#Villa di Livia

[paiawon]

villa of livia's garden room fresco, from palazzo massimo

known as ad gallinas albas (of the white hen) because of pliny the elder's tale in his naturalis historia, recounting the myth of livia, newly bethroted to octavian augustus, having a white hen holding a laurel branch in its beak dropped into her lap by an eagle, interpreted as an omen of good fortune.

full view on tiktok

[eclectic-and-passionate-blog]

A walk in the greenery 🥰

[storiearcheostorie]

Roma / Capodanno nel segno dell'archeologia: aperture straordinarie a Villa Livia, arco di  Malborghetto, Santuario Siriaco e Terme di Caracalla

Roma / Capodanno nel segno dell'archeologia: aperture straordinarie a Villa Livia, arco di  Malborghetto, Santuario Siriaco e Terme di Caracalla Scopri come e dove su Storie & Archeostorie

[uncleclaudius]

Some pictures of the visual reconstruction of the Villa of Livia, known in Antiquity as Villa Ad Gallinas Albas (the Villa of White Chickens). It belonged to Augustus' wife Livia Drusilla. According to the story, the eagle once dropped a hen holding a laurel branch in its beak into Livia's lap. At the advice of the soothsayer, the branch was planted, creating a laurel tree garden at the premises while the white hens roamed around to secure the good fortune of her family. Whenever a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty celebrated a Triumph, their laurel wreaths were made from these trees.

The famous statue of Augustus of Prima Porta and wall frescos of a garden are from this villa.

[evita-shelby]

National Anthem

Chapter 10

Cw: mentions of sex (duh) period typical misogyny, some racism and technically a curse

Tag list: @thegreatdragonfruta @zablife @call-sign-shark

Easter 1923

Ever since he was a kid, Jack’s dreamed of owning the world.

His apartment had been good, modern and spacious and perfect for a bachelor. When his ambition decided he needed a wife to complete his success, he looked for a perfect starter house.

One that would be seen as the beginning of his rise, one that would become the steppingstone for his future.

He’d carried Eva over the threshold just as he’d done when he took her to the townhouse he shared with Carrie for Gina’s sake. He had fucked her in every surface of the house, built a marriage that would have everyone doubt this had been an arrangement made in the span of a week.

Their current home was great, perfect for a growing family with a long veranda for the children, a garage that was every middle-class car aficionado’s dream and yet it won’t be long before they leave it too.

Jack never dreams small; he hadn’t known exactly what this dream home would be until he saw Rockwood Hall.

J.D. Rockefeller had made the second largest mansion in all of America, so grand that his own descendants had to sell it after his death. So grand only the Rileys could afford it now that they gained government contracts through his connections.

“We should get one of these.” He says as he takes Rosie in his arms and the boys run off to play with the other children.

Little Jack turns back long enough to hug his mother goodbye and Little Joey is already yelling at the boys he met at the last family gathering. They gather with her family for the big holidays after that fiasco during the first thanksgiving when the twins were born.

They’d spend Easter here, the 4th of July at home, come here for September 16th before the boys start their first day of school –of which he’s taking the day off work because Eva said so--- and miss Florida because Eva was due in November.

Katherine Drusilla Nelson, Duchess of Devonshire and conceived in the most coveted bed in the world on Valentine’s Day. Named for his late elder sister who died of consumption along with Gina and their mother, and for Eva’s aunt, the formidable Olivia Drusilla Riley de Souza.

Livia doesn’t like him, told him to his face and repeated it that first Thanksgiving they hosted in 1919. Thought he was beneath them and unworthy of her favorite niece. But she practically raised Eva because her mother got the baby blues and so he put up with her…enough to have her share his daughter’s name.

“I like the one we rented in Hyannis Port for July 4th last year, Malcom Cottage, was it? Although I am partial to the villa in Florida.” Eva mentions acting as if they had to choose between one. She grew up in several houses, always moving about with the parents or relatives caring for her when she wasn’t in school.

“Why settle for one, when we can have it all?” It’s like when she asked if they could keep the tradition of middle names for their children because the two of them also had middle names, she didn’t even need to ask to know the answer is always yes.

Besides his witch of a wife has never been wrong before, never will be if you ask him.

“About fucking time, I hate telling people you live in the suburbs, that’s so middle class.” Gina said making her dear uncle reprimand her for swearing in front of the children.

“Language, Gina.”

While Rosie struggled with talking, she’d picked up swearing with ease. She learned to say shit from hearing Jack hurt himself in the garage one fucking time.

Their sweet little angel smiled impishly and muttered the word ‘fuck’ as she bit the gold crucifix they got her for Easter.

Well, they were never gonna make angels anyways.

Family gatherings were fine, for the most part. Sure, her aunt would make backhanded remarks towards Jack in her face, while also outright insulting him outright the moment her back was turned, it went well mostly.

It wasn’t because he was American, new money nor a gangster. It was simply because he wasn’t Cornelius Vanderbilt IV, the man Livia had picked out for her like he was a new dress she’d gifted her.

Vanderbilt seemed nice, but he was rather boring. Well, boring in comparison to Jack who then had desecrated a confessional with her and boldly taken her to his place where they planned their future after he made her scream herself hoarse in pleasure.

Had Jack not been so good in bed ---and out of it--- maybe Eva would have been Mrs. Vanderbilt and kept the rebellious Vanderbilt heir from being bankrupt and disinherited from his family.

“I just don’t see what you see in him.” Livia looked at the man as if he were something the cat dragged in as he roughhoused with the boys in the garden. “He’s too full of himself, he has no class, he’s too hairy, his features all look like his face is too big to hold them, what did he have that Cornelius didn’t besides a business degree and a gang?”

Eva always gets this question and she’d just shrug and answer with something equal parts vulgar and the usual ‘I don’t really know’, this time she says the one thing that matters to someone who married for money and influence. “Because he will take us places we never even reached in Mexico, and that sweet little boy named after his father, will be the youngest president this country will have.”

Her aunt is impressed, she had been disappointed thinking Eva was like her mother who married because she saw true love with her father even if he had nothing but a stolen watch to his name.

Eva was not like her mother, she could never be happy with a man who didn’t want more, Jack had ambition and lucky for her, would only ever be hers.

“I suppose I can see something about him now. If he is taking us further than we ever could’ve done at home, I could even call him my nephew. After all people marry into our family, they never marry out of here.” Her red-haired aunt changed her tune exactly like the witch had known it would happen.

Jack is wary of Livia’s sudden acceptance for the rest of the day, utterly stumped at why she’d stop being such a bitch to him. But he enjoys it, loves pushing her buttons to see how long this kindness lasts.

“What did you tell her when you were out on the balcony with her?” he asks when they are finally alone in their luxurious suite complete with a nursery. The boys were having a sleepover with her cousin Francisco’s son across the wing and Rosie had claimed the princess bed in her own room.

Last time they were here, the Nelsons hadn’t been able to enjoy the bed as they had hoped and now wanted to make up for it. And they had since they put the children to bed.

“She asked why I chose you that day and I answered honestly for once.” Eva answered teasing him, toying with the curly hairs on his chest knowing he would guess wrong.

“You told your aunt we defiled a church for our first date?” he asks, taken aback by it. Everyone knew they had obviously fucked while on the maybe ten dates they had. Once they’d been so insatiable for each other they’d snuck off at dinner to fuck in a broom closet.

“God, no, she would’ve killed the two of us.” Eva shook her head. “I told her little Jack Nelson Junior’s going to be president of the united fucking states of America. If she still doesn’t like you after that, Junior might remember it when he’s living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

“Threatening your auntie for me, Evie. How sweet of you. You deserve a reward.” He is so proud of her and touched by what she did that he adds a spontaneous, “I love you.”

He is not fond of saying it in public, but oh he is as sweet as honey the moment the doors close. Usually, it is her who says it first these days.

“I love you too.” Eva kissed him hoping to show her love in a much more passionate way, but the second Jack gently moved her underneath him they hear Gina’s girlish scream followed by crying and slurs from the blonde girl’s own mouth.

“I told you we shouldn’t have brought her.” Jack groaned and both rushed to find their clothes. “I’m putting her on the next train to Manhattan, let her mother deal with her for the rest of Easter.”

It is uncharitable to say, but if one of the girls hit nineteen-year-old Gina, she likely deserved it. Her time at university had actually made her worse, the only people to blame are the sorority she joined and herself. Unfortunately, she was expelled for her shitty behavior and won’t be going back next week.

They are in New York when they see Shelby again.

He is here to ensure the custody of his son whom the world will believe was Clive’s because Grace wanted to keep her dignity. Jack was here for business matters relating to the will since little Charlie would inherit a portion of Jack’s companies.

“She is cursed, you know.” Eva speaks quietly in rromani so Grace nor Jack know what is being said as she tries to argue for her son’s inheritance. “Even my husband can smell the death on her skin like perfume.”

“If I don’t marry her my son will not be mine.” He admits. There was regret in his voice, a look that said that the Grace he loved was not the woman he is getting to know.

The real Grace wants to be accepted by the class that hates people like Eva, Tommy and even Jack. The real Grace feels no guilt because her happiness is what comes first always. The real Grace is not the persona she crafted in 1919 to get his attention.

But it was too late now.

“She won’t live to see his third birthday, if you marry her, you will go mad with her death knowing Polly Gray’s curse came true because of you.” The witch warns him, as much as she hates Grace for breathing she doesn’t want the blonde dead.

“Your husband wants her gone from America even if it kills her.” he points out.

Jack wants her dead for what she did to Clive, for what she did to their IRA contacts and because she is just as phony as the rest of her ilk.

“If a woman drove your friend to suicide for a man in love with a mirage of her, you would hate her too.” Eva replied honestly making Shelby wince.

“You witches think you know everything, don’t you?” he deflects thinking he can fool her like he fools Grace.

“That’s because we do. Come February of next year and you will be burying her as Mrs. Shelby and yourself as the fool who killed her. If you let her and the boy go, she will hate you but live to raise her son and see her grandchildren. Do you love her enough to let her go once and for all?”

Grace leaves the lawyer’s offices with the threat of having Charlie MacMillan’s true paternity exposed on every tabloid here and across the pond if she marries Tommy Shelby because even Jack doesn’t want her blood on his hands. She can have respectability and life, or death and infamy attached to the Caron and Burgess names the second she becomes Mrs. Shelby.

And yet that same summer they receive an invitation from Grace for their wedding in January of 1924 at Arrow House, the estate she doesn’t know he bought with May in mind. Her family will not even stick around for the funeral out of the shame she brought them.

In the end, Grace dies because she refused to move on from Thomas Shelby no matter how hard he tried to drive her away.

[daydreamerdrew]

“So I've been up and down to Rome quite a lot while writing the book. I was lucky to be able to do that. And I went to the Palazzo Massimo, which is this wonderful Renaissance palace, which is now one of the national museums. It's next to the big railway station, Termini, in Rome. And on the second or third floor, they have a room which is simply the frescoes from Livia as the first empress, from her villa at Prima Porta, which is about 15 kilometers north of Rome. And they found an underground dining room there in the 1850s. That was to protect the family from the heat of the day. And it had these fabulous frescoes. They're called Il Giardino di Livia, Livia's garden.

So I went to see those and an Italian guide came in, but he had an English speaking party. And he sort of explained who Livia was and who Augustus was. And then he said, but they were married for more than 50 years and they loved each other very much. And my ears pricked up. I'm not convinced by that. And he said, and unfortunately, they never had a child together. And Augustus only had one child with his first wife. And unfortunately, she was a nymphomaniac.

And so I looked at him and I said, excuse me. And I said, first of all, Julia's mother wasn't Augustus' [first wife]. She was his second. You've missed out his first wife, who's quite important. And secondly, Julia was not a nymphomaniac.

And he looked at me. He was affronted. And he said, it's in the sources, Signora.

And I said, yes, I'm familiar with the sources. So I said, I assume you're referring to Seneca's famous essay, Dei Beneficiis on Benefits, where he says that Augusta's daughter, Julia, was so sex-crazed that even though she was the most recognizable woman in the Roman Empire, and was living in a palace on the Palatine Hill, that she went down into the forum every night and sold sex to every passing gladiator and barman.

And he said, yes.

And I said, do you think women really behave like that? And this conversation went on for some time because I pointed out that Julia was famously fertile. She had six babies, five of whom survived. And in this period, when she was separated from her third husband, Tiberius, she was supposedly going down into the forum every night and having masses of unprotected sex. She never gets pregnant again! And, you know, how did she do that?

And so the guy then said, well, maybe the source is exaggerated. I realized by this time the entire room was silent and all the heads were turning.

And I said, well, it's not just exaggeration, it's bias against women. And I eventually said, look, I'm writing a book about this. I'll leave you to it.

And through gritted teeth, he said, I look forward to reading it. And I said, you’ll learn a lot and walked out.”

quote by Joan Smith, promoting her book Unfortunately, She was a Nymphomaniac: A New History of Rome's Imperial Women on Woman’s Hour, the December 30th 2024 episode, “Joan Smith, Parenting Adult Children, Dolly Parton Musical”

[amberthefantasy]

Nitimur in Vetitum

chapter nineteen: seperatio (seperation)

"Julia Major was born on the 30th of October 39 BCE, only a short time later her family was torn apart."- The Life of Julia Augusta by Adelaide Lyons

2nd Day Before the Nones of October (6th October)

Lucretia rolled her head to the side when Gaius and Agrippa entered the villa. They were both draped in the white togas of the Senate, and the happy expressions on their faces as they talked told Lucretia it had been a good day. Good. "My love," she called for Agrippa, leaning up towards him. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek as soon as he was close enough, Gaius following with one of his own a short moment later. "You seem happy," she commented.

"We are," Gaius smirked. "The Senate passed our bill for grain distribution." Lucretia smiled too. It was an old bill, one her father had actually drafted before his death, but Gaius had found use in it. It would make them more popular with the people after all, to feed them. 

"You look pleased, yourself," Agrippa pointed out as he sat next to her.

Lucretia smiled and let out a happy sigh. Her kiss with Livia had been on her mind since the night before, even more so after seeing her in the market earlier in the day. Her beautiful dark hair and eyes, the way her red dress had flowed over her skin. "Lucretia," Gaius' voice broke through her thoughts.

Lucretia blinked at him, "apologies." She paused for a moment to think about how to phrase what she needed to say, before giving up and simply stating, "Gaius is not the only one who can enjoy company."

Both of them stared at her for a moment before Agrippa forced out a " who?"

"That pretty woman we've all had our eyes on. She kissed me," Lucretia smiled wider.

"She kissed you?" Gaius gaped. "Livia kissed you?"

"She did," Lucretia leant into Agrippa's side. "She pressed her lips to mine and kissed me." Agrippa let out a stuttering breath as Lucretia's lips brushed his ear.

"She's a good kisser isn't she?" Gaius asked from Lucretia's other side, hand moving up her leg.

"She is," Lucretia agreed. "Maybe one day Agrippa can concur with us." 

"Maybe," Agrippa sighed, pressing his own lips to hers.

---

3rd day before the Kalends of November (30th October)

Lucretia bent her head. Scribonia's labours had begun an hour earlier and her screams were getting progressively louder. The two women's distance from each other meant that Lucretia was not expected to be with her brother's wife while she laboured, but that didn't make the screams any easier to endure. Gaius, Agrippa and Maecenus were trying to plan war strategy against Sextus, for after Gaius married Livia, but they too were getting distracted by the noise.

"Will Marcus Antonius sit still in the East while we take Sextus out of Sicily. Or will they take sides against us?" Gaius asked as another round of screams rang through the house.

Lucretia closed her eyes. "It depends," Agrippa said in a stilted voice. "If we can make Sextus out to be the agressor-" 'Gods, fuck this.' "-Antonius will have to allow it."

"That should be easy enough," Maecenus shrugged. 'Oh gods, oh gods.' "A few whispers here and there."

"Antonius is strategic," Lucretia finally looked up. "He won't want to look like a warmonger. The people are tired of war." Another yell split the air.

"It’d save a lot of problems if she died," Agrippa commented. Lucretia slapped his arm. "Just saying."

The screams died eventually, and tension filled the room as they waited for news. Then a figure appeared in the doorway, Antigone, with a babe wrapped in cloth in her arms. "I’m sorry, Lord. It’s a girl," Antigone said. She walked over to Gaius. "But the mother will live." She placed the little thing at Gaius' feet on his klinai. "Do you give the child life, or death?"

"Life," Gaius said softly, his eyes locked on the babe.

"Good," Antigone said, she leant down to pick the little girl up again with a small smile at her little body.

---

On the day before the Kalends of November (31st October)

SCRIBONIA.

Scribonia bounced her babe lightly in her arms, using one hand to hold her and the other to pick at the bush next to her. "-It’s like shitting… a statue," Scribonia dictated to the scribe seated a few steps away. "But the girl, thank the gods, is healthy. Gaius gave her life… and the name Julia. I hope the journey east was safe." She sighed.

Maecenas walked over to her, a scroll clutched in his hand and face set in an uncomfortable expression. " Oh, you look grim, Maecenas," Scribonia noted, sitting up slightly. "What’s the matter?" He hesitated for a moment. "Spit it out."

Maecenas gulped. "Gaius... wishes to divorce you."

Scribonia felt her heart stutter as she gaped at him. "What?" She clutched Julia closer to her. "I... I just gave him a child and he..." Memories of the dinner party at the end of Sextilis came flooding back and her jaw tightened. "He's divorcing me for that whore Livia isn't he?"

Maecenas just sighed again and held out the scroll he had been holding, "I am sorry Scribonia."

"Sorry," Scribonia repeated. "Yes. Sorry." She took the scroll from Maecenas with a snarl on her lips, not even bothering to read it before turning back to the scribe. "Start a new paragraph. Octavia, Gaius has done something horrid-"

---

3rd Day Before the Nones of November (3rd November)

LIVIA DRUSILLA.

Livia folded her shawl over and placed it gently down in her trunk. The sound of footsteps outside the room made her sigh slightly to herself but she ignored it, instead just fixing her bracelet. "I don't believe it!" Nero's angry voice made her glance towards him. 

"Yes," Livia said blankly, picking up the last of her things. "After all you've done for me."

"You whore!" Nero screamed, rushing into the room. He slammed her trunk shut, before snapping it back open and throwing its contents across the floor. "You, fuck, you whore!"

Livia stepped back to watch him. "Bit late for the principled stand," she commented as she gathered up the clothes he'd thrown around.

"Do you think he's a better bet than me?" Nero whined. "How long do you think he'll last sharing power with Marcus Antonius?"

Livia's thoughts turned to Lucretia and her smarts, Gaius and his strategy, Agrippa and his strength. "I'm sure you're right," she eventually said to Nero. "You always seem to be," she added.

"The man who killed your darling, dear father."

Livia twitched. Her father would understand. "You betrayed the Republic, my father, and then me." Nero gulped. "From that moment on, you were a ghost. I just didn't tell you." She glanced sideways, at one of Libo's slaves entering the room. "But anyway... I hope you find a quiet obedient widow," she smiled sharply. "With plenty of money. Thank you Tycho." She held out a bag of gold for him. A final thought flashed through Livia's mind. "Oh, and I found Antigone." She told Nero with a sharp glare.

Livia entered her new home slowly. She looked around, it was nice, she decided. Her eyes landed on a figure leaning against a pillar and she paused. Scribonia looked at her with teary eyes. "Yes, I'm supposed to be gone," she said. Livia walked over to her. "There's always more to pack than what you think." More water gathered in the other woman's eyes. "Did you have to take my husband?"

She spat at Livia, who dodged backwards. "Did you have to invite me to dinner?" Livia responded. After all, this would not have happened if Scribonia had not initiated that night. 

Scribonia looked away from her, blinking to control her tears. Livia finally shifted her gaze to the little bundle in Scribonia's arms, leaning forward to take the baby. Scribonia handed her over with a sniffle. "Her name's Julia," she said.

"We'll look after her," Livia promised, voice filled with her recent understanding of the pain of being torn from your children. 

Scribonia placed her hand gently on her daughter's head for a moment, before Livia stepped aside to let her pass. Scribonia stepped from the step she had been standing on and paused besides Livia. "How quickly one can rise, when one has no feeling at all." 

"They're buried at Philippi," Livia said in a monotone voice.

NiV masterlist / post masterlist / appendix

[celine-t-r]

Affreschi del ninfeo sotterraneo della villa di Livia, Palazzo Massimo, Rome

[quodnonnecatemunit]

Palazzo Massimo - Rome Inspired by the magnificent palaces of the 16th century, Palazzo Massimo was built between 1883 and 1887 by the Jesuit priest Massimiliano Massimo, based on a design by Camillo Pistrucci, to house the new Jesuit school. In 1981, the Palazzo was acquired by the Italian Government to become one of the new sites for the National Roman Museum. A radical renovation of the building was entrusted to Costantino Dardi and the Palazzo opened to the public in 1998. Since then, the original installation has been revised and adjusted on a number of occasions, interweaving the various threads of the exhibition using a design based on chronology and theme. By referring to the contexts in which the artefacts were found, this creates the suggestion that different works are jumbled together as in the bustling collections of the 16th century. Now, moving through the rooms of the Palazzo Massimo is like leafing through the pages of a wonderful book. Its four floors contain some of the greatest masterpieces of the entire artistic output of the Roman world: sculptures, reliefs, frescos, mosaics, stuccoes and sarcophagi, originating, like all of the treasures of the National Roman Museum, from excavations undertaken in Rome and the surrounding region from 1870 onwards. The route of the visit begins with the theme of the portrait and its evolution, from exclusive use by the most illustrious citizens in the Archaic Period to the widespread use of portraits among freedmen, from portraits of Greek origin, such as those of Alexander the Great, to those of simple Roman citizens eager for self-celebration at the end of the Republic, like the Tivoli General, and new forms of portraiture linked to the birth of the Empire, such as Augustus dressed as the Pontifex Maximus. Greek originals in marble, such as the Niobid from the Horti Sallustiani (Gardens of Sallust), and in bronze, including the Boxer at Rest and the Hellenistic Prince from the Baths of Constantine, are typical examples of the models of Greek art that came to Rome with the wars of conquest. Continuing the history of portraits in the Imperial Age, the first floor displays the Roman taste for reworkings and copies of ideal sculptures, like the Discobolus of Myron, presented in two well-known reproductions – the Lancellotti Discobolus and the Discobolus of Castel Porziano -, the Sleeping Hermaphroditus, the Aphrodite of Menophantos, and innumerable works depicting gods and mythological figures. However, sculpture also became a means of expression for celebrating victories at the borders of the Empire, such as the monumental Portonaccio sarcophagus, and a method for paying tribute to the greatness of well-known figures in the society of the late Roman Empire, as can be seen from the Acilia and Annona Sarcophagi. The second floor of the Palazzo is dedicated entirely to frescos, stuccoes and mosaics. One element that is fundamental in fully grasping the taste and aesthetic sense of the Roman aristocracy is the superb wall decorations of major archaeological complexes, such as the Villa di Livia in Prima Porta, the Villa Farnesina in Trastevere and the Villa di Termini. The basement level offers a selection from the collections from the National Roman Museum’s Coin and Medal Collection and is dedicated to the economy and the use of money, interpreted through an exhibition of coins, jewellery, precious ornaments and documents relating to the daily cost of life.

[kitaston]

Frescoes from the Villa of Livia, second half of the 1st century BC, Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano di Palazzo Massimo.

Beautiful fresco.

[steliosagapitos]

[eclectic-and-passionate-blog]

A trip to Villa di Livia 🥰

[faccaldo]

3 dicembre

Villa di Livia Drusilla

[feenixmork]

Far as I've seen it is exclusively brought up around Mifuyu. And I've yet to see anyone mentioning it happening with any other adult magical girl but Mifuyu. Kanagi is hella strong, idk about Hinano Ikumi and Sayuki but again I have not seen it come up even once in discussion-- and to be fair a couple notable older megucas are big exceptions to this: Yachiyo doesn't get weaker for obvious wish-related reasons, and Livia could never fight witches due to the curse nature of her wish making her only good at fighting other magical girls/using coordination magic when she figured that out.

It only coming up with Mifuyu is probably another good reason why a lot of people simply don't buy age being the reasoning gkfhfjdhf.

And iirc it comes up in arc 1 when Mifuyu goes to gaslight gatekeep girlboss at Mikazuki Villa in chapter 6, and it's in her MSS!

Livia is LIKELY the oldest magical girl in Magia Record who isn't straight up immortal like Pernelle. Though how old she'll be revealed to be is still unclear, I honestly don't trust this game to put her anywhere beyond mid 20s if even that jfhdjfhndc

Also worth noting we did see a bunch of historical figures revealed to be magical girls in PMMM, including Cleopatra who died at 39 years old. I'm not sure if she's a magical girl in Puella Historia.....? I've yet to read it. But ye that's a prime canon PMMM 39 year old magical girl technically gkdhvjdhf

Oh man, I dunno if this costume story will go in this direction (sometimes they're a little too slice-of-life for my liking), but this is kind of a fascinating conversation for magical girls to have?

Like, I don't personally like the whole "magical girls get weaker as they get older thing" but let's just assume that's true for a second. These two are talking about general fears about getting older but what they're saying versus what they aren't saying is kind of interesting. Like...

That makes a lot of assumptions right? That Tsuruno will get older. That she's not going to stop at that age. That she's not going to die.

People always say that getting old is a privilege-- and that's especially true for magical girls. Getting older in this setting means that you've survived another year of fighting dangerous witches, potentially other magical girls, and balanced this alongside your normal human duties (like school, potentially part time jobs, family). So in one way, getting older is a good thing. It means that you've gathered more experience, that you've become wiser, more secure in your territory and who you want to be...

But in this fantasy setting, getting older means becoming weaker. So now that I think about it, becoming an older magical girl is actually kind of scary.

Even if we discount the whole "magical girls get weaker as they get older" thing, it's still terrifying because most magical girls do not survive to get older in the first place. They'll witch out, they'll die in combat, they might hurt their gems, they might get killed by other magical girls... Imagine being a new magical girl and seeing that there are no older magical girls around you.

Especially for Yachiyo. She gets older and older and the people she's known start to drop off and disappear. Mifuyu was missing for a while (at least from Yachiyo's perspective). Did she have anyone to look up to? Did anyone older that she was close to suddenly perish?

One day Yachiyo woke up and realized that she was the oldest magical girl she personally knew. That must have been a terrifying realization.

[evita-shelby]

Eva's backstory in bullet points for me to remember

cw: death, suicide attempts, murder, attempted sexual assault

Eva was born December 1st, 1896 in an ambulance outside of the Sistine Chapel, her mom famously went into labor(planned to the minute) right under God's Creation of Eve, hence her first name

Eva’s full name is Eva Leonor Smith Riley because Mexico uses two last names, post marriage she keeps her first last name and adds her husband's last name

Eva’s witch lineage is matrilineal and only passes down to one daughter in each generation(Isabel is Dominga's only witch daughter out of like her 4 daughters, Eva is Isabel' only witch daughter, etc)

Eva's parents were civilian casualties in the military occupation of Veracruz in 1914(began in April and ended in November)

two months before that her only sister, Felicidad died giving birth to her namesake who died of lung failure a month later

sometime in May 1914 Eva is almost sexually assaulted by a Captain of Villa's army who had a habit of sexually assaulting nurses and soldaderas, she kills him because the head nurse gave her hunting knife to keep under her pillow

her brother Alan died in his first battle that same year after he, Gabriel and Eva (she stowed away and joined the red cross as a nurse) joined Pancho Villa's northern division once their parents were buried. it was the battle of Zacatecas in June 1914 and died of sepsis from a gut injury

Gabriel died in the Battle of Celaya in April 1915 being split apart by the faulty grenade he was holding

Eva at some point became one of the translators working for Pancho Villa and eventually became a spy for his army which included infiltrating a cantina feequented by American soldiers in New Mexico as a merchant's daughter turned prostitue, a federalist officer's country home in Chihuahua as a maid and other places as a lost tourist

her job as a nurse also included euthanizing patients too sick to recover as resources were scarce amongst them, her brother Alan was the first person she killed that way

her time posing as a maid in 1915 resulted in her being whipped by a jealous woman who she then poisoned

made out with Raoul Walsh when he tried to film the Pancho Villa Movie in May 1914 when she was 17, her brothers were not pleased to doscover that

met Diosdado around her 18th birthday, he asked her to dance even after hearing about the rumors of her losing her power if she has sex (made up by Eva to protect herself from other would be rapists) and purposely gets injured to see her, steals a filly for her at the Raid on King Ranch

Eva's best friend, Antonia joins the army as a nurse after running away from a school in America in 1914, both fall in love with each other and after Eva breaks up Diosdado after Gabriel's death they begin to secretly date

Antonia leaves in 1915 after her parents ransom her from Pancho Villa, invites a grief stricken Eva to leave with her

Eva refuses as she goes on a rampage as a spy and her mental health deteriorates enough for a depressive period to result in her powers leaving her

Eva, very suicidal, is kicked out of the army by Villa personally and wanders into the Chihuahan desert with the intention to die from exposure in April 1916

instead she encounters a Huichol Shaman taking people in a peyote pilgrimage and Eva consumes 10 Peyote bundles so the effect kills her but instead reawakens her clairvoyance and unlocks some of her latent magical abilities (like breaking mirrors telepathically, turning any liquid into alcohol, ability to see the dead but not communicating with them and curse breaking)

Eva is left for dead outside a hospital in San Luis Potosi where Florence Solomons, the family assassin who trained Eva's cousin Santiago and lives under the name Jael Peralta, and Santiago track her down in the psych ward

Eva's aunts Livia and Minerva eventually bribe the government of Venustiano Carranza to believe Eva was simply a nurse even if he is 100% aware of the other shit she did but relents under the condition she doesn't publically mourn Gabriel who died in opposition to his government

Eva's depression turns to a manic period that would last for two years, she is diagnosed with manic-depressive insanity (bipolar disorder) by a Jewish-Mexican Psychotherapist named Peralta who is Florence then husband

Eva begins seeing Antonia again who is on and off dating Francisco, Eva’s cousin who is also under scrutiny of the government because his dad, Patricio, is the head of the family and now exiled to New York

Eva begins dating Leopoldo Carranza, eldest son of the president (he died as an infant irl, functions more as an oc) and uses him to spy on his dad while also as a cover for her being bisexual

Eva gets worse as she begins abusing alcohol and other substances

on December 31st 1917, Leopoldo proposes to her only for his father to threaten to disown him if he doesn't break things off with Eva thirty minutes after, this causes Eva to spiral even further, begin hallucinating the guests in how they will die along with the ghosts of her family, as a fuck you to Carranza she tells him how he will die before attempting suicide at midnight

Antonia saves her in the nick of time causing Eva to become very dependent on her during her house arrest and court ordered sobriety for the next six months, Eva is unaware that in this time Franco and Antonia get engaged with the intention of moving to the is for safety

Antonia leads her on fearing Eva would try to kill herself but eventually breaks up with her telling her they wont go to Paris with her Family and is instead eloping with Francisco to gain a legal way to stay in the US

Eva no longer wanting to die, decides to go with her estranged paternal family in England where they have her stay with her grandma in Small Heath to prove to the Crown she isn't the dangerous criminal she actually is.

or depending the story, goes to her uncle Patricio in New York where she gets into an arranged marriage to either Jack or Luca

[a-chthonic-icarus]

Frescoes from the Villa of Livia, second half of the 1st century BC, Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano di Palazzo Massimo.

Click photos to see full image.

credit: https://www.milestonerome.com/2018/04/the-painted-garden-from-the-villa-of-livia-for-naturemw/