On Love, Softness, and the Extraordinary Ordinary:
Daria & Ninelle
Love is spoken about constantly.Perhaps too constantly.People explain it. Overexplain it. Turn it into advice. Into psychology. Into algorithms somehow.And yet.Very rarely do people simply look at it.Quietly.Without interruption.Without immediately trying to define it into something more understandable than it naturally is.
The Unfiltered first met Ninelle.
An aspiring fashion designer. A social media talent. A person whose life seemed to move instinctively around art.The kind of person carrying creativity naturally.Not performatively.As though aesthetics had quietly followed her around for years and eventually decided to stay permanently.
And then The Unfiltered met Daria.
A cybersecurity student.Which, quite frankly, already sounds like an entirely different universe.Structured. Strategic. Sharp.She teaches volleyball and approaches things with a particular kind of determination.The kind of person going for victory no matter what. No matter where.A whole different rhythm of life.Different language almost.And somehow.There they were.Together.The kind of love that quietly makes you pause.Not because it insists on attention.But because something about it feels undeniably real.Young, yes.But rare.And perhaps strangely strong for something existing so softly.Because there is something deeply beautiful about witnessing love that does not seem interested in performance.No exaggeration. No unnecessary dramatics. No attempt to convince the world of itself.Just closeness.Ease.The strange intimacy of simply existing beside another person and somehow feeling more yourself because of it.Daria and Ninelle remind us of something people occasionally forget.That love can still be gentle.Still beautiful.Still quietly extraordinary.The kind of extraordinary not built from spectacle.But from care.Attention. Understanding. Shared glances.The ordinary moments somehow becoming significant because of who exists inside them with you.And perhaps that is precisely why their love feels worthy of being documented.Because beautiful things deserve memory.And some forms of love, especially the brave, soft, unapologetically real ones, deserve to be seen.
UNFILTERED
When did this stop feeling like something you have to explain?
NINELLE
When we met again after six months of separation because of the war.
DARIA
When we spoke for the first time after many months of knowing about each other, but not really being acquainted yet, and already felt something.
UNFILTERED
What is love for you right now — not in theory, but today?
DARIA
Love is the strongest feeling, one that seems to never stop evolving and growing stronger. It drives you to make serious and difficult decisions that are directly connected to improving each other’s lives. With the person you love, it feels as though you become one whole, while not losing a part of yourself — not as if you are only half of something, but rather, while already being complete, you become even more.
UNFILTERED
How does it feel to be young and in love at the same time?
NINELLE
It is a test of character — how ready you are, at such a young age, to maintain a relationship that has long outgrown simple infatuation and become something serious. It can definitely be called a blessing in some way, because the earlier you meet your person, the more happy years of your life you will get to spend.
UNFILTERED
Is love something you understand or something you experience without needing to?
NINELLE
You can explain an equation; love is something abstract, but at the same time, I feel as though the very concept of “abstraction” diminishes what love actually is.
DARIA
Love is definitely not something that can be explained; first and foremost, it is a feeling that appears over time toward your person, replacing infatuation.
UNFILTERED
What does it mean to be seen by someone who actually looks?
NINELLE & DARIA
It means no longer being lonely in this world.
UNFILTERED
do you feel understood, or just deeply recognized?
NINELLE & DARIA
deeply recognized for who I truly am.
UNFILTERED
what part of you only exists because the other one notices it?
NINELLE & DARIA
vulnerability.
UNFILTERED
do you think being young makes love more honest or just more visible?
NINELLE
before we grow a shell of so-called “adulthood,” love is, of course, more visible, because young people express themselves more willingly than middle-aged people. In my opinion, love can be just as strong at 22 as it is at 50 — the question is how boldly people choose to express it.
DARIA
in my opinion, love can be equally sincere and visible at any age; it all depends on whether a person meets true love and at what age it happens.
UNFILTERED
is there something about your love that doesn’t make sense but still feels right?
NINELLE
while we are long-distance, we wish each other goodnight first on the phone, and then immediately again in text messages, and stickers at the end are mandatory.
UNFILTERED
what do you hold onto without questioning?
NINELLE
simplicity and honesty.
DARIA
sincerity and openness.
