Sometimes the mist opens a portal outside this world. If it does, return through the threshold or the tag directory ~ be aware: crossing may shift colors but the path remains.* ੈ✩‧
⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆ Threshold ⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆
Wander through, get lost inside and find your way back home.
⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆ Heroine ⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆
Every story begins with silence. Mine was born between survival, ink and fractured dreams holding for the stars to speak back to me.
⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆ Echoes ⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆
Echoes of the things that touched a soul.
My Hashtags:
#annabourbon ♡ #danteann ♡ #faithdante
⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆ My social media ⋆ ₊ ﾟ ☽ * ₊ ⋆
* I don't post original content often because it takes me a while to do my research, and because I need time to create content that's all mine. I do repost a lot of things that I find interesting, pretty or useful.
♡ Everything here is human~made. No AI was used, only me, my words, my mind. Also please be a sweetheart and don't steal my content, would you? 💖
That would be all, thanks and I hope you want to stay around or hang out more with me.<3
Have you ever felt the stars are tears in the sky?
I'm not sure if this might help someone. But if it does, I'm glad. I'll do a video of this, eventually.
So, I have been practicing archery through April, and now I'm taking it back after a pause (I was fighting custom houses first and then Amazon), and as a ballet student let me tell you, some things do change.
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert. I signed an introductory course because I'm an actress and I need this in my skill set (I might take more classes eventually because this thing became addictive and the ambience is so cool, very much like a family), my point here is to cross reference it with ballet, because at one point even if I was just a student, I did three years of intense ballet workout (12 hours daily including Sundays, sometimes 18 hours). I still dance but not 12 hours daily 💀 ... sadly. I only participated in two festivals at my own ballet school cuz I ended up getting embarrassed during the third year. Feeling myself "too grown up" for that. And nowadays I'm regretting it LMAO. Also, at the time I used to be in high school and had tons of homework but a lot of insomnia too. That's how I pulled all those hours. Eventually I fell off a staircase and I got hurt (hips), twice. Then off ice, and I hurt my wrists too 💀🤣 I lost my physical condition a bit. I still can endure two to three hours but I need to build more stamina. My flexibility is not a big problem as much as my stamina. Probably. I'm not sure. To be honest I'm a bit more cautious nowadays so I will probably not try to force myself or push as much as I used to. My main goal right now is to do the Eras tour on my treadmill while singing (we can argue with the quality of that later 💀🤣😭) but so far I only got 2 hours and half. Not the three. 🤧
Ballet brain is real.
Just because you think that it should hurt so you can see your progress? Yeah, archery doesn't have this. Keep in mind, it does have its challenges like every other discipline. But from what I have learned in my introductory? It's not ballet.
As ballet dancers, we are used to pain, and we push through it. Sometimes we over do. But we do know exactly how much, and when to stop and which muscles are overcompensating... the issue is, archery uses a different set of muscles. And since we are used to endure through pain, we might get injured if we're not careful.
Archery is slightly different in that sense with ballet, if the bow is too heavy, you might end up dragging the bow. And yes, I ended up getting a bow so heavy I ended up KO for almost two days.
Almost. Not quite, but it was physically exhausting. And I had a bad posture which is hilarious cuz... ✨ ballet 🩰✨
I shouldn't have had a bad posture, but that gives you an idea of how heavy it was. According to a second opinion (because yes, I asked about it, more on that below💀) if it hurts you, you're doing something wrong. Apparently you have to build up strength to get to the ones that are heavier, but also, you need to be careful and have a notion of how much weight you can carry (remember you're using only one arm)
I still have my arms and back sore, but less than before. If you have a bad arm posture, you're gonna hit the inner part, and, it's going to be bruised. Does this hurt? It stings, but it's manageable. Of course, I can only speak for myself, having hit my arm only three times, and getting a bruise. I have a classmate who had it worse, way worse with the bruise and it was almost black. She hit her arm around 10 times.
The myth of hurting your nose? Not a myth if you're not careful. But you do have to use your nose as a marker. Probably. 🤔
Okay I'll have to ask because apparently, last night I went to hunt (Not hunting anything real! Thank goodness, I was almost wincing and about to cry with the invite but it turned out to be fake animals) and apparently everyone has different markers? So it depends on how you use your bow and the distance.
On the notes for writing and acting, see how in fantasy they switch bows and weapons? Yeah, that's actual fantasy. A bow is very personal. It's calibrated so you can hit your best marks, and if you manage to use another one? You might miss the target, lose the arrow, break the bow, break the cord, etc.
Position it's everything
I spent a good time correcting it because I kept defaulting to 'first position' (ballet). Which leads me to...
Different days lol using the same outfit. Up, I was alone, doing 10 meters, this was class 4 I think 🤔. Down I had this coach with me, in my last class, doing 5 meters. He is the one who gave me the bracer 😭✨ Thank you so much, sir!
What you wear
If you think you can use a pretty dress with long sleeves, while using the bow? Think about which type of sleeves. If they can protect your arms, yes, but if they're gonna get tangled... no. And how your hair is done. If it's windy, you might have to tie it up. Seems obvious. I kept mine in a braid, but I saw other people who didn't. Though to be honest I didn't see anything bad happening, I'd say for beginners, tie it up, experienced archers? Whatever serves you.
First class: Compound bow.
I changed it to a traditional bow after the second class. It wasn't exactly calibrated to me, so I ended up getting a good burn and stopped after that for a couple of days.
I came back to it, didn't even realize that I was getting hurt, tried again twice (two more sessions), until another coach changed my bow to the 'Rolan Snake bow' and honestly I think I almost cried when I stopped fighting the bow. But I also felt a little annoyed and humiliated because I thought I was strong enough to make it through. I have spent my childhood climbing trees, and monkey bars. This was, should've been, better. Someone gifted me a bracer. It's so damn pretty 😭
Anyway I ended up purchasing the Rolan Snake bow because it allows me to shoot both sides. And... I'm not sure if I should or not, several of the coaches refused to let me do it. However I... I'm not a good student 💀🤣 I ended up doing it with both sides. Here's the result so far:
Left? Hit yellow 4 times
Right? I'm hitting yellow a bit more often. I still can't make it hit yellow on purpose consistently. But I don't lose arrows often. I have surprised myself by drawing only two fingers instead of three whenever I try with my left hand. It seems and feels more natural, I also have better precision like that.
July update, I lied: apparently I can definitely shoot with these sleeves without hurting myself. Also, I have started to shoot upwards, downwards, in the stairs, in the park, at midnight in my room, the terrace, etc. It's so much fun.
PS: I still owe you all a video. I'm working on it!
I chose the name Court of Shadows because so much of my family’s history has existed there: in exile, secrecy, persecution, silence, and stories passed down carefully. Historians would call it a court in exile, but Court of Shadows is the name that best holds the Carlist, Aldama, and other branches of that legacy together.
I was told that I should not tell this in a poetic way if I wanted people to understand more of why I am "Bourbon" so I'll have to tell the actual story and drop all the receipts.
For visual support, here's the link:
💬 1 🔁 1 ❤️ 3 · Some days I live between pages I haven’t written yet. Sometimes I remember stories that haunt me beyond the grave. Echoes o
Because apparently some people think I'm exaggerating, many other people think I like whiskey, or alcohol beverages way too much and others think I'm being poetic, so this post won't be.
The story starts way before I was born. And because I still have way too much to learn and uncover, I'll cover just the basics:
The Sun King
Otherwise known as the ultimate boss, King Louis XIV. He is the guy who built the Palace of Versailles, which later on history will be occupied by Marie Antoinette, and y'all know the rest so I'm skipping that. If you don't know, Wikipedia exists. Thanks. Anyway, he is the pinnacle of French absolute royalty. (He lived a few generations before Marie Antoinette).
Then we have Philip V of Spain. The grandson of Louis XIV. (his pic is down below, after Isabela Farnese)
The father of Philip V (and the son of Louis XIV) was named Louis, Dauphin of France. Because he was the crown prince his entire life, everyone just called him "Le Grand Dauphin" (The Great Crown Prince). But he died at 49 and never got to rule. ANYWAY! Let's continue. (no pic here, search on Wikipedia, thx)
Philip was born a French prince (The Duke of Anjou). But the old King of Spain (The last Spanish Hasburg king) died without any kids and left the Spanish throne to this French prince. Philip moved to Spain, changed his French royal name (Bourbon) to the Spanish version (Borbón), and became the very first Bourbon King of Spain. Because of this, the entire Spanish royal branch that I descend from is historically and heraldically known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou. Yeah, no, I didn't know that either until my dad dropped this one on my lap. Anyway the Anjou title is practically the bridge that connects my Spanish roots back to my French origins.
The direct line goes (so far, cuz unfortunately there's more 💀): Louis XIV (French King) ➔ Philip V (French Prince turned Spanish King) married to Isabel Farnese ➔ Carlos III (Spanish King)
Elisabeth Farnese
Elisabeth Farnese, or Isabel Farnese was queen of Spain and mother of Carlos III, she was the last heir of the House of Farnese. The Farnese were also known as The Art Patron family. (See pic below)
She married Philip V (see below), the first Bourbon king of Spain. So she is important because she becomes one of the big mothers of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. Philip however, was born as Prince Philippe, Duke of Anjou, originally french. I said that already no? ugh nvm here's the pic as promised:
Their son was Carlos III, (see pic below) and for context Carlos III of Spain (otherwise known as King of Spain, Naples, and Sicily) → ancestor of the later Spanish Bourbon kings → eventually that line leads down to Fernando VII → and Fernando VII is the one whose death starts the giant Isabel vs Don Carlos succession mess that creates the Carlist Wars.
Carlos III had children, and from that royal Bourbon line come later kings. One of Carlos III’s sons was Carlos IV.
Then Carlos IV had a son: Fernando VII
So the line till this point is:
Isabel Farnese→ Carlos III→ Carlos IV→ Fernando VII
Why Fernando matters so much?
Because Fernando VII is the explosion point. Also because he's linked to my Aldama side. See? Told y'all, my family is crazy 🤧
Side note: His reign was overshadowed by the French invasion, which placed Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne from May 1808 to December 1813. Around the same time, the "Mexican War of Independence" was taking place. "The Aldama side."
Hidalgo’s cry: Although accounts vary, chronicles record phrases such as: “Long live the Americas!”, “Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!”, “Death to bad government!”, and, in one common version from the period, “Long live Ferdinand VII!”
So basically they were all playing FMK through life💀
When he dies in 1833, the throne fight becomes:
His daughter Isabel II vs his brother Don Carlos
And that is what kicks off the First Carlist War. So Fernando is not the beginning of the family tree. But he is the beginning of the dynastic civil-war disaster and that at some point will touch my family, but we're getting ahead of this...
So where do the Carlists come in?
They are called Carlists because they support Don Carlos, Fernando VII’s brother. And not Isabel. Don't ask me, if you ask me, as a woman, I have no voice, or thought nor vote (or soul in some eras 💀) according to the OG idea (they didn't want Isabel on the throne cuz she was a woman), if you ask me and I have a voice and opinion now (They changed their mind? Kind of? Not. But "it's complicated". Laws. Salic or something.)
Anyway because my family likes drama, ofc they were inside the dynastic fracture itself, on the Carlist side of the Bourbon story.
Normally, under older rules, a woman could be blocked and the throne could pass to the king’s brother instead. That brother was Don Carlos.
So the fight became:
Team Isabel says: The daughter can inherit
Team Carlos says: nope, the throne should go to Don Carlos
Soooo…
Carlists = supporters of Don Carlos and his line
Isabelinos / Alfonsinos / liberals / constitutional monarchists = supporters of Isabel and later her line.
So what were the Carlist Wars?
They were basically civil wars over the Spanish throne, but also over what kind of Spain should exist.
The Carlists were not just saying, “we like this random uncle.”They usually also stood for:
🍿 older monarchy
🍿legitimacy
🍿 stronger Catholic traditionalism
🍿 regional rights in certain areas
🍿 anti-liberal politics
So the Carlist Wars were both: a family succession fight and a fight about Spain’s political soul
There were three major Carlist Wars:
First Carlist War
1833 to 1840
This starts right after Fernando VII dies. His daughter Isabel II is backed by the government. His brother Don Carlos says the throne should be his.
Boom. Civil war.
My... uhm.. great grandfather's grandfather, participated in this war. (I absolutely do not blame y'all if you get a headache)
After King Ferdinand VII died in 1833, his widow, María Cristina of Bourbon, became regent for their young daughter, Isabella II. Her regency was immediately challenged by supporters of Ferdinand’s brother, Don Carlos who rejected Isabella’s right to the throne and began the First Carlist War.
To secure support for Isabella, María Cristina allied herself with the liberals and introduced constitutional reforms, gradually weakening absolute monarchy in Spain. Political instability, military pressure, and growing opposition eventually forced her to resign in 1840.
General Baldomero Espartero then served as regent until 1843, when Isabella II was declared of age at only thirteen and began her personal reign. Because it's totally normal to let a thirteen year old girl to reign 💀 apparently.
Second Carlist War
1846 to 1849
Smaller, more tangled, still tied to dynastic legitimacy. Also known as the War of the Matiners, was fought by supporters of Carlos Luis de Borbón (recognized as Carlos VI by Carlists). They sought his marriage to Queen Isabella II to legitimise his claim, though Isabella married Francisco de Borbón, continuing the conflict mainly in Catalonia. Seriously, just go and check Wikipedia.
Key points regarding the Second Carlist War king:
Carlist Claimant: Carlos Luis de Borbón, known to his supporters as Carlos VI (Count of Montemolin).
Government Monarch: Queen Isabella II.
Conflict Context: The 1846–1849 rebellion was minor compared to the first, often focused on Catalan separatism or opposition to moderate central rule, and ended with amnesty.
Distinction: The term "Second Carlist War" is sometimes confused with the larger Third Carlist War (1872–1876), which was led by Carlos VII
And that leaves us in the Third Carlist war. But because my family is still in the middle of all this drama, and I need far more pics and context, I have decided to make it in another post. Thanks for reading all this. Sorry for the drama, it wasn't my fault, I wasn't even here, yet. 💀
My mind was ranting so badly through the whole movie I even had to create a separate post because damn... what I think it's too long to be left in a footnote. Absolutely utterly disgusting.
How can a movie fail so badly with so many talented actors in it?
Answer: The script was a total failure 💀 and edition didn't help either.
I'm aware, even though I'm not an expert on this, yes, I admit that freely. I'm better with picking books and knowing which ones work as adaptations than scripts... mainly because I still don't read a lot of scripts... nevermind, not the point. I am aware that picking up a story and adapting it to the screen has its challenges (I grew up with Harry Potter and I remember being angry with each movie for the things that skipped, changed or lacked.💀). This one however, I want to scream. Because whenever I can't root for a hero or heroine, or the main lead... I end up rooting for the bad guys if the good ones are boring. (Or enjoying the aesthetics at least! And no, I also didn't particularly feel inclined to them here.)
But I could not even root for them here. I swear I tried. 🤧
This movie left me with trauma: no one to root for, no good script, no morals (please hear me out, this one is important and not in a preachy way), no good scenes, I couldn't even get to care for the girls or babies! And I was really baffled, but it's the way they presented the entire thing. And therefore, because I couldn't care about it, it's a waste of space (too damn long!). Has no point to make, no story to root for. I care more about Finding Nemo than this. That should tell you everything there's to know about this movie. Perhaps there are way too many stories at the same time trying to happen, which wouldn't be bad if it was handled without indulgence, but here, every minute is wasting time. I am really surprised how many actors and actresses with an insane amount of talent, chose this script. And mildly terrified because I don't know if this was an edition problem, people were dragged into this without knowing (?), a mix of both script and edition failing... or simply people deciding to waste time.
Sorry 💔 I can't be kind when it stole 3 hours of my life that I'm not getting back... maybe... maybe the only good thing was the guy who would never shut the fuck up and finally was killed 💀🫠 made me laugh a bit. Though I admit it made me feel horrified by how grotesque and long his death it was. Moving like a fish out of water. Funny guy though. Kinda. IDK. I kept thinking "OMG just die already 😭 you're like a bug~" although bugs are horrifying, he was just... funny.
I was compelled to watch it again to see if it was as bad as I thought, but I fell asleep, several times. I had to restart it, several times. So no, that's enough torture, thank you very much. I ended up quitting to the idea of a rewatch eventually.
As for me? Lesson learned, scripts lie, edition might be great or ruin everything, and names mean absolutely nothing if the project is not handled with care and respect.
Tiny note: some of these movies might be eventually moved, I'm still trying to decide and figure out if some belong to Disney, or if Disney was only the distributor.
Pan’s Labyrinth (nope. too violent and graphic. I hate del Toro darkness, respectfully! I 😭 only liked Crimson Peak, a bit, in the second watch. And Pinocchio, that one? I actually liked it, a lot.)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Pride and Prejudice BBC series and the 2005 movie
P.S. I Love You
Penelope
Princess Protection Program
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Premonition
Peaceful Warrior
Psycho (original)
Pretty in Pink
Pretty Woman
Prince of Persia
Ponyo
Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, 3 & 4 (saw them all basically, only liked the first three💀)
No hate. Just random thoughts. But this is something I keep thinking whenever I see people trying to make their lips bigger, and faces that wildly different from the ones they were born with...
Random thoughts... but lately I have developed a bit of insanity and I miss my magic 8 ball. And the thing is, I don't know where it is, I know for sure I didn't throw it away.
I don't know why it came back to my mind. I know I do not want one of those Amazon balls, which, my apologies, Amazon, but they're ugly AF. Generic. Black. No glitter.
And the thing is... I have been like, actually WISHING to get my hands on it. Fiercely 💀🥲
I didn't even remember that I had one.
Mine was purple, dark, black and purple. With glitter on it... and small. It reminded me that dreams existed, even though at some point I might have thrown those away because they were too heavy to carry on in this world. I did not throw my ball away. It's not gone. Just missing.
