#muse: laura di vittorio

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Closed Starter

"You don't have to do this." Her brother's voice came from the other side of the room. Laura did not look up from the mirror she was staring into. "You know it's not that simple." Laura responded, her tone calmer despite her anxiety. She was getting ready for a dinner, the dinner in which she would meet the man she's supposed to marry. Laura wore a simple black dress, with a square collar and somewhat puffy sleeves. "I can take care of him. Discreetly, nobody would know we had anything to do with-" Vincenzo was interrupted by his sister. "But they would." Laura finished her makeup, and turned around to face her brother.

"We have been at each other's throats since the beginning. A lot of people have died, and we cannot afford to lose anymore. If marrying him creates some sort of peace, I'm okay with that." Laura had always been the more level headed, logical twin. She was underboss for a reason. A maid showed up at their door, informing them that their guests had arrived.

The twins made their way downstairs, Vincenzo upfront as he was the head of the family. The other members of their family greeted them, and Vincenzo's eyes landed on the guest of honor. The atmosphere was tense, enemies in the same room rarely stayed calm. "Michaelsons, welcome to New York." Laura stepped forward so she could be in view. "My sister, Laura." // @ruinedsoulsrp

[nunoxaviermoreira]

Tu mejor tù (“il tuo migliore tu”) è primo lavoro fotografico italiano che coinvolge uomini, donne e coppie che hanno scelto volontariamente di non avere figli. Nella foto, Chiara by Ilaria CPh Tu mejor tù (“il tuo migliore tu”) è primo lavoro fotografico italiano che coinvolge uomini, donne e coppie che hanno scelto volontariamente di non avere figli. Ciascuno dei partecipanti ha compiuto questa scelta attivamente, in base ai propri desideri e alla propria personalitá. Il progetto, pubblicato per la prima volta qui nel settembre 2016, rimane aperto, chiunque fosse interessato a partecipare facendosi fotografare mi scriva a ilariacphotography@gmail.com Capii molto presto quali erano i ruoli che mi spettavano. Un’idea ricorrente che osservavo, era che non solo ci si aspetta che le donne e gli uomini abbiano figli, ci si aspetta che “li vogliano”. Questo era presente ovunque. Era presente nel modo in cui gli adulti mi parlavano quando mi facevano domande legate al “quando”. ”Quando ti sposerai…” “Quando avrai dei figli…” . E queste riflessioni sul futuro mi venivano sempre presentate come parte del “sogno americano”, ma mi è sempre sembrato il sogno di qualcun altro. E da bambina, quando cercavo di spiegare questo… questa differenza tra i loro ruoli e i miei valori, si mettevano spesso a ridere come fanno gli adulti davanti alle assurdità dei bambini. E mi volevano dire chiaramente: “Cambierai idea”. (…) Ci sono infiniti motivi per cui una donna o un uomo potrebbero scegliere di non avere figli. E la maggior parte non include il pensare solo a se stessi. Credo che il valore di una persona non dovrebbe mai essere determinato dal suo essere madre o padre, perché questo la spoglia della sua totale identità come adulto in sé. È facile dimenticare che i ruoli che la società ci impone sono molto più che meri titoli. Cosa ne è del peso che li accompagna, della pressione di doversi conformare a questi criteri, della paura che si prova mettendoli in discussione e dei desideri che mettiamo da parte per accettarli? Ci sono diverse vie che portano alla felicità e alla soddisfazione. E ognuna di esse è lastricata con il diritto all’autodeterminazione. La scelta di abbracciare o rinunciare alla maternità o alla paternità non è in alcun modo legata al vostro valore o alla vostra identità come sposi, come adulti o come donne e uomini, e c’è assolutamente una scelta dietro la maternità o paternità. Ed è vostra. E vostra soltanto. (tratto dal discorso di Christen Reighter) ___ I recognized very early the roles that were placed on me. One persistent concept that I observed — existing in our language, in our media — was that women are not only supposed to have children, they are supposed to want to. This existed everywhere. It existed in the ways that adults spoke to me when they posed questions in the context of “when.” “When you get married …” “When you have kids …” And these future musings were always presented to me like part of this American dream, but it always felt to me like someone else’s dream. You see, a value that I have always understood about myself was that I never wanted children. And as a kid, when I would try to explain this, this disconnect between their roles and my values, they often laughed in the way that adults do at the absurdities of children. And they would tell me knowingly, “You’ll change your mind.” (…) There are countless reasons a woman may have for choosing to abstain from motherhood, the majority of them not self-prioritizing. It’s so easy to forget the roles that society places on us are so much more than mere titles. What about the weight that comes with them, the pressure to conform to these standards … the fear associated with questioning them, and the desires that we cast aside to accept them? There are many paths to happiness and fulfillment. They all look very different, but I believe that every one is paved with the right to self-determination. I want women to know that your choice to embrace or forego motherhood is not in any way tied to your worthiness or identity as spouses, as adults, or as women … and there absolutely is a choice behind maternity. And it is yours. And yours alone. (from Christen Reighter speech) ___ nelle foto: Paola e Marco (PV) Rosanna e Alessandro (PV) Giulia (MI) Marzia e Vittorio (PD) Chiara (TO) Massimiliano (RN) Viviana (MI) Marica (VR) Alessandra (PR) Cinzia (PV) Sara e Valerio (AL) Andrea (AL) Serena (GE) Paola e Gianluca (VB) Marzia (PD) Pina (TO) Andrea, Ilaria e Andrea (AL, PV) Laura (BG) Luana (TO) Jessica (VA) Cesare (PV) Marica (VR) Max (PV) Annamaria (BG) https://flic.kr/p/2hVQJk1

[njawaidofficial]

Venice Competition Includes Films From George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Darren Aronofsky

http://styleveryday.com/2017/07/27/venice-competition-includes-films-from-george-clooney-guillermo-del-toro-darren-aronofsky/

Venice Competition Includes Films From George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Darren Aronofsky

The Italian festival is once again debuting a number of Oscar contenders during its 74th edition.

In its 74th year, the Venice Film Festival is once again debuting a slate of potential Oscar contenders from top directors, including George Clooney, Darren Aronofsky and Guillermo del Toro. 

Festival director Alberto Barbera on Thursday unveiled the lineup for this year at the Cinema Moderno in Rome. 

“I’m very satisfied,” Barbera said about the lineup. “I have to say that I am 97 percent satisfied in the sense that there are only maybe two or three films that we wanted to have for the festival, and we couldn’t, because they will go to other festivals. So all the films that we saw and that we wanted to have are in the lineup of this year’s festival.” 

As previously announced, Alexander Payne’s satire Downsizing, starring Matt Damon, will open the fest in competition. The film is about a family that seeks a better life through shrinking. The film also stars Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Laura Dern and Jason Sudeikis. 

Vying for the Golden Lion this year, from a jury led by Annette Bening, are 21 world premieres.

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei will enter the competition with his documentary about the current refugee crisis, Human Flow. 

Darren Aronofsky, who presided over the Venice jury in 2011, will bring his eagerly anticipated horror film Mother! to the festival. Mother!, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem and Ed Harris, centers around a relationship being tested after the arrival of unwelcome visitors.

Damon will be pulling double-duty at the fest as he will also star in George Clooney’s Suburbicon, written by Clooney and the Coen Brothers, about a family morally descending after a home invasion goes very wrong. It also stars Coen favorites Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin.

Guillermo del Toro will debut his other-worldly Cold War era fairytale The Shape of Water, starring Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer.

And Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a dark comedy from Martin McDonagh (In Bruges), starring Woody Harrelson, Peter Dinklage and Frances McDormand, will also bow on the Lido.

Paul Schrader’s religious-themed thriller First Reformed, starring Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried, will also premiere in Venice. 

Abdellatif Kechiche will bring his 1980s coming-of-age story Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno to the fest, and Paolo Virzi will premiere his first American The Leisure Seeker, starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland, to the Lido. 

Out of competition, the festival continues its relationship with Netflix with the world premiere of Our Souls at Night, with honorary Golden Lions going to the film’s stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. 

Netflix also will premiere its first Italian production, the modern-day mafia saga Suburra. And it will screen the Errol Morris series Wormwood, starring Peter Sarsgaard and Molly Parker, the festival’s only non-world premiere. 

Also out of competition, Stephen Frears will debut Victoria & Abdul, starring Judi Dench, Ali Fazal and Eddie Izzard about the unlikely friendship between Queen Victoria and a young Indian clerk. And Fernando Leon De Aranoa’s Loving Pablo will debut, starring Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Peter Sarsgaard. 

James Toback’s The Private Life of a Modern Woman stars Sienna Miller, Alec Baldwin and Charles Grodin. And Abel Ferrara’s documentary Piazza Vittoria will screen, telling the story of the neighborhood in Rome where he lives. 

Rodarte sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy will premiere their feature film Woodshock, starring Kirsten Dunst and Pilou Asbaek. 

And Kitano Takeshi’s new yakuza film Outrage Coda will close the fest. 

New this year, Venice is launching a VR competition with 22 films, with a jury headed by John Landis. The lineup includes the film La Camera Insabbiata by Laurie Anderson and Huang Hsin-Chien.

Venice’s Horizons section will open with Susanna Nicchiarelli’s Nico, 1988 about the Velvet Underground singer and Andy Warhol muse. The only American film in Horizons is the documentary The Rape of Recy Taylor by Nancy Buirski, about a white gang rape of an African-American woman in Alabama in 1944. Also in the lineup of the section is Anne Fontaine’s coming-of-age story Marvin, which stars Isabelle Huppert and Finnegan Oldfield. 

The 74th Venice International Film Festival takes place Aug. 30 to Sept. 9. Read the full lineup below.

COMPETITION

Human Flow, Ai Weiwei

Mother!, Darren Aronofsky

Suburbicon, George Clooney

The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro

L’insulte, ZIad Doueiri

La Villa, Robert Guediguian

Lean on Pete, Andrew Haigh

Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno, Abdellatif Kechiche

The Third Murder, Koreeda Hirokazu

Jusqu’a la Garde, Xavier Legrand

Ammore e Malavita, Manetti Brothers

Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh

Hannah, Andrea Pallaoro

Downsizing, Alexander Payne

Angels Wear White, Vivian Qu

Una Famiglia, Sebastiano Riso

First Reformed, Paul Schrader

Sweet Country, Warwick Thornton

The Leisure Seeker, Paolo Virzi

Ex Libris – The New York Public Library, Frederick Wiseman

  OUT OF COMPETITION FEATURES

Our Souls at Night, Ritesh Batra

Il Signor Rotpeter, Antonietta de Lillo

Victoria & Abdul, Stephen Frears

La Melodie, Rachid Hami

Outrage Coda, Kitano Takeshi

Loving Pablo, Fernando Leon de Aranoa

Zama, Lucrecia Martel

Wormwood, Errol Morris 

Diva!, Franceso Patierno

Le FIdele, Michael R. Roskam

Diva!, Franceso Patierno

Il Colore Nascosto Delle Cose, Silvio Soldini

The Private Life of a Modern Woman, James Toback

Brawl in Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler

  OUT OF COMPETITION DOCUMENTARIES

Cuba and the Cameraman, Jon Alpert

My Generation, David Batty

Piazza Vittorio, Abel Ferrara

The Devil and Father Amorth, William Friedkin

This is Congo, Daniel McCabe

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, Stephen Nomura Schible

Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond. The Story of Jim Carrey, Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton, Chris Smith

Happy Winter, Giovanni Totaro

  SPECIAL EVENTS

Casa d’Altri, Gianni Amelio

Michael Jackson’s Thriller 3D, John Landis

Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983), Jerry Kramer

  HORIZONS COMPETITION

Disappearance, Ali Asgari

Especes Menacees, Gilles Bourdos

The Rape of Recy Taylor, Nancy Buirski

Caniba, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

Les Bienheureux, Sofia Djama

Marvin, Anne Fontaine

Invisible, Pablo Giorgelli

Brutti e Cattivi, Cosimo Gomez

The Cousin, Tzahi Grad

The Testament, Amichai Greenberg

No Date, No Signature, Vahid Jalilvand

Los Versos del Olvido, Alireza Khatami

The Night I Swam, Damien Manivel, Igarashi Kohei

Nico, 1988, Susanna Nicchiarelli

Krieg, Rick Ostermann

West of Sunshine, Jason Raftopoulos

Gatta Cenerentola, Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Dario Sansone

Under the Tree, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson

La Vita in Comune, Edoardo Winspeare

  CINEMA NEL GIARDINO

Manuel, Dario Albertini

Controfigura, Ra di Martino

Woodshock, Kate Mulleavy, Laura Mulleavy

Nato a Casal di Principe, Bruno Oliviero

Suburra – The Series, Michele Placido, Andrea Molaioli, Giuseppe Capotondi

Tueurs, Francois, Troukens, Jean-Francois Hensgens

  VENICE CLASSICS DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Light Years, Manuel Abramovich

Evviva Giuseppe, Stefano Consiglio

La Lucida Follia di Marco Ferreri, Selma Jean Dell’Olio

The Russian Revolution Through its Films, Emmanuel Hamon

The Prince and the Dybbuk, Elwira Niewiera

La Voce di Fantozzi, Mario Sesti

This is the War Room!,  Boris Hars-Tschachotin

  SPECIAL DOCUMENTARY SCREENINGS

La Lunga Strada del Ritorno, Alessandro Blasetti

Barbiana ’65 La Lezione di Don Milani, Alessandro G. A. D’Alessandro

Lievito Madre, Le Ragazze del Secolo Scorso, Concita de Gregorio, Esmeralda Calabria

  BIENNALE COLLEGE

Beautiful Things, Giorgio Ferrero

Martyr, Mazen Khaled

Strange Colours, Alena Lodkina

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Some people aren't meant to be mothers.

That was the cold, hard truth that a lot of people had to live with. Mothers forced into doing something they did not want, to carry babies they did not want. Laura often thought about her mother, what her life would've been like if she was not forced into marrying Laura's father, if she was not forced to carry her and her brother. Today would've been her 46th birthday. Laura was sat in front of her home, on the wooden steps in her backyard. A cigarette in her hands, a blanket over her shoulders and tears running down her face.

Laura loved her mother, she really did. She just wished her mother loved her the same.

"Oh..." Laura quickly wiped away her tears when she heard footsteps. "Sorry, did I wake you?" // @spideysmuses

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Laura dragged the last remnants of the cigarette down her throat. The sting was familiar, a comfort in the stressful times she was in. There, nestled in the corner of a restaurant her cousin owned, she waited for her guest. Around the restaurant were other associates, members of her cousin's gang. They were stationed around certain points of the room, guarding the current acting boss of the Di Vittorio crime family.

The guest she was waiting for, was a man by the name of Jonathan Wilkens. A man with an equal amount of arrogance and charm. Laura did not particularly like him, the times they had met before were filled with snarky quips and heated arguments. But she had to admit, there was no better lawyer to get her out of this little predicament she was in.

"Mister Wilkens. You look...well." The woman said as she rose from her seat. Laura hoped he noted the double meaning in her compliment. 'Well' in this case was meant to mean 'like shit'. // @wildhealed

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"Do you think I'm fucking stupid or something?" Her tone suddenly came out harsh. It was a quick shift, one spurred by his irritating answer. Laura crossed her arms over her chest, eyes never leaving James' person. There were signs, suspicious signs. While Laura prided herself on her intuition, she let it slide. Because it was James, and he would never lie to her...right?

The very idea made Laura shake with anger. Liars were the worst of the worst, snakes in human skin waiting to bite when you least expect it. It broke her heart, truly. She thought she and James were in love, and that it would last forever. Guess she was stupider than she thought.

"It's your boss, isn't it?" Laura finally said. She had been keeping tabs on James, hence the pattern she uncovered. While not full on monitoring him, she had someone investigate his potential infidelity. The question came out short and blunt. "Are you sleeping with her?"

Cont from here // @twistxdtales

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Continued from here - @spideymuses

“There won’t be another shipment, dumbass! Because of him!” Vincenzo corrected through gritted teeth, pistol pointed towards the dead body on the table. “What?” Laura interrogated her brother. “Because of this little rat, our friends aren’t comfortable sending anything over right now.” Laura instantly understood. If their product was found by law enforcement, or someone affiliated with the rival families, it would be absolute chaos. 

“He’s right, Vincenzo. We can’t send that body.” Laura seconded what Gabriel had said. “Why not?” Vincenzo asked with a mocking tone. “If we send that body, it’ll be a declaration of war. We’ll have the O’Kelly family to deal with, along with the police attention your little gang war is gonna have.” Laura explained. To everyone around her, she spoke like a true leader. Her father had always said, that had Laura been born a man, she would’ve been a force to be reckoned with. “We need to reassure Henry that his shipments aren’t threatened. That’s our main priority. The O’Kellys are a small problem that we can take care of in time.” 

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Laura was tired.

For the past five months, she had been head of the family and for the past five months, the others hounded her. Her brother was rotting in prison, having been charged with drug possession. Their warehouse was raided, and every single key they had in there was confiscated. It made news, it caused a lot of unwanted mess for Laura to clean. Laura suspected someone had snitched, and began to interrogate the other families. All denied it, all with promises to their honesty. As much as she wanted to pin one of them, she could not act without cause. The other families would rebel against her than, and they were already not keen on a woman in charge.

"You sure you want to do this?" Sonny, her cousin asked. Sonny was one of their Capos, and Laura trusted him with her whole life. He was more like a brother. "Marino's a real douche bag." She rolled her eyes. "I know, but what other choice do we have?" The Di Vittorio's and the Marino's have been...at odds for some time. Not a full on rivalry, but they kept their distance from the other. Good deals came from working with them though, she could not deny it.

They arrived in front of their restaurant, one of the many they owned around the city. Sonny stepped behind Laura, keen on being her shadow in this meeting. Laura hid her hand in her pocket, a small pistol rested against her gloved hands. In the dim, dark restaurant, was a table. In the middle of the room, with four chairs on all sides. Laura's eyes immediately fell on the Marino patriarch, who was waiting for them. "Mister Marino. Thank you for meeting with me." // @ofginjxints

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@felixculpxx

"Okay..." Laura nodded. The woman moved to the side, taking a seat on the couch. The news was still so surreal to her, she wasn't able to comprehend what was going on. She was going to be mother. A mother. She thought back to her own mother, the woman she loathed so much. Would she be like her? Would her marriage fall apart? Laura ran a hand through her hair before speaking. "Remember how I said I was feeling sick?" She began. "I took a couple of tests, and...I'm pregnant."

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Continued from here - @manymusesmenagerie​

“Look, so you know how I said I was feeling sick?” Laura began to explain. The situation was something she never thought she would be at the end of. Laura never saw herself as a mother, not after what happened to her own. “I took a couple of tests and....” The whole thing terrified her. Laura and Dean had been married for a while, and it hasn’t been good these past few months. How was this new development gonna effect them now? “I’m pregnant, Dean.” 

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“Fathers - half of anyone's life seemed to be about who fathered them.” ― Nancy Springer, Lionclaw

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“I just think some women aren’t made to be mothers. And some women aren’t made to be daughters.” - Gillian Flyn

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MUSES

Muses with * next to their name have some dark bios that include dark themes such as abuse, murder, death, drugs etc so please be aware!

Alice Robinson* (SHE/HER) , 28, Heterossexual, Medium / Hotel Receiptionist – OLIVIA COOKE

Aaliyah Razek (SHE/HER), 26 – 30, Heterosexual, Forensic Anthropologist – MAY CALAMAWY

Renata Reyes (SHE/HER) , 28 – 30, Bisexual, Doctor – ADRIA ARJONA

Beatriz Giordano* (SHE/HER), 35 – 40, Bisexual, Mob Boss – MORENA BACCARIN

Laura Di Vittorio* (SHE/HER) , 27, Heterossexual, Mob Boss – VICTORIA PEDRETTI

Ashley Winters (SHE/HER), 23, Heterosexual, Bassist of ‘The Cardinals’ – SOPHIE THATCHER

Lisa Grant (SHE/HER), 23, Bisexual, Guitarist of ‘The Cardinals’ - RUBY CRUZ

Joanna Hendrix (SHE/HER), 23 – 24, Heterosexual, Lead Singer of ‘The Cardinals’ – SAMANTHA LOGAN

Brianna Cohen* (SHE/HER), 36 – 44, Bisexual, Assassin – JESSICA CHASTAIN

Veronica Castillo* (SHE/HER). 35 - ???, Heterosexual, Accountant & Vampire – MARTHA HIGAREDA

Aida Davtyan* (SHE/HER), 27 - ???, Demisexual Biromantic, Baker & Vampire – ANGELA SARAFYAN

Cleo Bautista* (SHE/HER), 29, Heterosexual, Bartender – SHAY MITCHELL

Darcy Morgan (SHE/HER), 29, Heterosexual, Tattoo Artist – WILLA FITZGERALD

Florence Cameron (SHE/HER), 28 – 32, Heterosexual, Singer – RILEY KEOUGH

Eris Laviscount (SHE/HER), 23 – 25, Heterosexual,

Layla Hassan (SHE/HER), 29, Heterosexual, Opera Singer – PINAR DENIZ

---

Uriel (THEY/THEM), ???, Pansexual, Angel – EMMA DARCY

Carmen Jimenez (THEY/THEM), 24, Pansexual, Drummer of ‘The Cardinals’ – LIZETHE SELENE

---

Abel Prince (HE/HIM), 29 – 32, Heterosexual, Detective – LAKEITH STANFIELD

Lorenzo Rossi* (HE/HIM), 39 - ???, Heterosexual, Banker & Vampire – BEN BARNES

Erik Karlsen* (HE/HIM), 32 - ???, Pansexual, Writer & Vampire – MICHIEL HUISMAN

Joaquin Castro (HE/HIM), 38 – 43, Heterosexual, DEA Agent – GABRIEL LUNA

Santiago Castro (HE/HIM), 30, Heterosexual, ??? – DANNY RAMIREZ

Dominic Price* (HE/HIM), 34, Heterosexual, Drug Kingpin – GARRETT HEDLUND

Naveen Bhaskar (HE/HIM), 36, Pansexual, Marine Biologist – RAHUL KOHLI

Santino ‘Sonny’ Caputo (HE/HIM), 30 – 32, Heterosexual – CASEY DEIDRICK

Salvatore Colombo (HE/HIM), 32 – 35, Heterosexual, Italian Mob Capo – DJ COTRONA

Raphael Colombo (HE/HIM), 48, Heterosexual, Italian Mob Underboss – KEANU REEVES

George O’Neill (HE/HIM), 32, Heterosexual, Irish Mob Enforcer / Pianist – OLIVER JACKSON COHEN

Michael Davis* (HE/HIM), 46, Heterosexual, Detective – MATTHEW MCCOUNAGHEY

Simon ‘Booker’ Davis* (HE/HIM), 46, Heterosexual, Drug Kingpin / Arms Dealer - MATTHEW MCCOUNAGHEY

Hunter Morrison (HE/HIM), 25, Heterosexual, Up and coming Actor – MASON GOODING

Daniel ‘Danny’ Liu (HE/HIM), 27 – 29, Bisexual, Tattoo Artist – DEREK LUH

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Laura’s eyes scanned the members of her family as she walked past, each of them either bowed their heads or verbally greeted her as she passed them. It was a rather sketchy looking building. A former restaurant, now turned into a safe haven of sorts for most of the gang. The night was dark, the world had fallen asleep. Even the gang members that were up front kept their voices hushed. The silence was briefly cut by the sound of voices coming from the other side of a large metal door. 

“Finally.” Vincenzo commented, causing Laura to roll her eyes at her twin’s lack of patience. The enforcer, Nico, nodded towards Laura as she entered. He was always the quiet type, but his eyes did all the talking for him. Laura turned her attention to the man seated on the other side of the table. Sharp blue eyes, pale face and short brown hair.  “This is the man I was telling you about.” Vincenzo stated before turning his attention to their guest. “This is my second in command.” Vincenzo introduced halfway, he never introduced her as his sister out right. Laura extended her hand.  “Laura Di Vittorio.” 

@spideysmuses​

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The bakery was slow today. Not a lot of people showed up, which Laura liked. She didn’t like the chaos and the speed of it. Laura was pretty happy with her job at the bakery, it was fulfilling. It occupied her mind from the various flash backs she had. She could still hear the voice of the newscaster. Infamous crime bosses found dead in Los Angeles earlier this week, authorities have yet to identify most of the victims, but one was proven to be Vincenzo Di Vittorio, the head of the Di Vittorio crime family. The voice went through her head like clockwork. The bell rang, indicating that someone had entered the bakery. “Hello.” Laura smiled as two familiar faces arrived. A man by the name of Richard and his daughter, who had become Laura’s favorite customers. “How are you today?” Laura stared at the little girl, but the question was meant for both. 

@sarcasmpersonified181​

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You’re getting married. The words passed the woman by like wind, she refused to listen. Her uncle dropped the news in passing, like it wasn’t a big deal. He assumed his niece already knew about it. Laura was in her bathroom, getting ready to meet her future husband, who was arriving at their estate soon. Cold water hit her face, the realization of it all falling on her like a ton of bricks. As Laura stared into the looking glass, she saw her mother. The mother was also forced into a marriage with a man much older than her, and now the daughter followed suit. Laura composed herself, her mind trying to find every which way to get out of it. They would find her if she ran away, they could do so easily. Surely you saw this coming, Laura. It’s been in the works for a few years now. 

Her father had made a deal, three years before his death. The bargaining chip was his daughters hand to a man named Victor Dawson, a man she had never heard of. Vincenzo tried to break it off, but he was warned that if he did so, the end result would be war between the two families. Laura didn’t want anyone to get hurt on her account, so she did the only thing she could do. Accept the proposal. Now, here she was. Behind her brother and uncle, welcoming the guests as they walked in. “Mr. Dawson. Welcome. This is my nephew, Vincenzo...and my niece Laura.” Her uncle paused for emphasis, but Laura had a feeling Victor already knew she was his bride. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Dawson.” 

@letsdoscmethingwicked​