whatliesbelowthesurface

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

isella is in fact named after sofia isella by the way.

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

playlists for blaircilla, isella, and alva if any of y'all are interested.

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

shoutout to @grilmo-bartlett for coming up with the ship name blaircilla. it used to be alvsella but that sucked so i made them come up with a better one.

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

"Has anyone else died for you?" read the sign on the highway, an image of Jesus splattered across it. Yes, Isella wanted to say. Alva. She saved my life when I could have saved hers. But Isella didn't say that. Highways don't listen. No one does.

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

blaircilla height difference you will never not be famous

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

can you read my mind? i've been watching you

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

i know this is a gay porn account but y'all gotta listen to this album holy fuck

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

she gets it

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

i'm gonna pretend i named sister mary pierre after pierre poilievre

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

the juxtaposition between isella and alva's birthday art will always send me

[whatliesbelowthesurface]

WHAT LIES BELOW THE SURFACE

by @xblackmariahx cannibalism, god, and a whole lot of trauma. tws: child abuse, religious trauma, homophobia, cannibalism, starvation

ISELLA

sixteen. gangly. artist. she's a lesbian, and it's florida. that's not a good thing. got sent to saint amalberga's catholic boarding school for girls after her parents found her drawings of her crush. they made her repent on hot coals for hours. turns out that wasn't enough.

ALVA

sixteen. beautiful. smart. she's panromantic, but no one needs to know that. her mother only meant the best sending her to amalberga's- it used to be good back in the day. she's real pretty, isn't she? and smart, i guess.

LORE

saint amalberga's catholic boarding school for girls in glequa isle, florida, has been around for a long time, longer than alva and isella. it was a real good place back in the day- alva's mom even went- before being taken over by one sister mary pierre. sister mary never cared for teen girls much. insolent little brats, always ungrateful. so she jumped to punishing them at every mistake, turning amalberga's from a safe haven into a place riddled with fear.

isella van blair is used to fear. she's a lesbian from a small, very catholic town- what else would she be used to? she's used to getting food taken away. she's used to being hit on the face. she's really just used to all of it. so when she was sent to amalberga's, she viewed it as a fresh start. it was not.

alva mancilla, on the other hand, grew up with loving parents and siblings. she had everything she could ever want, which made the abuse at amalberga's all the more jarring. she flies under the radar mostly, being compliant to not get hurt.

isella stirred up trouble the moment she stepped foot onto the grounds, admittedly unintentionally. alva and her friends- carmen, veronica, and theresa- welcomed isella into their group with open arms. theresa was the rebel. not a rule breaker, really, but a free spirit- good enough at hiding it that she would never get punished, but still. until she did.

theresa had been sneaking out- sneaking out to see a boy, and that's the worst possible rule you could break. no one would be able to forget that night- sister mary dragging theresa by the hair into the shed behind the church. everyone tried to ignore her cries. it happened all the time, after all- theresa would be okay in the end. but she wasn't.

theresa died that night, beaten to death by sister mary, and it was then that alva and isella knew they had to leave. if theresa had gotten that for being with a boy, then what would they get for being with each other? so they stole food from the kitchens, grabbed as much water as they could, took a couple blankets, and ran into the swamp. as far as they could from amalberga's, as far as they could from sister mary, as far as they could from the shed behind the church, as far as they could from theresa's cries.

they got damn far before running out of food. isella was used to it- she'd gotten starved all the time as a kid. it was why she was so damn gangly. but alva wasn't, and it hurt, and she was dying, and she was dying without purpose. what she asked isella to do made her recoil.

she told isella to eat her when she died, because she knew she was dying soon. she told isella that eating her would be the only way to survive, and that she wanted it. for both of them.

so she did.

alva had been right, and isella did survive, getting to an apartment in the city, eventually going back to amalberga's and doing what she always said she would do- carving her name into sister mary's bones. and alva's. and theresa's. and carmen's and veronica's, for good measure.

and so those words were found engraved on mary pierre's femur:

"long live alva mancilla."

EXTRA

i am BEGGING you guys to yap with me! draw them, make headcanons, tell me what you liked. these little traumatized beans have been my own little passion project for so long and i'm so excited to share them with you guys, your interaction means the world to me. <3