stop trembling. Back muscles taught, you schooled your expression to a neutral one, immediately wordlessly refuting the statement. 

All you were met with, however, was a raised eyebrow from the blonde in front of you, the silent challenge speaking volumes, the loving smile on her face letting you know she was only teasing.

Giving up, you wordlessly admitted to being caught, a sheepish smile spreading in place of your serious questioning look, shoulders dropping the tension.

“Okay so I might have forgotten to grab my jacket. Just maybe…” Biting back your embarrassed grin, you dug your toe into the floor, eyes cast downward as Alessia’s melodic laugh filtered in your ears. 

“Because of course you did…” The accusatory tone in Alessia’s statement wasn’t lost on you, but it wasn’t like you could discredit the observation, having been through this one too many times already. 

It wasn’t your fault you just happened to always forget your jacket when you were leaving the apartment, the coveted item very likely still hanging off the coat rack by the entrance to your shared home.

“I swear you do it on purpose at this point…like how does one forget a jacket? That too here? In rainy London?” 

Dropping your shoulders, a pout already forming on your face, you furrowed your eyebrows.

“It kinda just happens! I swear! It’s like one second I’m putting on my shoes, and then the next I’m sprinting out of the apartment trying to catch up to your long legs, jacket still in the apartment!”

Futilely defending yourself, you wrapped your arms around your midsection in an effort to stave off the cold, an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the taller girl. 

Smiling fondly at your pout, Alessia lovingly rolled her eyes, arms reaching out to pull you near, closing the gap between you two.

“Yeah, yeah, sure blame it on me…as if you’re totally not the one often locking up when we go out…”

Laughing silently now at the wince on your face, you burying your head into Alessia’s neck to hide your reddening cheeks, the striker wrapped her arms around you tightly. 

“You’re lucky you’re so cute…and shorter than me because otherwise you wouldn’t have lasted this long, gosh…”

Cuddling you for a few more moments, the Gunner tried her best to warm you up with her body heat, the chilly fall air whipping around you two as you stood on the side of a walkway.

Well accustomed to what had to be done, aware that your (read: her own) flimsy hoodie would do nothing to protect you from the icy breeze, Alessia pulled away from you, much to your protest. 

Quickly shrugging off her own coat, already prepared for this inevitable moment, the blonde quickly wrapped it around your shoulders, the jacket nearly drowning you due to your height difference. 

“There…as per usual,” the jest from the blonde came just seconds after her hands finished adjusting the coat, her head shaking affectionately at the content smile that spread around your face at the influx of warmth.

“Hey! I don’t borrow your coat that often…surely?” There was no way, right? You knew you were forgetful but Alessia had to be exaggerating here. 

“Love, the amount of photos in my phone that can prove otherwise, never mind ones that the fans have taken of us while we’re out…”

Pout returning to your face, you looked up at the blonde, disbelief across your face at the betrayal.

Hooking you in by the belt loops, the striker pulled you close, lips coming to rest at your forehead. 

“Don’t worry, I still love you, even if it means I have to give you my jacket every time we go out.” 

Placing a gentle kiss on your forehead, her smile cutting it short, Alessia grabbed your hand, pulling you into her side as you both continued your walk to your favourite cafe. 

Smiling at your luck, well aware that at the end of every second, minute, hour, or day, Alessia loved you immensely, all of you, your easily excitable energy and forgotten jackets included, you matched Alessia's footfalls, tucking yourself underneath her arm.

Your own arm coming to sling across her waist, you held her close, letting her love comfort you from the inside out, jacket near useless with the warmth spreading in your heart.

[vicstenius]

VAMOS RUSSTENIUS

[meademalove]

Vivianne Miedema of Arsenal celebrates scoring her team's third goal during the Barclays Women´s Super League match between Arsenal FC and Brighton & Hove Albion at Meadow Park on May 18, 2024 in Borehamwood, England.

[patientakoda]

when: about eight years ago with: @alessiathepathwhere: iskaldrik notes: and then a dragon attacks

He'd only been in Iskaldrik for three days, and his life had already turned to shit. This place had turned out to be worse than his nightmares, worse than the horror stories his people told around the fire. Witnessing such needlessly violence with his own eyes had awoken a rage deep within him he hadn't even known existed, for he hadn't a reason to use it until now. There was little he could do, however, with his hands bound and his head spinning. His eyes were still squeezed shut, having not fully come to, but a voice next to him pierced the heavy darkness behind his eyelids . "Hey you, you're finally awake."

Brown eyes fluttered open, immediately blinded by the sun bouncing of the white snow through which they traveled. Takoda instinctively groaned as his head began to throb in pain, an uncomfortable reminder of how he'd gotten here - a Witcher boot to the skull. He blinked a few times, waiting for his vision to clear before he was able to slowly crane his neck and face the stranger beside him. He was met with stunning, blue irises, so captivating he momentarily forgot the trouble they'd found themselves in.

It was the gagged, curly-haired man beside her that made his stomach sink with realization. Him, and the little girl bound next to him, and the old woman imprisoned next to her, and the one after that...

Witches, all of them, he presumed. He was the only one in the cart with pointed ears, a clear sign of his foreignness. Despite being a newcomer to the kingdom, he knew what a cart full of mages meant. Their journey only had one destination, but he still dared to ask, "Where... are we headed?"

[museenkuss]

loving and moving my body this week (13.11.-19.11.)*

Monday. 10 MIN PILATES WORKOUT FOR BEGINNERS - EXPRESS AT HOME PILATES TO GET STRONG

Tuesday. Beginners Belly Dance Tutorial | Beautiful Hips & Arms! or: Flexibility Stretches For Dancers, Cheerleaders & Gymnasts, Beginners Exercises Routine

Wednesday. 30 MIN PILATES YOGA WORKOUT || Full Body Stretch & Strengthen

Thursday. Victoria's Secret Train Like An Angel Live: Martha Hunt + Ballet Beautiful

Friday. 25 MIN FULL BODY PILATES WORKOUT FOR STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY- AT HOME PILATES FOR EVERYBODY

Saturday. Quick Floor Barre Class | Lazy Dancer Tips

Sunday. "Chocoholics" Valentine's Day Waist Winding Workout

__

* the idea here was to find fun little ways to stay active according to my schedule this week. This is completely 'no suffering, joy only'. :)

In case the suggestion doesn't feel right for that day, here are some alternatives (12 minutes or less, can also be used as add-ons). No shame in taking it slow! Let's move according to our needs! :) nightime flexibility stretches // bedtime yoga stretch to release stress & tension // 8 min beginner's ballet flexibility. // 10 min | Beginner Belly Dance Workout | Slow & Smooth Tutorial // 15 min Gentle Pilates Workout For Beginners

[fharzai]

who?: @alessiathepath where?: dream realm, uh oh alessia is having some weird dreams too now when?: before neptunalia

He'd delivered to Alessia the same dream for nights now: a large oak tree growing from the ground with a split in its trunk halfway up, but the two portions continued to spiral and reach for the sky even after being made to grow on their own. The trunk may have split, but the roots and branches still reached out to one another, the tree tops bending to form a circle around the perch where Fharzai's visage in the scape resided. Two ravens, each posing the same question to the young witch. "What do you see?" Each night the dream unravels before he can hear her answer, yet he returns again and again, hoping she's ready to confront the message hidden within the dream he weaved. Tonight he decides to alter the scape, taking flight as a pair of ravens after asking the same question. They fly overhead, dance around each other, and soar to the sky beyond the sun before swooping back down to roost on her shoulders. Wood creaks as the mighty split oak stretches even further into the sky than the ravens did. "What do you see?" they ask in tandem, pointing their beaks up toward the high-reaching tree.

[alrikhart]

@alessiathepath location: The Lostlands notes: im ready to be hurt again.

Alrik would know if she was dead.

Vicoya was gone and no longer working on his leg, but because of her he could still walk, and while he was doing it with a limp, Alrik managed his way around the old stones of the ruin just fine. The earth was soft here, deceitful in that way, one wrong step and a person could go in. Stray too far and the mist might take you, or something venomous might perceive you as a threat.

Keep them safe. That's what Alder had told him. It felt like the sort of affirmation you'd give a child and at first, Alrik had resented it, but a talisman hung on his chest and when his ire toward the Iskarans began to build, he'd find himself touching it.

For the first time in a decade, Alrik found peace in his dreams, Fharzai's rune let him shake off the darkness and settle somewhere more quiet. Serene. When the druid wasn't there, Alessia was. He'd talk to the ghost of her memory so that he could continuously commit her to his mind's eye. They'd sit for so long that the fantasy allowed him to forget the truth, and then when he awoke the horror began again.

He found comfort in distraction, his mind couldn't wander far if he was distracted. Alrik recalled Prospero's promise, and he let the validity of what the druid had sworn to settle on him. If Alessia died, Alrik would die: Prospero had saved them once, he could do it again. There was no reason for Alrik to trust him beyond that singular sentiment, but he did.

Idle hands saw him tinkering with what he could, fixing the bearings on carts, sharpening or mending swords in case the troupe was attacked here. They'd be ready this time.

A sound like a door creaking open muddled with the crackle of energy as the telltale note of arcana pressed itself against the tarmac of his tongue. The ball of Alrik's meteor hammer hung at his side in a heartbeat, already taking a turn as he searched for an advantage point. Ephemeral blue and wide split the air open like a door, and people began to step through.

The Princess looked insane, but he recognized most of them. Alrik's heart began to beat rapidly in his chest, harder and harder:

I would know if she was dead. I would know if she was dead. I would know if she was dead. A final figure skulked from the door like a shadow, a cloak of raven feathers with the cowl drawn low. The last of them. Beneath he saw the tip of what looked like bone.... But that wasn't his sister.

She wasn't there. She wasn't-

Something hateful bloomed in the witch's chest as his eyes bore into the hooded figure, they seemed to look at him from under their cowl, and then it was pulled back, the mask removed, and Alrik recognized Alessia immediately.

And yet, she no longer looked anything like his dreams. Older somehow, changed: Alrik could not know what she'd been to, but his hammer fell without a thought as it hit the ground beside him.

"Alessia."

Alrik was running, limping, and running and pushing despite whatever pain reverberated from the injury.

"Alessia!"

Alrik felt the smile on his face and heard it in his voice. So many years the Harts had worn their masks, now when he ran toward Alessia he felt it abandoned behind him, if only for the moment.

He'd watched the darkspawn take his sister and spent the last two months conjuring every possible scenario. Falling into despair and madness, lashing out at anyone who tried to broach her to him - but here she was. Alive. He'd been right.

Alrik's arms fell around her, large and crushing as he squeezed without thought, lifting and turning her in the air. He couldn't be cognisant of the way his tears fell, how they streamed as if he was taking his first steps from that Iskaran mine once more. They'd been children then, but if there was anything young about them still, it had died along this road.

"I knew you would find your way to us- I knew you'd-" His eyes searched her face, his thoughts worked too quickly to conjure a story of comfort or gratitude. He made eye contact with Alder and Prospero, they had kept their promise, and he would address that later.

Alrik smiled and tugged her toward his camp.

"Tell me everything."

[temperednuvi]

who? @alessiathepath where? the caverns, the iron cells when? a week after the last night

There is a constant movement, that of the cart pulling them forward and towards their grim fates. If any hope had remained in Nuvi after her escape from the mines, if it had been strengthened through their journey through the mines, it did not matter. That hope is done, replaced only by overwhelming fear and grim realization. There are echoes of something dark on the Weave, and the more she understands the darkspawn, the less she believes they will make it out of this ordeal. Not without a sacrifice many of them will fear to make. Perhaps a quick death would be quicker, trying to fight likely useless, but— 

A quick glance around makes her wince once more. The mortals are so young. Many of them barely look more than a decade beyond maturity, and even if she doesn’t quite believe there is a way out, she doesn’t want to doom them. Nuvi has long made peace with death, her own misadventures a balancing act that one day could push her towards the edge, but she is older than all around her and there is a tragedy in that. A tragedy she wants to stop, even if she doesn’t quite know how. Even if she were at her strongest, she would not be enough to allow for an escape, and she is far from her strongest now. Broken and shattered, eight years removed from her blessings, she doesn’t know if she will be able to call the earth or the plants with the deft hand needed for any sort of plan to take route.

“I almost preferred the mines,” she mutters to herself, not bothering to lower her tone even if there is a stranger sitting close enough to her. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she sighs and closes her eyes. “At least the monsters guarding us there wore a human guise.”

[kusin-tisdag]

They take time to visit their families. Well, Anton visits his sister and her children (she's at work), since he doesn't get along very well with his parents.

He hasn't spent much time with Elsa's husband before, Stephen, but he finds that he really likes him.

As they visit Jade and Gunnel, Una finally finds it within her to hug her mama. It's a slow journey, but for the children she wants them to be on better terms.

[lowlymusicscenarios]

DAY 2 - A song you like with a number in the title

[carriexbradshaw]

feel like shit today too, have a 38° fever, my head is exploading, my throat is killing me (yes i have covid 🫠) and my boss really wanted me to come in today so i told him i would and he hit me with the "thank you so much, you have no idea how much i appreciate this, thank you" please sir i hope you fucking die

[sylviefrenzel]

when: early in captivity where: da boat or whateva with: @alessiathepath notes: let me know if I need to change anything!

As an unwilling recluse turned prisoner turned refugee (turned prisoner, again), Sylvie had little opportunity to make friends, but that didn't mean she was surrounded by strangers. There were some familiar faces in the cells around her, fellow Iskarrans she recognized either from the mines or from their journey to Eterna - fellow unlucky souls too far away from home. Alessia had been a comforting presence in the mines, even though they knew nothing beyond each other's names. There had been an unspoken agreement between them, to look out for each other, and it appeared that bond would be tested, yet again.

Sylvie shifted closer to the Witch, offering her a piece of stale bread from the measly offerings the Kossith deemed a meal. "Just like old times, I guess..." She tried to smile. She was used to cheering people up, but the fear that'd settled into her bones made that too difficult, now.

[yuga2000]

Song of the Day

Here - Alessia Cara