#and giovanni be beautiful and sad

[chillentertainer]

ralph fiennes and sergio castellitto as david and giovanni from Giovanni’s Room (James Baldwin) do you see the vision

now imagine them having this argument in particular ^

[supercantaloupe]

he is my new obsession thank you

[cartridgeconverter]

never forget when andrew lloyd webber made the phantom of the opera's opera that he wrote named "don juan triumphant"

like

that is the one thing that he does not do

triumphant

in fact this is a major part of the story

[all-that-is-gold-is-now-gone]

Hii, who do you think is lorenzo's fav boy in s3? Madelina has a special place in his heart. Daddy's little girl🥰 but i am not sure which boy was his fav

Piero- He used to dote on piero and spent time with him until guilio came. I felt like they had a special bond n that's why piero was so hurt about guilio while his brother didn't care much

Giovanni - we didn't get much scenes n almost no affectionate ones but he did lobby to make him a cardinal at 14 and wanted him to be influential so he n piero can aid each other n hold onto their power n become more powerful by having each other's back.

Guilio-he was super affectionate n adored him as a child but he later did nothing to secure his future. Piero was the heir, Giovanni was cardinal. He loved guilio but his children will carry on his legacy so he did favour them later over guilio

hello!! This is an awesome question, thank you my love!!

Okay, so Lorenzo and his kids...that's, that's a big conversation lol, and I guess I should start this off by saying that Maddalena was 100% her parent's favorite child.

I should also say that I really don't like how the show portrayed Lorenzo as a father, it was just shitty, and I personally don't believe he would have been a shitty father. Lorenzo and all his siblings were very loved by their parents, and their grandparents. Piero and Lucrezia were both very involved parents (both in the show and historically)

Historically speaking, Maddalena was Clarice's favorite, but it was also noted that Clarice doted on all her kids, which I thought they brought through in the show which was nice. But they missed the boat with Lorenzo.

Lorenzo was also very involved with his kids, he was involved in their education but also involved in their everyday life. He would hold meetings in the gardens of the Medici Palazzo so he could hang out with his kids while he worked. There was an instance that was recorded that when Clarice and Lorenzo were away from Florence for an extended period of time, (I think they were in Rome), and Lorenzo had to go to Milan I believe on business at the last minute, and when Clarice returned to her children they started crying because Lorenzo hadn't returned with Clarice. So clearly there was a bond. Another example was when Clarice and the children were away from Florence after the Pazzi Conspiracy they stayed in the Villa di Castello I believe, but Piero wrote to his father daily asking when he would visit. So this family was close and Lorenzo was an involved father and I don't know why the show didn't show this.

So take away, historically, Lorenzo probably wasn't a shit father.

Show Lorenzo is another story. I honestly don't know who his favorite son is, my instinct is probably Piero, but Lorenzo is just crap at showing it. Piero is his firstborn, and he was very loved when he is a babe so obviously there would have to be a bond, Lorenzo just sucked at showing that, but that came back to bite him in the butt when Piero basically ends the entire Dynasty in one fellow swoop.

I should say, I do think Lorenzo loves all his kids, I just think he is shit at showing it. The Pazzi Conspiracy broke something in him that he didn't know how to fix and his family suffered because of it.

I am not sure Giovanni would have been Lorenzo's favorite? Just because we didn't see a lot of interactions between the two, and yes, Lorenzo did make sure Giovanni advanced in life and became a Cardinal, but that was more for his own personal ambition than thought for Giovanni because Giovanni wanted to be an artist. So I am not sure Giovanni would count as Lorenzo's favorite.

As for Giulio...I think Lorenzo loved Giulio, yes, and it as good of him to take Giulio in, but I don't think Lorenzo loved Giulio for Giulio. Lorenzo loved Giulio for his brother, for Giuliano. Because in a sense Lorenzo probably saw Giulio as the last thing he had linking him to Giuliano.

As kids, Giulio was probably favored over Piero for that fact, and then as they grew Lorenzo probably still thought of Piero as his favorite child, but then realized he sort screwed up that relationship and slowly began to try to rebuild that relationship.

So yeah if I had to say, I would say Piero was Lorenzo's favorite, Lorenzo just sucked at parenting!

[celibat]

I need to read something devastatingly sad and beautiful again.

[steelycunt]

dragging myself through the waves ill be so honest with you

[mythomaniia]

starting @batmanisagatewaydrug ‘s 2025 book bingo!

lit fiction: fire exit by morgan talty

read this on recommendation from a coworker and boy was it a way to start my year! it was so beautiful and deeply sad.

‘24 award winner: kareem between by shifa saltagi safadi

another rec from a coworker (this will be a theme) this won the national book award for middle grade fiction. a novel in verse about a syrian-american boy who loves football, this book was delightful and heartfelt and funny and stressful in all the best ways.

reread a childhood fav: graceling by kristin cashore

loved this book as a preteen, liked it second time around. the fabric of the story is definitely…flimsier reading it as an adult, but it was still a fun and engaging reading experience.

bookseller rec: giovanni’s room by james baldwin

cheating a little bit here (i am a bookseller so any of my coworker’s recommendations count for this square lol) but going with this one as this was chosen by my coworker to be our store’s next book club pick. it was my first time reading baldwin’s fiction (which is crazy) and it did not let me down. what an incredibly moving story. the last sentence blew me away and i love when a book can do that to me.

anyway pretty good start looking forward to completing as much as i can!

[year2000electronics]

You there! Pokeverse creator! explain the general plot of Pokemon Iridium and the major differences in a simplified way!

well sure! truth be told iridium is kinda just me going “here’s how i would change the plots of pokémon stories if i had creative control!” and being very self indulgent with it, so it’s not like it’s one big overarching story, but i’d say one of the major themes is definitely legendary pokémon and how they interact with the world! i treat them more like gods than really powerful pokémon (you know, how green myths will have stories of the gods screwing around and messing with mortals all the time) because i think legendary pokémon are so cool and i like them :]

i crammed all the protagonists together on this canvas so there they all are but i’ll try to summarize the different arcs as best as i can

RED AND BLUE (gen 1): team rocket has taken over kanto and johto and fused them into The Rocket Empire. giovanni has captured the legendary birds and keeps them as pets. red tries and fails to stop giovanni from using mewtwo to unlock travel to alternate dimensions. he gets so sad about this he goes to live alone on a mountain

GOLD AND GREEN (gen 2): green, red’s kid friend, wants to get red down from the mountain. gold, the heir to team rocket (he’s basically like if gold and silver fused) tries to stop her from messing with the rockets. archer, a former rocket leader who defected, befriends green because they both wanna take down the rockets. red comes down from mt silver at the end, revealing the legendary beasts were protecting him up there

EMERALD (gen 3): may and her family (norman and zinnia) are the last of the draconids. archie and maxie are trying to expand the land/expand the sea. near the end of their evil plans they get possessed by groudon and kyogre who are mad that nobody worships them anymore (because they’re jerks). may and rayquaza work together to beat them. maxie dies during a cave in at the cave of origin so archie puts on a magical suit of armour and hunts down jirachi at the battle frontier to try and get three wishes to revive him, with the help of frontier brain lucy who wants to retire in a big mansion full of hunky boys because she’s sick of being a frontier brain

DIAMOND AND PEARL (gen 4): dawn and lucas are the human disguises of dialga and palkia who get sent down to earth every time giratina gets incarnated into another human vessel that’s about to cause trouble (it’s a banishment thing). in the past they were sent to defeat volo (legends arceus) but now they’re sent to defeat cyrus. cyrus ends up breaking the cycle by going into the distortion world and living there happily

BLACK AND WHITE (gen 5): rosa is a plasma researcher and sees colress as a father figure. her and n take a journey across a slowly-freezing-over unova. ghetsis and colress are secretly behind it using kyurem’s ice powers, but they’re using panic and fearmongering about the great freeze to get people to release their pokémon. rosa has a crisis of faith about her mentor

X AND Y (gen 6): zeena (daughter of looker and anabel) is about to become a real interpol agent, she just needs to solve the mystery of team flare in kalos. it’s a bunch of rich kids who believe beauty is the only important thing and that the beautiful should be the judge, jury, and executioner since they’re the worthy ones. in a dramatic twist it’s revealed that professor sycamore was the leader of team flare all along. when he tries to use yveltal to construct the ultimate weapon, yveltal and xerneas get so mad at him that they curse him to be stuck in between life and death

SUN AND MOON (gen 7): moon is a rocket empire refugee that moved to alola. her and lillie have to stop an emotionally unstable guzma from teaming up with the great magician lusamine and basically hunting the ultra beasts for sport. alola’s tradition hangs in the balance as both outsiders and frustrated insiders attack it. poni island gets burnt down. episode rainbow rocket happens where giovanni finally returns from his multiversal travels, revealing successful versions of every team leader so far (and some guy named raihan) that he’s poisoned with nihilego toxins to get them to work for him. moon and a defector (named twozma) kick their butts so hard that giovanni retires and kanto and johto get to be individual regions again

SWORD AND SHIELD (gen 8): leon is of royal blood, having descended from leonidas, the first king of galar. through a series of events, eternatus (a lovecraftian cosmic horror) possesses leon to use as his vessel in his ultimate quest to take over galar and absorb all the power on the planet. raihan has daddy issues.

SCARLET AND VIOLET (gen 9): thanks to sada and turo, paldea gets shattered across dimensions, so now there exists two versions of it: one stuck in the past and one stuck in the future. the ai counterparts of sada and turo have to help two kids, marisol and pedro, fix it and turn paldea back to normal. champions are evil. blueberry academy is evil. kieran turns his enemies into cursed masks

[bluelolblue]

we need to know more about silas !!!! (and maybe his giovanni bf)

Okay MORE ABOUT SILAS YAY THANK YOU :3

Clan: Ventrue

Age: 27

Appearance: His hair is like a mix of dirty blond, or it's just brown, it's a bit messy and fluffy. I'm thinking either hazel or light green eyes (i have to decide already). Sharp features, yet looks so gentle and beautiful. Loves suits as I mentioned before. He just feels so powerful in them, and he always wanted to dress up like that. I can also imagine him wearing some rings and a watch. Hmmm... maybe 178/180 cm (5'10.08" or 5'10.87" ft). Spicy little guy. Not very little but still, compared to his giovanni boyfriend that I'll talk about >:]

Personality: Silver tongue his best weapon, flirty if given chance to do it, he can also be spicy (coughs power bottom coughs). He gets hungry for control, to be in control, he needs power lmao, wants to be respected. He wants love and true validation, but a part of him believes he doesn't deserve it. Like under all that bitchy and smug behavior, he really just... would like to have someone close even if sounds scary to him. He's still sad, too... still feels that depression and fear of abandonment and trust issues... he needs someone to guide him.

(Pic for aesthetic and more yapping under the cut hehe)

So, as a mortal, Silas craved validation and control in his own way. Like, he was this young guy just trying to fit in the society, trying to hide his pain, so he was suffering in silence. Even if someone tried to get close to him, his happiness would be overpowered by his fear of abandonment, and he'd distance himself.

Deep down, he really just wanted to be loved and appreciated and to have someone who could understand him. Like, truly understand him because he was convinced no one could understand what was going on with him. He thought he'd never feel better.

Yeah, he was good with words, I imagine he wanted to work as a crisis response worker (yk like help people, control the stressful situations after, for example, natural disasters, etc), but... my guy didn't know how to help himself, let alone to help someone else. So, he never got his dream job... he'd just watch them T_T

Okay, now to when he got turned into a ventrue!

I haven't really thought about his Sire much, ig they're still wip BUT my idea was that they saw how Silas had potential, and then gave him another better life. OR it was a traumatic experience that he doesn't really want to talk about. WIP, I haven't really decided yet.

As a ventrue, ofc he had to get used to everything, he literally became someone he thought was impossible and only "a dream thing." However, this was his chance to finally be seen, finally be Silas he wanted to be. So, he grew his confidence, became very good with words, how to turn things into his favor, manipulate with others, literally "play" with people. Then again, under all that arrogant part, he is still lonely and scared of getting hurt by someone he'd trust. That's why he struggles to open up to anyone.

But then, there is this Giovanni asshole whose name is (and I hope it stays that) Alessio! He is still very much wip and I think he'd also need a separate post BUT lemme say things about him so far.

Clan: Giovanni

Age: 30

Appearance: I imagine a dark, black fluffy hair on him, heavy lidded eyes, sharp features, maybe a little bit of facial hair, like very faint growing beard but he really just shaves it off. Brown or blue eyes, again, gotta decide. Ofc, fancy suits, more darker aesthetic! I think he could be 188 cm (6'2 ft).

Personality: Similar to Silas, except he doesn't talk that much. Like yeah, he can manipulate, be an asshole, arrogant, BUT he is more the quiet smug guy who strikes when he sees the right chance. He's calm, and he has more control over his emotions than Silas, which is like... perfect for Silas. Here is where I start to think they really are perfect for each other even if they find it hard to see. Alessio's calmer nature has a good effect on Silas.

So, he was kinda like a rival with Silas. They were always like either trying to work together or just being a bit toxic. But damn, Silas is too adorable to him, and Alessio is the only one who can shut him up lmao. They had affairs, like "nothing serious" just playing around, then one pushes the other one away, and they start all over again, and it's like that in circles. I'm not sure who fell in love first, they're both very messy and have feelings that they find hard to process, but they'll slowly grow onto each other and start being each other's support.

And I was thinking of giving them last names, but I was already struggling with their names, so this will take a while too, LMAO 😭

[lauratheghost]

My favorite books I read in 2024

(*spoiler: they are all gay romances /tragedies*)

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

5 stars

Set in the 80's in Poland. Loved the way this book was written- I can't stress that enough, the language was really beautiful. Shows the struggles of political issues during that time. No happy ending but it made a lasting impact on me.

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

5 stars

I've never cried over a book so badly before- I gave myself a migraine. And then I cried again when I went through and tabbed and highlighted it.

It's slightly controversial because of the ages of the characters, but I really related to Elio on a certain level for some reason. No happy ending.

Fine Me by Andre Aciman

4 stars

A lot of people don't like this sequel, but I enjoyed it for the most part. It gives you the ending you want in the first book, and I actually enjoyed the POV from the father. (I know many people thought this was irrelevant but I actually think it was important.) It did start a bit slow though and took me a bit to get into.

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

4 stars

I honestly didn't know this was based on a short story until a few months ago. I read it within an hour or two since it's very short. It was very sad though, to the point that I'm too scared to watch the movie still.

What Belongs To You by Garth Greenwell

4 stars

Sheesh, idk where to start with this book. The way it was written was very challenging to read- to the point where I almost quit this book a few times. But, I was so curious about the characters that I kept coming back to it.

Overall, a very dark, gloomy atmosphere to this book. It honestly made me never want to go to where this book takes place (but I know that's not a fair way to judge a place.) It just seemed so, so depressing and awful.

Parts of this book were honestly disturbing. The details for every little thing were so descriptive that I can't believe this isn't an autobiography or a true story.

I'm still glad I read the book, but it was pretty hard to get through.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

4 stars

Deemed a classic, and in Swimming In The Dark the main character loves this book, which is what made me curious enough to finally read it.

Not sure what to say about this one other than it was sad and complex, and nothing ended well for anyone.

Lie With Me by Phillippe Besson

5 stars

(this book was translated by Molly Ringwald, so that's random and interesting to me)

I really liked this one. I loved the way it was written, and the setting in the French countryside.

The passing of time in the book was also interesting. .. I'm realizing now this book is hard to talk about without saying too much. But once again, no happy ending.

Tin Man by Sarah Winman

4 stars

Kind've hauntingly beautiful. The only thing I disliked about the book was that the timeline was a bit confusing as it kept jumping around. But overall, I did enjoy the story and it stuck with me for a while.

Anyways, if you see this post and you also like these books and have any book recs, let me know! 😊🖤

[wekiaam]

DUTCH MOULIN ROUGE: Thoughts and fun details!!

I just saw Moulin Rouge at the Beatrixtheater in Utrecht you guys!!!! I want to share my memories of it while it's still fresh in my mind, some cast information and general details I was able to notice from all the way in the back rows of the theatre!

I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed when I found out that the Dutch production of Moulin Rouge was going to keep the songs in English, although I kind of got it bc people still have to recognize the pop songs. I am now sorry for ever having doubted that choice. It somehow worked really well, even at the part where Christian goes from Dutchly speaking to Englishly singing the lyrics of Your Song (Het is een beetje raar, this feeling inside (I'm dead)).

Zidler is usually played by Carlo Boszhard (BIG name in Dutch theatre, known mainly as a tv host but played Thenardier, Lumière, and voiced The Grinch, Mushu, and Donkey from Shrek) but tonight he was played by his understudy Wim van den Driessche (Javert, Valjean, Captain von Trapp, Judge Turpin, the Phantom) who was AMAZING at hyping up the audience and he played the character as so stressed out all the time it was great

Satine was also played by understudy Tessa Sunniva (Ariel, Anya), and Christian was played by Martijn Noort (Fiyero) and they had such good chemistry on stage they just melted into each other each time they embraced

I also looked up each of the ensemble members and at more than half of the ensemble had been in either Tina: the Tina Turner Musical, The Bodyguard, or both. The Netherlands truly has five musical productions

And now for some fun bits I noticed (spoilers ofc) (all the dialogue was Dutch but I will be citing in English for convenience)

-Christian was so adorably awkward in his line delivery and body language throughout the whole show (Satine: You're different from what I expected Christian: Surpriiise *jazz hands*)

-At the moment when Christian usually rickrolls the audience, he sang samples from famous Dutch pop songs instead ( "What brings you to Paris?" "🎶Ik ben mezelf niet of al die jaren nooit geweest🎶" en "Sing one of your love songs!" "🎶Je komt in ademnood🎶") Audience lost it

-The audience went WILD when Satine came down on the trapeze

-Zidler breaks his over-the-top-extravagant-night-club-owner persona at the line "The Duke is expecting the Sparkling Diamond!🥰 MAKE SURE THAT SHE IS THERE." cue audible gasps

-After Christian says "I have been practicing all day" Satine downs her whole drink

-Pitch song was entirely in Dutch!!! :D

-Nature boy. Oh my goooodd

-Speaking of, Toulouse-Lautrec, played by Giovanni van Gom (Tarzan, Aida, Hairspray, ALSO TINA) is my absolute favourite character in the whole show what a beautiful man with a beautiful voice (his speaking voice was high and enthusiastic but his singing voice was a lot lower in contrast)

-When Christian starts singing "Everlasting love" Satine tries to run away from him but he sort of chases after her it was so funny

-Backstage Romance was so electric!!

-The Duke played by Nino Ruiter (Soldaat van Oranje, ZODIAC) was SO CREEPY he would constantly lean in so close to Satine when speaking to her and just being such a sleaze the whole time it was great

- Zidler was so excited about his shaving blade prop it was hilarious

-After "BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T LOVE YOU!" there were like three hours of dead silence

- EL TANGO DE ROXANNE WAS STELLAR I LOVED IT SO MUCH

-During Satine's first verse in "Crazy Rolling", Baby Doll takes her hands in hers, then turns away so Satine won't see her crying, then when she rolls the vanity off the stage she turns around to look at Satine one last time and excuse me while I go sit in a corner and cry

-All of Satine's last interactions with the Moulin Rouge people made me so so sad by the way

- At the end, Satine and Christian sing Come What May one last time, and the ensemble lined up on both sides of the stage and singing along and I'm surprised I didn't bawl my eyes out actually

Here are the bows and me screaming!!

Also caught these two in 4k

[teecupangel]

Fredrico/Leonardo: where Ezio gets to go back in time (thanks to Desmond who he drags with him) and they save his family. After Ezio gets to re-meet Leonardo and he is so excited to have his friend back (even though they have to start over), but to his horror Fredrico starts to flirt with the man.

Now Ezio loves his brother and knows he is a good man, but Leonardo was his best friend. A man Ezio grew to love very dearly. Had known for longer than his own brother (and isn’t that sad?) So maybe Ezio is a little…protective. He has learned to be in his older age. Protective of his home, his weapons, his friends, his family. His.

 (and if a certain time traveler now sits squarely in the ‘his’ category, well he isn’t going to say anything)

And maybe Ezio could handle his brother’s flirting if the man didn’t go about it as if he was a courtesan working the docks. He had noticed Fredrico had started to open his doublets and chemise to an obscene degree, even for him. It makes Ezio cringe. “God brother! Why not just go shirtless? It may cause less of a scandal.”

The worst part? Oh the worst part is its working. Leonardo was flirting back. (Desmond stop laughing, this is serious!) He is flirting back and seems to be rather appreciative of the display Fredrico is putting on. To add more to his misery, Leonardo doesn’t seem to be the only one. Ezio is pretty sure he has caught Desmond’s eyes lingering on the bare chest of his brother, but he really doesn’t want to acknowledge the ugly feeling that ignites in him.

TLDR: Ezio is determined to cockblock his brother and drags Desmond along.

Fredrico knows what his little brother is doing and thinks he is being an absolute brat.

Leonardo thinks that the reason they keep encountering Ezio and Desmond while trying to date is because those two are also dating.

And Desmond thinks Ezio is being ridiculous for a man who is technically 50+ in age.

Also:

“Ezio, I’m pretty sure I didn’t come back in time to be witness to your brother’s sexlife.”

“Shut up! They are NOT having sex!”

“Yeah, because you keep cockblocking him!”

.

Just more Desmond and Ezio shenanigans in the forefront and Federico is both amused and annoyed but them.

They do provide a good distraction considering Giovanni wants Federico to look into this weird incidents involving Uberto Alberti and the Pazzis while Giovanni goes to Roma to make sure that there was no foul play over the death of Rodrigo Borgia.

(funny thing though, Ezio introduced Desmond as a ‘friend’ about a few days after Rodrigo Borgia died but that’s just a funny coincidence since it’s clear that Ezio and Desmond had been friends for quite some time now)

Hell, Federico had actually thought Ezio had a crush on Leonardo with the way he was being an annoying tag-along the entire time Federico was trying to flirt with Leonardo but noooo.

It’s not that.

Leonardo was a precious friend, his best friend (and Leonardo always looked so happy whenever he remembers that) and, really, at this point, Federico would just like Ezio to confess that he and Desmond were together.

(Ezio uses a pillow to scream his frustration about Federico’s misconceptions, Desmond just laugh it off and play the part because if he’s going to be dragged to Ezio’s misguided attempts to cockblock his brother, he was going to have fun on Ezio’s expense too).

Throughout this entire thing, Leonardo knows Ezio and Desmond aren’t together but he also assumes they’re dating to ‘ward off’ other people. He’s pretty sure Ezio believes he only likes women who is trying to mend his broken heart after being rejected by the beautiful la bella Simonetta and he’s too oblivious to even see dudes that like him and Desmond is the epitome of chillness and not looking for anything sexual or romantic (“I’m just appreciating the view!”) that Leonardo was sure there was some kind of tragic backstory behind that. He’s the one who tried to explain that to Federico who misunderstood Leonardo’s explanation and thought they were dating for real. (They weren’t dating at all, o dio mio!)

As payback though, Leonardo started to use Desmond and Ezio in his commissions… for the more compromising ones anyway.

(Ezio may or may not be the model for a few of Leonardo’s female paintings… no one can truly be sure… except Ezio)

[giovanni-fiore]

Giovanni had a feeling Nicola was dreading the rapidly approaching work week. After some unforeseen health issues, Gio had taken time off to recover while enjoying his wife’s presence and pregnancy. It had been blissful, but their promised deadline was coming quickly.

Nicola was beautiful even when she sulked. Her curved belly delicately bumped into things while she cleaned the kitchen, her pretty face looking solemn and deep in thought. This sparked an idea in Gio.

The man disappeared into his office for an hour or so, before reemerging to find his wife had moved on to cleaning their primary suite. “Are those non-toxic cleaning supplies?” Gio teased as he found her on her hands and knees in the en-suite. Nicola turned and looked up at him with a sad smile. “Of course. You know I’m ultra careful.”

”I know, baby.” Gio replied before reaching his hand out to her. “Come here. Let’s put a pause on all of this stress cleaning.”

”I’m that transparent, huh?” Nicola asked as she carefully stood to her feet, protectively holding her stomach as the two of them walked towards their bed. They sat on the edge side by side and looked at one another.

”You got used to me being home all the time and now you’re sad I have to go back to work?” Gio guessed, earning a sad nod from his wife. Her big,  brown eyes were enough to make him melt.

”Well. Good news for you.” Giovanni smiled as he pulled out his phone, tapping it a few times before showing Nicola. “I chartered a plane for us to go to Laglio for the week. The week after, we take off for Bangkok. We’re vacationing on a small island off its coast. We can visit my family and have the babymoon we wanted.” 

Giovanni wasn’t sure if the tears in his wife’s eyes were hormones, happiness, or a mixture of both, but he drew her in to press a loving kiss to her forehead. “I love you.” He promised fiercely, hoping his actions reflected his words. There was nothing more he wanted than for Nicola to feel the intensity of his love. “My treasure.”

[vestaignis]

Саммеццано — красивейший замок Италии. Sammezzano is the most beautiful castle in Italy.

Замок Саммеццано (Castello di Sammezzano), расположенный в регионе Тоскана, на территории коммуны Реджелло, на окраине Флоренции и рядом с городком Леччио (Leccio) (Италия).Замок был построен в 780 году и за долгое своё существование принадлежал многим знатным семьям.

Имение Саммеццано до 1488 года принадлежало флорентийской семье Гуалтьеротти, затем усадьбой завладели Биндо Альтовити и Джованни де Медичи. В 1564 году великий князь Козимо I установил вето на охоту и ловлю рыбы на обширной территории, прилегающей к замку, а заем преподнес в дар имение своему сыну Фердинанду, будущему великому герцогу Тосканы.

В начале XVII века усадьба была куплена королем Хименеcом Арагонским, а затем в 1816 перешла по наследству к семье Панчиатики в 1816. Именно маркиз Фердинандо Панчиатики Хименес Арагонский между 1853 и 1889 затеял реконструкцию усадьбы в необычный и привлекательный замок, выполненный в мавританском стиле, увлеченный восточным искусством, получившим широкое распространение в Западном Средиземноморье между концом одиннадцатого пятнадцатого века. Если фасад замка Саммеццано напоминает индийский мавзолей Тадж-Махал, то его внутренние украшения навеяны дворцом Альгамбра в Гранаде. Многочисленные и все абсолютно разные залы замка ��оражают роскошью отделки: среди них выделяются Павлиний зал , Зеркальный зал, зал Лилий, Белый зал и небольшая часовня, поражающие взгляд невероятным сочетанием ярких цветов. Всего замок насчитывает 365 комнат, по одной на один день года.

На сегодня, как ни прискорбно об этом говорить, роскошный замок Саммеццано продолжает пребывать в состоянии заброшенности. Формально замок находится в фазе реставрации, однако фактически работы в замке не ведутся.О нём заботятся волонтёры, и экскурсии в нём проводятся крайне редко.

Sammezzano Castle (Castello di Sammezzano), located in the Tuscany region, in the territory of the commune of Reggello, on the outskirts of Florence and near the town of Leccio (Italy). The castle was built in 780 and over its long existence belonged to many noble families. The Sammezzano estate belonged to the Florentine Gualtierotti family until 1488, then Bindo Altoviti and Giovanni de' Medici took possession of the estate. In 1564, Grand Duke Cosimo I vetoed hunting and fishing in the vast area surrounding the castle, and a loan gifted the estate to his son Ferdinand, the future Grand Duke of Tuscany.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the estate was purchased by King Jimenez of Aragon, and then in 1816 it was inherited by the Panciatici family in 1816. It was the Marquis Ferdinando Panciatici Jimenez of Aragon, between 1853 and 1889, who began the reconstruction of the estate into an unusual and attractive castle, made in the Moorish style, fascinated by the oriental an art that became widespread in the Western Mediterranean between the end of the eleventh and fifteenth centuries.

If the façade of Sammezzano Castle is reminiscent of the Indian mausoleum of the Taj Mahal, its interior decorations are inspired by the Alhambra Palace in Granada. The numerous and all completely different halls of the castle amaze with the luxury of decoration: among them, the Peacock Hall, the Hall of Mirrors, the Hall of Lilies, the White Hall and a small chapel stand out, striking the eye with an incredible combination of bright colors. In total, the castle has 365 rooms, one for each day of the year.

Today, no matter how sad it is to say, the luxurious Sammezzano Castle continues to be abandoned. Formally, the castle is in the restoration phase, but in fact no work is being carried out in the castle. Volunteers take care of it, and excursions are held extremely rarely.

Источник: http://italia-ru.com/page/zamok-sammetstsano-mavritanskii-oazis-serdtse-renessansnoi-toskany,

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//italy4.me/toscana/castello-di-sammezzano.html,,

//zagge.ru/sammeccano-krasivejshij-zamok-italii/,

www.mirkrasiv.ru/articles/zamok-samecano-castello-di-sammezzano-toskana-italija.html/

[chipsncookies]

I don’t know if you’ve been asked before but

What are you thoughts on other Pokémon villains? Do you have other favorites-

First off the top of my mind is Maxie, i love him because he's a perfect foil for Archie, he's so silly 🫶 (and easy to draw haha)

for other villains I also like them to various degrees although none i can say is really my favourite? keep in mind I've only played oras and later so the ones whose games i haven't played are just my impressions from the fandom

Giovanni- classic mafia boss, no sad backstory just wants money and power, cool and intimidating

Cyrus- His story is pretty interesting, backstory is kinda sad, one of the most unhinged (he's also youngest villain?? I'm flabbergasted)

Ghetsis- most evil villain imo, evil to people and even his own pokemon, does not know regret (came back as villain in b2w2), looks kinda goofy at first but menacing in second outfit, one of the villains ever

Colress- just here for science, i think he's silly bfjdf

Lysandre- Menacing tall french man, I don't understand his motive (something about preserving beauty??), Very unhinged as well (killing everyone or making everyone immortal??) I don't have strong opinion on him

Lusamine- Literally girlboss, saddest backstory also very unhinged, creepiest boss form

Rose- most badly written, sad :/ i think he had good intentions, but his paranoia is too intense he needs therapy (and better writing)

Volo- one of the best villains, very intimidating, smart and cunning, sadly i have no sinnoh nostalgia so his design/music/cynthia reference doesn't hit me as hard

I haven't completed violet so I can't say anything about its villain

[sins-of-the-sea]

//Because I'm seeing people write about their muses eyes (long post below):

If you are to ask the Crew who has the most naturally beautiful eyes, it'd be the Duchamp Twins', hands down. Hazel goes very well with red/auburn hair so nicely. And while the detail of the amber tinges on green tend to vanish in grayscale icons or zoomed out colored art, I try my best to maintain it even it's a pixel or two.

If you hide their hair, it should still be easy to tell who is who. Phoebus always has a sad, softened look in his gaze while Guy either has perpetual bedroom eyes or hardened "I wanna fight" eyes. Though both are prone for also the deadpan "ffs" eyes when the Crews shenanigans occur. Especially in unison.

Then we have Rashid's amber eyes. I remember seeing a photo of an Arab man with amber eyes and it has stuck to me since. Though I need to improve how I render it; I've seen some people render amber eyes with more orange or brown to make them that much more striking. It suits Rashid in that he's a man of indulgence and luxury, so there ought to be a rather exotic air to his gaze, even while among other Middle Easterners.

While Abena's eye color in themselves aren't particularly special, when given the silvery powder, it helps bring attention in contrast to her black skin, providing a hypnotic gaze of her own--fitting for a puppetmaster schemer. I do cheat a bit with admittedly giving her some modern eyeshadow/eyeliner here and there, but that's just artistic liberties on my end. Otherwise, the draw to Abena's eyes is less on how they are naturally and more how she uses them.

You can argue Giovanni has spectacularly beautiful eyes, but he doesn't like attention drawn to them. And you really shouldn't gaze into them too long. As much as his eyes are rare even for heterochromia (they tend to be blue-brown if they are solid-color differences), and his vision is fine beyond just normal farsightedness (hence he always needs glasses when reading/viewing things up close), the different hues will always make his gaze look slightly off. It doesn't help that Gio's eyes don't always smile when he does, and his gaze becomes especially blank when he enters psychosis. Really, leave his eyes alone. He doesn't like being reminded he is "broken".

Lastly, it should be common knowledge that I don't draw irises or highlights on Josep's eyes. The idea is to make them as dull as possible, with attention drawn moreso to his perpetual intense glare. It's also a way to invoke that even if he smiles or is being silly or warm, so much light and joy has been sucked out of his life that it reflects on his eyes. The only times irises and highlights are drawn are when he's in a situation he can finally heal from all the anguish he suffers on a daily basis.

Abena, though, will state that Josep has extremely beautiful gray eyes. Giovanni likes to compare them as the silver to his cousin's golden hair.

Ruixiong's eyes, sadly, aren't anything special, they're just your typical black-brown Chinese eyes, lmao. But I do find them cute when his left eye isn't hidden by his hair.