#american black elder

[yourdailyqueer]

Alice Dunbar Nelson (deceased)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual

DOB: 19 July 1875

RIP: 18 September 1935

Ethnicity: African American

Occupation: Poet, journalist, activist

[vandaliatraveler]

The northern end of Canaan Valley is characterized by regenerating northern hardwood forests interspersed with red spruce, open fields converting from pasture to heath, and beaver-curated wetlands. When the first white settlers arrived in the mid-1800's, the valley was a nearly impenetrable wilderness composed of mud-sucking "muskegs", gnarly rhododendron thickets, and monstrous stands of red spruce and eastern hemlock. Within 50 years, it was all gone, cut over and burned down down to bare rock. Salvation for this "Land of Canaan" has only recently come in the form of the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which has set about the painstaking restoration of the valley's diverse (and occasionally threatened or endangered) plant and animal communities, some reaching their southernmost limits in these mountains.

From top: a view toward Cabin Mountain from Middle Ridge, whose open flank is overrun by lowbush blackberry, mountain laurel, bushy St. John's wort, bracken fern, and dotted hawthorn; several of the beaver-engineered wetlands, a mecca for birdwatchers from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region; the blazing red berries of red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), a hugely important food source for local wildlife; the fanning white corymbs of American black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), which comes into bloom about two months after red elderberry; quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), whose delicate leaves flutter in unison at the slightest breeze; a beautiful young Canaan fir (Abies balsamea var phanerolepsis), a subspecies of balsam fir whose fragrant, blue foliage and high needle retention have made it increasingly popular as an ornamental; a lovely patch of hairy hedge nettle (Stachys hispida), a stately native mint; tall meadow rue (Thalictrum pubescens), a wetlands-loving perennial that clumps impressively along streambanks and bog margins; and lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), whose berries are just now starting to ripen.

[fatchance]

Untitled.

[realpaintedjasmines]

I am gonna try this again

I was on tumblr in the OG days. It was fun back in 2012. I left once it got rid of corn. I'm sure lots has changed since then, but I missed it, I miss the aesthetics, and maybe I'll get back into tumblr again.

I make portrait art and express myself through my style. It definitely wasn't a phase, Mom. I'm African and Lakota. Safe space for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, two-spirit

lets be friends and be creative together <3

edit: oh yeah, I'm following back everyone :)

[jccheapalier]

Black conservatives are being treated unfairly in America

[momlovesyoubest]

Sell Benefits Not Features to Wealth Managers

 Sell Benefits, not Features to Wealth Managers to Grow your Bottom Line Selling benefits, not features, to wealth managers is a key to great marketing. Do you know how you do that? When you market Geriatric care management, what makes the sale is ” What’s in it for me, the 3rd party?”. “Benefits answer that question for your targets. Learn how to make an excellent marketing presentation that…

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #25

June 28-July 5 2024

The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Is putting forward the first ever federal safety regulation to protect worker's from excessive heat in the workplace. As climate change has caused extreme heat events to become more common work place deaths have risen from an average of 32 heat related deaths between 1992 and 2019 to 43 in 2022. The rules if finalized would require employers to provide drinking water and cool break areas at 80 degrees and at 90 degrees have mandatory 15-minute breaks every two hours and be monitored for signs of heat illness. This would effect an estimated 36 million workers.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced $1 Billion for 656 projects across the country aimed at helping local communities combat climate change fueled disasters like flooding and extreme heat. Some of the projects include $50 Million to Philadelphia for a stormwater pump station and combating flooding, and a grant to build Shaded bus shelters in Washington, D.C.

The Department of Transportation announced thanks to efforts by the Biden Administration flight cancellations at the lowest they've been in a decade. At just 1.4% for the year so far. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg credited the Department's new rules requiring automatic refunds for any cancellations or undue delays as driving the good numbers as well as the investment of $25 billion in airport infrastructure that was in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Department of Transportation announced $600 million in the 3rd round of funding to reconnect communities. Many communities have been divided by highways and other Infrastructure projects over the years. Most often effecting racial minority and poor areas. The Biden Administration is dedicated to addressing these injustices and helping reconnect communities split for decades. This funding round will see Atlanta’s Southside Communities reconnected as well as a redesign for Birmingham’s Black Main Street, reconnecting a community split by Interstate 65 in the 1960s. 

The Biden Administration approved its 9th offshore wind power project. About 9 miles off the coast of New Jersey the planned wind farm will generated 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power almost a million homes with totally clear power. This will bring the total amount of clean wind power generated by projects approved by the Biden Administration to 13 gigawatts. The Administration's climate goal is to generate 30 gigawatts from wind.

The Biden Administration announced funding for 12 new Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs. The $504 million dollars will go to supporting tech hubs in, Colorado, Montana, Indiana, Illinois, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. These tech hubs together with 31 already announced and funded will support high tech manufacturing jobs, as well as training for 21st century jobs for millions of American workers.

HHS announced over $200 million to support improved care for older Americans, particularly those with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. The money is focused on training primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and other health care clinicians in best practices in elder and dementia care, as well as seeking to  integrate geriatric training into primary care. It also will support ways that families and other non-medical care givers can be educated to give support to aging people.

HHS announced $176 million to help support the development of a mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccine. As part of the government's efforts to be ready before the next major pandemic it funds and supports new vaccine's to try to predict the next major pandemic. Moderna is working on an mRNA vaccine, much like the Covid-19, vaccine focused on the H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses, which experts fear could spread to humans and cause a Covid like event.

[lollobarcollomanonmollo]

women artists that you should know about!!

-Judith Leyster (Dutch, 1609-1660)

During her life her works were highly recognized, but she got forgotten after her death and rediscovered in the 19th century. In her paintings could be identified the acronym "JL", asually followed by a star, she was the first woman to be inserted in the Guild of St. Luke, the guild Haarlem's artists.

-Artemisia Gentileschi (Italian, 1593-1656)

"... Si è talmente appraticata che posso osar de dire che hoggi non ci sia pare a lei, havendo fatto opere che forse i principali maestri di questa professione non arrivano al suo sapere". This is how the father Orazio talked about his nineteen year old daughter to the Medici's court in Florence.

In 1611, Artemisia got raped, and she had to Undergo a humiliating trial, just to marry so that she could "Restore one's reputation" , according to the morality of the time. Only after a few years Artemisia managed to regain her value, in Florence, in Rome, in Naples and even in England, her oldest surviving work is "Susanna and the elders".

-Elisabeth Louise Vigèe Le Brun (French, 1755-1842)

She was a potrait artists who created herself a name during the Ancien Règime, serving as the potrait painting of the Queen of France Marie Antoinette, she painted 600 portraits and 200 landscapes in the course of her life.

-Augusta Savage (Afro-American, 1892-1962)

Augusta started making figures when she was a child, which most of them were small animals made out of red clay of her hometown, she kept model claying, and during 1919, at the Palm Beach County Fair, she won $25 prize and ribbon for most original exhibit. After completing her studies, Savage worked in Manhattan steam laundries to support her family along with herself. After a violent stalking made by Joe Gould that lasted for two decades, the stalker died in 1957 after getting lobotomized. In 2004, a public high school, Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, in Baltimore, opened.

-Marie Ellenrieder (German,1791-1863)

She was known for her portraits and religious paintings. During a two years long stay in Rome, she met some Nazarenes (group of early 19th century German romantic painters who wanted to revive spirituality in art),after becoming a student of Friedrich Overbeck and after being heavily influenced by a friend, she began painting religious image, getting heavily inspired by the Italian renaissance, more specifically by the artist Raphael. In 1829, she became a court painter to Grand Duchess Sophie of Baden.

-Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (French,1841-1893)

Morisot studied at the Louvre, where she met Edouard Manet, which became her friend and professor. During 1874 she participated at her first Impressionist exhibition, and in 1892 sets up her own solo exhibition.

-Edmonia Lewis or also called "wildfire" (mixed African-American and Native American 1844-1907)

Edmonia was born in Upstate New York but she worked for most of her career in Rome, Italy. She was the first ever African American and Native American sculptor to achieve national and international fame, she began to gain prominence in the USA during the Civil Ware. She was the first black woman artist who has participated and has been recognized to any extent by the American artistic mainstream. She Also in on Molefi Kete Asante's list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

-Marie Gulliemine Benoist (French, 1768-1826)

Daughter of a civil servant, Marie was A pupil of Jaques-Louis David, whose she shared the revolutionary ideas with, painting innovative works that have caused whose revolutionary ideals he shared, painting innovative works that caused discussion. She opened a school for young girl artists, but the marriage with the banker Benoist and the political career Of the husband had slowly had effect on her artistic career, forcing her to stop painting. Her most famous work is Potrait of Madeline, which six years before slavery was abolished, so that painting became a simbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights.

-Lavinia Fontana (Italian, 1552-1614)

She is remembered for being the first woman artist to paint an altarpiece and for painting the first female nude by a woman (Minerva in the act of dressing), commissioned by Scipione Borghese.

-Elisabetta Sirani. (Italian, 1698-1665)

Her admirable artistic skills, that would vary from painting, drawing and engraving, permitted her, in 1660, to enter in the National Academy of S. Luca, making her work as s professor. After two years she replaced her father in his work of his Artistic workshop, turning it into an art schools for girls, becoming the first woman in Europe to have a girls' school of painting, like Artemisia Gentileschi, she represent female characters as strong and proud, mainly drawn from Greek and Roman stories. (ex. Timoclea Kills The Captain of Alexander the Great, 1659).

[feminist-furby-freak]

We had an indigenous elder come and speak to one of my classes the other day and everyone was criticizing her for saying women and using sex-based language. Wait but I through native Americans didn’t have our regressive “colonial” views on gender!!?! Don’t they all believe in “two spirit” !?!?!

You people don’t actually care what black or indigenous or whatever group you are fetishizing have to say if they don’t support your agenda.

[reasonsforhope]

"South Carolina is preparing to put up its first individual statue for an African American on its Statehouse lawn, honoring a man who put on Confederate clothes in order to steal a slaveholder’s ship and sail his family and a dozen others to freedom during the Civil War.

But Robert Smalls isn’t just being honored for his audacious escape. He spent a decade in the US House, helped rewrite South Carolina’s constitution to allow Black men equality after the Civil War and then put up a valiant but doomed fight when racists returned to power and eliminated nearly all of the gains Smalls fought for.

State Rep. Jermaine Johnson can’t wait to bring his children to the Statehouse to finally see someone who is Black like them being honored.

“The man has done so many great things, it’s just a travesty he has not been honored until now. Heck, it’s also a travesty there isn’t some big Hollywood movie out there about his life,” said Johnson, a Democrat from a district just a few miles from the Statehouse.

The idea for a statue to Smalls has been percolating for years. But there was always quiet opposition preventing a bill from getting a hearing. That changed in 2024 as the proposal made it unanimously through the state House and Senate on the back of Republican Rep. Brandon Cox of Goose Creek.

“South Carolina is a great state. We’ve got a lot of history, good and bad. This is our good history,” Cox said.

What will the Robert Smalls memorial look like?

The bill created a special committee that has until January 15 to come up with a design, a location on the Statehouse lawn and the money to pay for whatever memorial they choose.

But supporters face a challenging question: What best honors Smalls?

If it’s just one statue, is it best to honor the steel-nerved ship pilot who waited for all the white crew to leave, then mimicked hand signals and whistle toots to get through Confederate checkpoints, while hoping Confederate soldiers didn’t notice a Black man under the hat in the pale moonlight in May 1862?

Or would a more fitting tribute to Smalls be to recognize the statesman who served in the South Carolina House and Senate and the US House after the Civil War? Smalls bought his master’s house in Beaufort in part with money made for turning the Confederate ship over to Union forces, then allowed the man’s penniless wife to live there when she was widowed.

Or is the elder Smalls who fought for education for all and to keep the gains African Americans made during the Civil War the man most worth publicly memorializing? Smalls would see a new constitution in 1895 wipe out African Americans’ right to vote. He was fired from his federal customs collector job in 1913 when then President Woodrow Wilson purged a large number of Black men out of government jobs.

Or would it be best to combine them all in some way? That’s how Republican Rep. Chip Campsen, an occasional ship pilot himself, sees honoring one of his favorite South Carolinians.

“The best way to sum up Robert Smalls’ life is it was a fight for freedom as a slave, as a pilot and as a statesman,” Campsen said."

-via AP, Octtober 23, 2024

[sherewrytes]

Ms. Good Grip

Inspired by this song

If you know you know. If you don't know how you know. Wanted to drop a fic with a more Caribbean inspo.

C.W : smut, Caribbean dialect, overstimulation, Caribbean black reader. Dom ony. Y/N be actin out

Your fav cousin wedding reception was in full swing. Drinks pouring, shots passing, weed smoke in the air all elders already left. You knew your boyfriend Ony wasn't used to Caribbean style parties. The pacing was completely from the usual parties he's used to. He was faded and tipsy, hands gripping your hips catching every whine you threw his way. You were completely bent over, if it wasn`t for your updo your hair would be touching the floor with how far you were bent over. You both took a break from dancing to get some drinks and more food before everyone's greedy ass ate it all up.

The song changed to Alkaline's on Fleek. As soon as you heard,

Whooo gyal yo pum, pum Gyal, yuh pum pum, Gyal, yuh pum pum on fleek.

You joined your other wild ass cousins in the dance circle and began whining. You made sure to position yourself right in front of Ony. You were secretly putting on all this show for him. All the weed and drinks had you wanting him. He looked so good in his semi casual fit You whined slowly at first slowly going lower to match the intro of the song staring him dead in his eyes while he smoked a joint with a bottle of Stag beer in his hand. His shades resting slightly lower on his nose. You watch him beckon you over with a finger, but you ignored him only because you loved riling him up at times, it makes the sex better.

You felt a hand grip your waist; you knew instantly it wasn't Ony's, but you decided to give the guy a lil dance. You cousin Shanice side eyed know mothing " Aye, you always lookin' for problems. You know how Ony's gonna react." You laughed saying "Oh well, small thing."

(Small thing- Trini slang for No big deal)

You heard the Dj scratch and the song changed to Spice's Jim Screechie

You were singing the song loud and clear while throwing it back on the random guy.

"And your gyal a watch you hard, but me no matter that Hold me tight and don't let me go Whine with me and me a whine with you"

You were giving him a wicked whine knowing for a fact that kinda whining is reserved for Ony but you thought "Oh well." The guy had one hand on your hips pulling you back against his hips while almost dry fuckin you on the makeshift dance floor. You felt a hand grab your wrist and pulled you. You looked up and saw it was Ony pulling you off the makeshift dance floor away from everyone.

"You got me fucked up; you know that. Are you goin out of your head or sum." Ony said his voice gruff with annoyance. You on the other hand were turned on by hearin' him this way. You smirked "It's just a dance Ony. I know you're suffering from not accustom. You bein' a black American I know you won't know much about my culture and shit."

You watch Ony's eye widen with annoyance "Oh really, you really wanna go that route with me. Imma give you a last chance to take that shit back." You rolled your eyes and giggled. "Still just a lil dance Ony." You attempted to walk away big mistake.

You knew it was your fault you were now in this situation. Your hands pressed and pinned against the toilet door with your back arched. Ony was feeding deep, hard strokes. You had to way to move, one of his hands pinned your hands against the door while the other was between your spread thighs rubbing your clit.

You felt your wetness run down your thigh, you were making a mess of yourself. You were coming again. You were pleading with him to take it easy on you "Ony 'm sor-sorry...please I can't"

"Nah, you can't, you weren't whining out there on him like you couldn't so nah you gon' take this dick. It's what you wanted right."

You were panting, moaning moaning his name as fucked you harder. You were now pressed against the door, his hand now pressed against the side of your neck. Between the hard slaps of his hips against yours and the song blaring in the background, you were losing your mind. You came twice already and feeling the third one fast approaching. He was rubbing your twitching clit. Rubbing so fast, your squirt was coming out faster than you realized. Your lust filled sobs were shaking your body and his, it only made him want to fuck you harder.

"Ony! Ony! Ouuu fuck I'm sorry 'm sorry please please please slow down." He stopped only to turn you over so you can be face to face as he lifted you up and pinned your back against the door again. You were both face to face. Ony's eyed still red from smoking.

"You always tryna test me and push me Y/N huh. You don't fuckin listen....actin up and showin out for WHO. that dude..playin' too much."

Your eyes rolled into the back of your head as your stomach clenched, you saw Ony smirk and slid his hand between both of your bodies and press down on your stomach. Your eyes widen while tears brimmed the corner. "Ouuu fuck! shit Ony..didn't mean to do it. why you fuckin me like this."

Ony tried to reign in his anger but her couldn't he felt it coming back, only pushing him to thrust deeper and harder "Don't play dumb with me Y/N you know I'm actin' like this."

Between Ony tearin your shit up and the music thumping in the background, you were close to another orgasm, tears now running down your face. Ony's hips practically pinning you between him and the door. Ony leaned in and kissed your tears away.

Ony finds your silence a bit annoying. After what felt like minutes, his hand gripped your throat. Through your teary eyes you could see you pushed Ony a bit to far but then again he knew how you were. He loved you for it.

Ony felt your body shivering against his. He kept feeding you deep, hard strokes which you were sure if the music wasn't loud as fuck everyone could hear. He felt his vexation simmering in his veins.

"Ony..please..I love you. I...Ony!" you pleaded. Ony rolled his eyes tired of hearing the same things over and over again come out of your mouth.

"Nah, love me, that's crazy Y/N. Do you really love me Y/N?" "I do Ony! I do. I won't do this shit again I swear...just.."

You were gripping around his dick so tightly he could feel his balls twitching and he fucked you against the door harder. He knew you loved pushing his buttons as much as you loved him. he wrapped your legs tighter around his hips, trying to go deep as he possibly can. You were so overstimulated you were shaking while pressed between the door and him.

"Fuck Y/N you're squeezin' me Gonna nut" you felt him fill you up groaning into your ear. You knew the amount he just came in you would leak out.

Ony sat you on the bathroom counter, helped you clean up then he cleaned up himself. You cleaned your face with make up wipes you had in your bag and reapplied your make up Ony smirked "You gon behave now my love" "Yes Ony I will"

You went back out the wedding party holding hands and smiling.

[lizardsfromspace]

A key piece of the Jones puzzle is that, once upon a time, being a burnt out conspiracy weirdo was a significantly more bipartisan pastime. The right-wing conspiracy weirdos were way more dangerous - they made up the entirety of the militia movement in the 90s - and the more political, as they focused on fears of government takeovers, but it was once extremely common to find someone on the left - or who wasn't political at all - who couldn't stop talking about how UFOs were real and one was the Grassy Knoll.

This is exemplified by Behold a Pale Horse, a big tent conspiracy book that was meant for militia types, but also had chapters on UFOs, and also had chapters about how AIDS was bio-engineered to wipe out African-Americans, which garnered it an audience broad enough to include white supremacists and black nationalists and general UFO kooks, but also one of the chapters was literally just the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. People picked and chose what was relevant to them and ignored the rest

The last gasp of this was 9/11 trutherism, which is often inaccurately reported as primarily or exclusively left-wing, but there were a lot of left-wing believers, and it was the last conspiracy theory of its kind to gain currency on the left. One reason the protest art of the Bush years was so often, uh, bad was that too much of it flirted with trutherism, like, not directly but in a "we should ask Questions" way. If I had a nickle for every prominent political rap song of the era that paused for a verse about how Bush brought down the towers, I'd have two nickles etc. The first and only time I listened to Air America was some show where someone said we had to hear truthers out and. No.

But that was the era conspiracy theories not only gravitated towards the right, but also became far more current. People stopped talking about UFOs (even the UAP stories couldn't get people talking about them again) and they stopped talking about ancient events like JFK and MLK, once Obama was elected it was all about how he was going to throw all Christians into prisons inside Wal-Marts next Tuesday (a real thing they believed for a hot minute, it was called Jade Helm). We paved the burnt out stoner cousins talking about UFO abductions and put up a Joe Rogan. What a loss...?

[jccheapalier]

Watch "How Did a 21-Year-Old Manage to Attract One Million Subscribers on YouTube?" on YouTube

[saturngalore]

harlem pin-up locs ♥️

here’s a 1920s-inspired pin-up dreadlock twist hairstyle that is a modern take on the finger wave hairdo. finger waves have been a staple in the black community for decades as it was very popular during the 1920s, 1930s, 1990s, and even now as we enter the 2020s. this hairstyle was largely inspired by these two pictures here and here so huge credit to the hairstylist aggie_hair on ig for making this beautiful innovation! my hair is named after the new york neighborhood of harlem and specifically the harlem renaissance. if you don’t know, the harlem renaissance or the “new negro movement” was a vibrant african american cultural movement that happened during the 1920s and 1930s. similar movements also happened in other cities throughout the american north due to the occurrence of the great migration where thousands of african americans moved up north to escape violent racial discrimination and persecution enforced by the racist jim crow laws in the deep south (although life in the north wasn’t that much better). i would love to say more as this is one of my favorite historical periods to research/learn about like ever but, i highly encourage y’all to do your own research on it (especially if you’re nonblack and/or not familiar with african american history) and learn about the several artists, thinkers, and innovators of that time period! tysm for reading and again tysm to my lovely testers! <333

base game compatible (bgc)

maxis palette (24 swatches)

teen-elder

fem frame

ear clipping

not hat compatible (some accessories can fit!)

custom thumbnails

disallowed for random

high poly warning!!! i haven’t had any issues with it yet but shit happens so be cautious!

all lods (lod 0: 37k poly | lod 1: 25k poly | lod 2: 20k poly | lod 3: 10k poly)

the baby hairs as seen above are not included! i highly recommend downloading these by @ceeproductions or any other baby hair cc to make the hair cuter and customizable!

please tag me if you do use my cc! i would absolutely love to see it! also, please let me know if you encounter any issues with my cc! here’s my tou. i hope y’all enjoy it <3

download via simsharefile (sfs) or on patreon - ALWAYS FREE!

tysm to cc rebloggers! @public-ccfinds @sssvitlanz

[warwickroyals]

WARWICK - Mrs. Kennedy Wedding Gown

For Black History Month, I wanted to attempt a gown from one of my favourite African American designers. Ann Lowe was born in Clayton, Alabama in 1898. Ann, who came from a family of seamstresses, had a passion for fashion and dress-making. She would eventually go on to open a dressmaking business which was frequented by many in high society. One of these partons was Janet Lee Auchincloss, who commissioned Ann to design the wedding dress of her daughter, Jacqueline. Jacqueline Bouvier's silk taffeta wedding dress is one of the twentieth century's most recognizable pieces of wedding fashion.

Despite designing gowns for the upper class, Ann was underpaid and neglected throughout her career. I hope to make more of her gowns because she was a talented dressmaker who deserves her flowers.

One gown

Teen to Elder

Base game compatible

All maps and LODS

6.1 k polys + 40 swatches

Custom thumbnails + disabled for random

MY SIMBLR STORY👑 | LINKTREE🌳| TERMS OF SERVICE 📃

DOWNLOAD (Free on Patreon)

@sssvitlanz | @itsjessicaccfinds |  @alwaysfreecc | @mmfinds | @oshinsimfinds | @elfdor | @simseyccfinds | @oatfindss | @helgatishaccreblog | @clovermilktea | @farfallafinds | @dreamstatesimsfinds | @llamasfinds  | @oakiyocc | @sojufinds | @lightsleepertrait | @pgriegr | @public-ccfinds | @mmoutfitters @farfallafinds | @simylafinds

[xo2dee]

NOW LOADING. .

DMC MASTERLIST

BEGUILING

PAIRING: Vergil x (Fem)Reader WARNINGS: None WORD COUNT: 1,622 SUMMARY: He wasn't as subtle as he liked to think he was.

A/N: idk man, i just know he's not as nonchalant as he tries to appear

You watched in amazement as the miniature missile blew the makeshift target to fragments. A small chuckle came from the woman next to you and you moved your eyes to the end on the black rocket launcher, watching the smoke rise from the end before dissipating completely. Once that was over, you gazed at the woman holding the beautiful weapon: Lady.

Lady had been introduced to you by Dante, and while the first meeting wasn’t the greatest and Lady had her suspicions about you, you couldn’t deny the admiration you felt for her. Whether it was down to her fierceness, her ability to keep up with Dante’s wit, or just down to how she even looked, you wanted to be everything that was Lady. She was the epitome of the perfect human Devil Hunter.

You cocked a hip out, your own weapon propped up on the floor in your hand, “I never get tired of watching that.”

The woman ran a hand through her cropped murky hair, her own mismatched eyes turning to look at you, “I’m just glad she’s still in perfect condition. I was sure when Dante decided to just jump into Hell with not just this one but the second one Nico had made, he’d come back with both completely destroyed.”

You hummed, “How did you manage to get both back anyway?”

Lady propped up Kalina Ann much like your own position, leaning on her cherished weapon, “It wasn’t too hard actually… All I really had to do was mention the debt he owes me, I told him I’d cut it by half if he gave me both to me.” You snorted. If it took anything for Dante to find a way out of his debt, he would do it. How the man managed to drown himself in over twenty years’ worth of debt, you weren’t too sure, yet when Lady and Trish complained over his lack of self-control when it came to money and how most of it primarily went to pizza and strawberry sundaes…

How did the man even function?

“He’s been doing better lately though,” she continued, wiping a hand on her pants, “Ever since Vergil came back and somehow Dante got him to stick around, his debt has been swindling down. It’s kinda a buzzkill, Vergil I mean, he forces Dante to keep up with Morrison’s payments.”

Ah yes, Vergil. The frosty elder twin of Dante whose best skill was either standing in the corner staring like he was Nosferatu or sitting on the couch in the main room of Devil May Cry and reading. Sure, Vergil was exceptionally skilled out on the battlefield, but you weren’t about to admit that aloud. You and Vergil had not gotten along from the moment you had met when he principally took one look at you, stuck his nose up into the air, and walked away. After that, you spent most downtime you had glaring at the back of his stupid head and trying to see how far you could test his patience. The man surprisingly got angry quick – a feat showing just how much different he was from his twin – but he had never once really lashed out at you, regularly just throwing dirty looks at you and stalking out of the room. Even when you ‘accidentally’ washed one of his white button-ups with Dante’s red boxers.

Not like he needed to wear it anyway, his chest had been beginning to pop out from the top of it.

However, the creepy half-demon had been acting rather strange as of lately. At times you thought you were alone you’d turn around and he’d be standing there and giving a stare reminiscent of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. It had been happening frequently, to the point you told Dante, who only threw his head back and laughed. You didn’t know what he found so damn funny when it was no laughing matter when Vergil was looking at you like he was going to eat you.

…Did he eat humans?

Maybe that’s why you never saw Vergil eat. You shuddered.

“You wanna try her out?” Lady asked bringing you out of your horrid thoughts. She was gesturing to Kalina Ann much to your surprise; Lady never really let anyone use her weapons. “C’mon you’ll be fine, the recoil isn’t so bad,” she assured lifting up the rocket launcher for you to grab. You hesitated for a brief moment; you weren’t too familiar with heavier weapons, your own was rather lightweight and the recoil of it only left a small amount of discomfort when you had first started using it that you no longer felt.

Temptation proved too much for you though, handing your own weapon in exchange, you hefted Kalina Ann into your hold and positioned your body in a more comfortable position. You angled your hips once more, setting a leg back, took aim, and fired at the next dummy target. Your body slightly jostled from the kickback, but it was to be expected since you were firing a rocket launcher. Watching the miniature missile hit the bottom of the target and the brutal blow exploding the target much like Lady had done, you let out a huff of a laugh.

Lady gave an impressed ‘hmm’ next to you before you both swapped back to your respectable weapons, “Not too bad… for a rookie,” she teased, poking your shoulder, “how’d it feel?”

“Exhilarating.”

She laughed again moving closer to lean her arm on your shoulder, a fleeting smell of her perfume assaulting your nose, “I think you and I should go out on missions together more.”

Flattered, you opened your mouth to respond, but quickly snapped it shut when a whistle came from behind the both of you. You both turned and Dante stood there rubbing the stubble on his jaw grinning while Vergil stood next to him looking he was on the cusp of suffocating. You frowned, What the Hell is his deal?

“Didn’t know you could handle big guns like that, I’m impressed,” Dante beamed at you, flashing a fanged tooth. You would’ve been a fool to not catch the underline meaning of the words, yet you were too accustomed to Dante’s comments and flirts none of them really fazed you. You snorted, throwing your weapon to rest on your shoulder as Lady and he suddenly engaged in a back-and-forth.

After a few moments of watching the humorous exchange, you snuck a peek at the man still standing at Dante’s side, wondering why he hadn’t fucked off yet. Your eyes traveled from his feet, to the harsh grip he had on his sword, to –

Jesus.

You swiftly turned your attention back to the other two as a sweat broke out across your neck. Looking at Vergil’s face you came to face-to-face with the haughty male giving you his own rendition of the Stanley Kubrick Stare pointed directly at you. His eyes were by far some of the fiercest you had ever seen; one look and you felt as if he was peering into your soul and attempting to murder you with one stare.

Quickly, you sifted through your mind for any possible past actions that would’ve pissed him off that bad. You hadn’t done anything as of lately then, opting to keep your distance when a week prior your mind randomly said, ‘He’s kinda hot’, while you sat across from him in Nico’s van. You wanted to throw your brain out of the window at that because you don’t know why it’d even betray you like that.

You came out of your thoughts when Lady loudly questioned why Dante felt the need to bother the both of you and his answer was enough to make you freeze.

Dante threw his hands up in submission, his expression morphing into something of innocence, “Don’t look at me, Vergil’s been standing here longer than I have. I only came to see what was holding him up and I can see now…” he trailed off, his eyes remaining on you.

…What? He had? How long he had been in the same room as you two? You weren’t surprised really; Vergil made no noise whatsoever ghosting around Devil May Cry, he was able to sneak up on you frequently and scare the shit out of you. Though normally, he would throw an insult at you or clear his throat…

Meanwhile, said half-demon broke his glare and curled his lip in disgust, a barely audible hiss escaping him. He threw an accusing, ghastly glare to Dante before a lingering glance to you, and then ultimately sauntered away out of the back room with the door almost swinging off its hinges with how hard he slammed it. Bewildered, you watched him go, uneasiness beginning to settle into your stomach as you thought back to the probing ‘I’ll eat you alive’ stare, momentarily thinking perhaps that stare was something else…

Next to you, Lady sighed, sounding slightly exasperated, “He’s not as discreet as he thinks he is.”

Dante snorted, “He’s still a man, if he likes something he sees he’s gonna act on it. Even if it is in his own weird way,” he placed both hands behind his head after that statement sending a wink towards you.

You were extremely confused.

Lady piped up next to you, her arm curving around your shoulders, “Maybe it’s the shorts, but I could be wrong…”

Your shorts? No way was she implying what you thought she was implying.

Vergil was not staring at your ass…

Was he?

Dante snickered when your expression morphed into mortification.

What the fuck were you supposed to do knowing you had an all-powerful, King of Hell, demon staring at your fucking ass?