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mimi-0007 · 2 months

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FATHER & SON: James Earl Jones with his Father Robert Earl Jones on Stage in the 1962 Production "Moon on a Rainbow Shawl."

Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 – September 7, 2006), sometimes credited as Earl Jones, was an American actor and professional boxer. One of the first prominent Black film stars, Jones was a living link with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career.

Jones was best known for his leading roles in films such as Lying Lips (1939) and later in his career for supporting roles in films such as The Sting (1973), Trading Places (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), and Witness (1985).

Jones was born in northwestern Mississippi; the specific location is unclear as some sources indicate Senatobia, while others suggest nearby Coldwater. He left school at an early age to work as a sharecropper to help his family. He later became a prizefighter. Under the name "Battling Bill Stovall", he was a sparring partner of Joe Louis.

Jones became interested in theater after he moved to Chicago, as one of the thousands leaving the South in the Great Migration. He moved on to New York by the 1930s. He worked with young people in the Works Progress Administration, the largest New Deal agency, through which he met Langston Hughes, a young poet and playwright. Hughes cast him in his 1938 play, Don't You Want to Be Free?.

Jones also entered the film business, appearing in more than twenty films. His film career started with the leading role of a detective in the 1939 race film Lying Lips, written and directed by Oscar Micheaux, and Jones made his next screen appearance in Micheaux's The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940). Jones acted mostly in crime movies and dramas after that, with such highlights as Wild River (1960) and One Potato, Two Potato (1964). In the Oscar-winning 1973 film The Sting, he played Luther Coleman, an aging grifter whose con is requited with murder leading to the eponymous "sting". In the later 20th century, Jones appeared in several other noted films: Trading Places (1983) and Witness (1985).

Toward the end of his life, Jones was noted for his stage portrayal of Creon in The Gospel at Colonus (1988), a black musical version of the Oedipus legend. He also appeared in episodes of the long-running TV shows Lou Grant and Kojak. One of his last stage roles was in a 1991 Broadway production of Mule Bone by Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, another important writer of the Harlem Renaissance. His last film was Rain Without Thunder (1993).

Although blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s due to involvement with leftist groups, Jones was ultimately honored with a lifetime achievement award by the U.S. National Black Theatre Festival.

Jones was married three times. As a young man, he married Ruth Connolly (died 1986) in 1929; they had a son, James Earl Jones. Jones and Connolly separated before James was born in 1931, and the couple divorced in 1933. Jones did not come to know his son until the mid-1950s. He adopted a second son, Matthew Earl Jones. Jones died on September 7, 2006, in Englewood, New Jersey, from natural causes at age 96.

THEATRE

1945 The Hasty Heart (Blossom) Hudson Theatre, Broadway

1945 Strange Fruit (Henry) McIntosh NY theater production

1948 Volpone (Commendatori) City Center

1948 Set My People Free (Ned Bennett) Hudson Theatre, Broadway

1949 Caesar and Cleopatra (Nubian Slave) National Theatre, Broadway

1952 Fancy Meeting You Again (Second Nubian) Royale Theatre, Broadway

1956 Mister Johnson (Moma) Martin Beck Theater, Broadway

1962 Infidel Caesar (Soldier) Music Box Theater, Broadway

1962 The Moon Besieged (Shields Green) Lyceum Theatre, Broadway

1962 Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (Charlie Adams) East 11th Street Theatre, New York

1968 More Stately Mansions (Cato) Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway

1975 All God's Chillun Got Wings (Street Person) Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway

1975 Death of a Salesman (Charley)

1977 Unexpected Guests (Man) Little Theatre, Broadway

1988 The Gospel at Colonus (Creon) Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway

1991 Mule Bone (Willie Lewis) Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway

FILMS

1939 Lying Lips (Detective Wenzer )

1940 The Notorious Elinor Lee (Benny Blue)

1959 Odds Against Tomorrow (Club Employee uncredited)

1960 Wild River (Sam Johnson uncredited)

1960 The Secret of the Purple Reef (Tobias)

1964 Terror in the City (Farmer)

1964 One Potato, Two Potato (William Richards)

1968 Hang 'Em High

1971 Mississippi Summer (Performer)

1973 The Sting (Luther Coleman)

1974 Cockfighter (Buford)

1977 Proof of the Man (Wilshire Hayward )

1982 Cold River (The Trapper)

1983 Trading Places (Attendant)

1983 Sleepaway Camp (Ben)

1984 The Cotton Club (Stage Door Joe)

1984 Billions for Boris (Grandaddy)

1985 Witness (Custodian)

1988 Starlight: A Musical Movie (Joe)

1990 Maniac Cop 2 (Harry)

1993 Rain Without Thunder (Old Lawyer)

TELEVISION

1964 The Defenders (Joe Dean) Episode: The Brother Killers

1976 Kojak (Judge) Episode: Where to Go if you Have Nowhere to Go?

1977 The Displaced Person (Astor) Television movie

1978 Lou Grant (Earl Humphrey) Episode: Renewal

1979 Jennifer's Journey (Reuven )Television movie

1980 Oye Ollie (Performer) Television series

1981 The Sophisticated Gents (Big Ralph Joplin) 3 episodes

1982 One Life to Live

1985 Great Performances (Creon) Episode: The Gospel at Colonus

1990 True Blue (Performer) Episode: Blue Monday

#james earl jones #black tumblr #black literature #black community #black excellence #blackexcellence365 #actor #robert earl jones #stage actor

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just-late-roman-republic-things · 4 months

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There lived a certain man, a proconsul of Gaul He was lean and sharp and his head was almost bald Most people looked at him with envy and awe But to Cato, he thought himself above the law He had conquered Gaul and asked the Senate For a triumph through their town And to run for consul - he could win it But they said "Stand down."

Ra ra Julie C., Nicomedes' teenage fling There was a man who couldn't let go Ra ra Julie C., really wanted to be king It was a shame how he stole the show

He crossed the Rubicon, invaded his own home But the Pompeians had already fled from Rome With hardly any fights he captured Italy Though Spain and Greece didn't come so easily He got nearly slaughtered by Dyrrhachium And the next four years of strife But he won and had the Senate make him Dictator for life

Ra ra Julie C., Cleopatra's Roman fling There was a man who couldn't let go Ra ra Julie C., really wanted to be king It was a shame how he stole the show

But as his bogus elections and his hunger for power Became known to more and more people The conspiracy to assassinate This man became bigger and bigger

"This Caesar's gotta go," declared his enemies But a new war loomed and he'd soon go overseas No doubt this dictator was difficult to harm And within Rome's walls, they couldn't carry arms Then they thought, a meeting of the Senate Fit just right, for on the Ides He would be alone for just a minute And Caesar would die

Ra ra Julie C., every Roman woman's fling They had him cornered, took out their knives Ra ra Julie C., really wanted to be king He grabbed a pen and fought for his life Ra ra Julie C., emperor foreshadowing They didn't quit, they wanted his head Ra ra Julie C., Brutus jabbed his ding-a-ling And so they stabbed him till he was dead

Oh, those Romans…

#jlrrt speaks #poetry #really bad poetry #filk song?#idk the right term #julius caesar #ides of march #ra ra rasputin #just roman memes #parody #next time someone asks me why i like roman history i'm just gonna show them this

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indigovigilance · 8 months

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Anthony, Anthony, Anthony

What does your Anthony mean, exactly?

I feel like your Anthony and my Anthony are different Anthonies…

In 1941 we learn that Crowley has named himself Anthony J. Crowley (Aziraphale doesn’t pronounce the H but closed captions write it and Neil Gaiman hashtags #Anthony and also it’s Anthony the script book so I guess Michael Sheen is just doing a thing idk). I haven’t seen extensive discussion of this topic but I’m going to jump in with both feet.

I propose that Anthony actually has a double meaning; that is, Crowley chose this name for one reason, but Aziraphale believes he chose it for another.

(I cite as indirect inspo a wonderful Tumblr meta about how the ineffable blockheads have completely different interpretations of Jane Austen and how this informs their S2 decision-making).

Read or bookmark for later on Ao3 because this got away from me and now it's a 2,888 word meta on people named Anthony what am I doing with my life

~~~

First and foremost, let it be stated that there is no canon for when Crowley anti-christened himself Anthony. Neil Gaiman himself won’t know until he writes it.

Secondly, let it be known that I am not an historian nor a literary scholar of any kind. So people who actually know these stories may find themselves cringing at my surface-level summaries and inaccurate interpretations: I’m just piecing together what I could find easily. I invite someone else to revise and republish if they can delve deeper on these topics.

Part 1: Mark Antony

There is a bust of Marc Antony in Mr. Fell’s bookshop as of S1E1 modern day (2019) which is still there at the end of S2E6, where it features prominently in the center of a shot. In 2019, the bust is adorned with yellow ribbons; in 2023, it is naked. The flashback to 1941 doesn’t give a good view of the part of the shop where the bust would normally be located so I have no idea when the bust actually got added to Aziraphale’s collection. I’m going to assume, for argument’s sake, that Aziraphale acquired this bust after the Blitz. I’m going to further propose that he acquired this bust because he believes that Crowley named himself Anthony after Mark Antony.

Why would Aziraphale think that? Two reasons.

1) Mark Antony was the loser of a civil war for liberty

Mark Antony was a good and loyal Roman citizen, serving Caesar with distinction, even attaining the title of Master of the Horse (Caesar’s second-in-command). See additional metas on horse symbolism seen throughout S2. After the death of Caesar, however, Octavian and members of the senate turned on Antony, starting a civil war. You know, much like a certain someone we know that was involved in Dubious Battle on the Plains of Heaven.

Mark Antony was loyal to Caesar’s political mission, which was to establish a Roman republic, where the voices of the citizens would be heard through their representatives [a suggestion box, if you will]. But Antony’s defeat marked the end of the republic, ushering in an age of autocracy. Octavian, following his victory over Antony, crowned himself the first Emperor of Rome.

2) Mark Antony was a libertine, but also the loyal, ardent lover of Cleopatra

Mark Antony was an infamous, lascivious, debaucherous, womanizing lush. He was also Cleopatra’s lover and closest ally. Though Mark Antony could not often meet with Cleopatra, their affair was allegedly very romantic, and from afar Antony did everything in his power to support Cleopatra politically, expanding her territorial holdings even while they were apart for years.

So legendary was Antony's wanton hedonism that when he went to Athens, he was deified as the New Dionysus, mystic god of wine, happiness, and immortality. Religious propaganda declared Cleopatra the New Isis or Aphrodite (mythic goddess of love and beauty) to his New Dionysus. The ineffable emperors, if you will. [source: Encyclopedia Britannica]

Parallels arising after 1941:

After Antony had officially divorced Octavian’s sister, Octavian formally broke off the ties of personal friendship with Antony and declared war, not against Antony but against Cleopatra. Much like how Shax, after her S2E1 “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” proposal, threatened Crowley that if he did not assist her search for Gabriel, Hell would declare war not on him but on Aziraphale.

The legacy of Mark Antony, therefore, is one of hedonism, romance, fighting for a cause that you believe in, and losing that fight. It’s easy to see how Aziraphale drew the conclusion that Anthony J. Crowley took his inspiration from this historical figure.

Part 2: Antony & Cleopatra

How is this a part 2? Weren’t we just talking about Mark Antony and his relationship with Cleopatra? Hear me out.

Crowley has never expressed much interest in politics. Every time something of political import happens, he declares that the humans made it up themselves while also taking credit for it with Hell. This includes 1793 Paris and the Spanish Inquisition. If I forgot any, drop them in the comments.

But Crowley has a deep and pervasive interest in stories, especially romance stories. If he can keep the Bentley from turning it into Queen, he listens to the Velvet Underground. He watches Richard Curtis films (to the degree that he identifies them by director rather than by title). Though book canon is not show canon, it’s worth mentioning that his favorite serial is Golden Girls; while not a romance, it is certainly heartfelt storytelling at its finest and a homosexual staple.

We know, too, that Shakspeare stole a line from him, with an adjustment for pronouns:

"Age Does Not Wither, Nor Custom Stale His Infinite Variety”

Let’s first talk about Crowley’s context for the quote.

Picture it: the Globe Theater, 1601, the house is empty because it’s one of Shakespeare’s gloomy ones and an irritated young Burbage, in the role of Hamlet, is droning out his lines like he would rather be anywhere else.

Burbage: To be or not to be. That is the question.

Aziraphale: To be! I mean, not to be! Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!

Aziraphale looks at Crowley, grinning with delight. Crowley stares back at him, shaking his head slightly, but a smile tugs at the corner of his lip. He wants to be embarrassed, but cannot help being charmed.

Aziraphale: He’s very good, isn’t he?

Crowley: Age does not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety.

Crowley is looking up at the stage, and speaks immediately after Aziraphale has made a comment about Burbage. But is Crowley talking about Burbage? Does it stand to reason that age would not have withered, or custom not staled, this twenty year old (yet somehow jaded) stage actor?

I propose that this is a poetic inversion of the S2E1 cold open, wherein the Starmaker, looking out upon creation, says: “Look at you, you’re gorgeous!” and Aziraphale erroneously thinks the statement was directed at him. Here, even though Crowley isn’t looking at Aziraphale, I believe that Crowley is actually talking about Aziraphale when he delivers that iconic line. Unlike Burbage, Aziraphale is old, very, very old, and we know that he has a penchant for custom, wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music for century upon century. Yet here is this precious angel being a cheerful little peanut gallery of one, continuing to surprise the demon after all this time. Neither age nor custom has staled Aziraphale’s infinite variety.

When Shakespeare commits the line to a play written 1606-1607, a few years after this event, Crowley will recognize his own sentiment about Aziraphale issuing from Antony’s mouth about Cleopatra. The actual historical events will not have left much of an impression, but the immortalization of his own admiration of the angel in human romantic fiction will have.

It must be mentioned that Antony & Cleopatra is a tragedy, where the star-crossed lovers are kept apart by warring factions that demand loyalty to the state at the preclusion of each other.

There are also some (as far as I can tell) nearly copy-paste plot points from Romeo & Juliet about a misunderstood faked suicide followed by actual suicide and the lovers dying in each others’ arms. It does not have a happy ending. Anthony Crowley deliberately choosing his “Christian name” from this play embodies not only his deep love but his hopelessness that he can ever get the happily ever after he desires.

In Summary

Crowley was an admirer, in one respect or another, of Mark Anthony, though he relied more heavily on Shakespeare’s portrayal and reimagining of the character than Aziraphale gives due credit. Nevertheless, the difference…

Wait a minute…

What’s that?

Is that…

A piece of canon evidence that completely undermines my argument??

This screenshot will only be visible to Tumblr users (sorry Ao3), but at some point we get a good look at the Mona Lisa sketch that Crowley has hanging in his apartment. It is signed (translated from Italian) “To my friend Anthony from your friend Leo da V.”

The problem with this is, the Mona Lisa was painted 100 years before Shakespeare penned Antony & Cleopatra.

However, Neil Gaiman reblogged this transcription and translation, posing the hypothetical, “I wonder if Crowley knows what the A in A.Z. Fell stands for.”

Could it be that the Notorious NRG is jerking us around and sending us on wild goose chases? Absolutely a possibility. But. Let’s give a little grace for a moment, and assume that this comment was made in good faith. A bold assumption, I know. But humor me.

We know that Crowley and Aziraphale both knew Jane Austen, but from completely different perspectives. It stands to reason that Crowley knew da Vinci the scientist, but that Antonio Fell knew Leo da V., an artist with a heart that yearned for an unavailable lover. I’m just making wild conjecture that Lisa Gherardini (aka Mona Lisa), the wife of Florentine cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo, was a love interest of da Vinci, but it could be true in the GO universe and would make for a great story.

Aziraphale also collects signed items from famous people; the inscribed books of Professor Hoffman to a wonderful student, and the S.W. Erdnase book, signed with his real name, come to mind. The Mona Lisa draft fits in much better with that collection of souvenirs than with anything in Crowley’s apartment. So it stands to reason that it could actually be addressed to Aziraphale.

There remains the question of how or why Crowley has it, but I won’t subject that to speculation here. All to say. Neil Gaiman’s implication-by-redirect is… possible. So let’s assume that it is the case, just for a moment.

If the Mona Lisa sketch is signed to “Antonio” Fell, then this allows the above theory regarding Crowley’s self-naming to remain intact. But it brings up a few questions regarding Aziraphale, not the least of which is: why did he name himself Antonio/Anthony?

Part 3: Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony was the chosen name of a Portuguese monk, taken upon joining the Fransican order. Anthony rose to prominence in the 13th century as a celebrated orator, delivering impassioned and eloquent sermons. He is also associated with some fish symbolism, since he preached at the shore and fish gathered to listen. He was, incidentally, a lover of books:

Anthony had a book of psalms that contained notes and comments to help when teaching students and, in a time when a printing press was not yet invented, he greatly valued it.

When a novice decided to leave the hermitage, he stole Anthony's valuable book. When Anthony discovered it was missing, he prayed it would be found or returned to him. The thief did return the book and in an extra step returned to the Order as well.

The book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna today. [source: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=24]

This miraculous incident, wherein the thief not only returns a valuable book but also has a change of heart and returns to the bosom of organized religion, smacks of angelic intervention. But that is neither here nor there.

Saint Anthony is the Patron Saint of the Lost, and is prayed to by those seeking to recover lost things. What is “lost” in this context is usually an item, rather than a person or an intangible concept, however he is also “credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods,” such as faith. [Edit: @tsilvy helpfully contributes that "Here in Italy Sant'Antonio is commonly not just the saint patron of lost things, but, maybe primarily, the saint patron of lost *causes*."] He died at the age of 35, and in artwork is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus.

It’s a defensible position that the thing that gives Aziraphale the most consternation across the millennia is Crowley’s loss of his angelic status, and it could even be framed such that Aziraphale does not consider Crowley actually fallen, but rather simply lost. It is a fact that he finds difficult to reconcile and, depending on your reading of the Final Fifteen, the offer to restore Crowley’s angelic status is one that is so pivotal to resolving his internal conflict that he cannot refuse. If this conflict is so central for Aziraphale, perhaps he did name himself after a booklover and the patron saint of lost things, hoping that the name would carry with it some of the power of the blessing, and return Crowley to the light, and in turn, to him.

But wait.

Because I googled “St Anthony” to look for some images and….

St. Anthony of the Desert

I shit you not there are multiple St. Antonies and we’re going to talk about another one of them with respect to Aziraphale because this guy is bonkers. The story traces to the Vitae Patrum, yet another fringe biblical text and I cannot even get a quick answer on whether it is canon or apocrypha because it’s so fringe. Anyways. I think the best way to explain St. Anthony of the Desert comes from the wikipedia page on the Desert Fathers:

Sometime around AD 270, Anthony heard a Sunday sermon stating that perfection could be achieved by selling all of one's possessions, giving the proceeds to the poor, and following Jesus. He followed the advice and made the further step of moving deep into the desert to seek complete solitude.

[He] became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.

Let’s all agree that this guy is not Aziraphale; this whole becoming an ascetic and living alone in the middle of a desert thing? Not his cuppertea. But St. Anthony is interesting not just for his decision to go into the desert, but what happened when he got there.

The Torment of St Anthony is a 15th century painting commonly attributed to Michaelangelo. It depicts demons crawling all over and attacking a hermit.

But the first round of demons are scraping the bottom of the barrel, practically the damned. Anthony’s journey continues and he meets another demon. Actually he meets two; a centaur, who is not very helpful, and then a satyr who is. It is much easier to find paintings of St. Anthony and the Centaur than of St. Anthony and the Satyr, so you don’t get an image, but I find the satyr to be a much more interesting character, so you get that story instead:

Anthony found next the satyr, "a manikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats's feet." This creature was peaceful and offered him fruits, and when Anthony asked who he was, the satyr replied, "I'm a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles, deluded by various forms of error, worship under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you in our behalf to entreat the favor of your Lord and ours, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'" Upon hearing this, Anthony was overjoyed and rejoiced over the glory of Christ. He condemned the city of Alexandria for worshiping monsters instead of God while beasts like the satyr spoke about Christ.

St. Anthony, then, is entreated by a demon to ask forgiveness from God upon the demons, and St. Anthony, seemingly, agrees to do it. He’s overjoyed to ask God to forgive demons. In connection to my analysis of the origins of the Metatron, and how Aziraphale and Crowley’s potential beef with him is that, as a human put in the exact same situation, he did the opposite, refusing to take the demon’s petition for mercy to God but instead taking it upon himself to confirm their unforgivability (yes that’s a word now) and damnation.

That seems like it would be pretty important to Aziraphale.

In Summary

I give up. I have no idea what’s going on with this show anymore. Here are two options each for both of our ineffable husbands to have given themselves the same God-blessed/damned name. You guys tell me what you think, I just have a pile of evidence and no spoons to evaluate it.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #anthony j crowley

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room-surprise · 9 days

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Man, everyone is always talking about how Kabru is wearing eye makeup, but you guys understand that he is just naturally heart-stoppingly gorgeous right? He's probably not wearing any makeup, he's South Asian and he has naturally long, dark lashes, and a delicate, feminine face. He's a beautiful man! He'd look radiant even naked and covered in mud.

He's the type of beautiful that people write poetry about and start wars over!

This is just canon. It's shown and told to us multiple times and ways. People see him and swoon on sight, even when he's barely trying. Even when he's dirty and tired, even when they are hardened warriors and spies. And it's implied that he can and does do this sort of thing regularly... He has a whole flock of women that he's charmed.

And it's not like Dungeon Meshi has sameface syndrome. There's plenty of other men that don't look like Kabru. Kabru's meant to be very, very beautiful. AND on top of that, he's also insanely charismatic and genuinely good at reading people, figuring out what they want, and finding ways to give it to them that makes them like and trust him. He manages to do it within minutes of meeting Daya's hostile, jealous fiancee.

He's a Cleopatra, an Alexander the Great, a Caesar. If he was in a war he'd go out with 10 soldiers and come back with 20 because he convinced the enemy to defect and join his mission.

He's not perfect but he's damn close. His biggest flaw, Kui explicitly tells us, is not having enough experience, and specifically not knowing enough about monsters. The first will naturally be fixed as time passes, and the second.... well, it isn't a problem as long as he's not in a dungeon, which is 99% of his life....

#im not going to tag this because i don't want to get into fights #though hopefully nothing i'm saying here should be wildly controversial #im just like. why is everyone obsessed with the idea that he cant look like that naturally? he does.#kui has shown us repeatedly that some characters DO wear makeup #he's not one of them!#that doesn't mean he CAN'T wear makeup or that it's impossible...#but I think if she meant for him to be wearing makeup Kui would ABSOLUTELY have told us. she loves that topic!!!#kabru has the skill to be charismatic #and the luck to be drop-dead-gorgeous which helps him utilize that charisma. if he weren't this pretty he'd just have to work harder #but I don't think that would stop him. Hard work is his defining characteristic.#anyway justice for kabru being a beautiful handsome man who is still masculine

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historical-kitten · 25 days

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Women of the Late Republic of Rome & Early Roman Empire on a Modern Date

Cornelia Cinnae

She is absolutely lovely and a sweet soul. The kind of woman you would give up a dowry, your inheritance, and your priesthood for even under the threat of violence. Her ideal date is a tour through a large, public garden. If you end up together, you'll stay together since she inspires that kind of devotion.

Calpurnia

'Stand by your partner' is her motto. Feeling like being Emperor? No problem. She will support you! She'll also finance your date and take you to a public festival to show off your relationship. (Watch out for nearly naked men with crowns.) If she happens to have a weird dream, just listen to her, okay?

Servilia Caepionis

She will take you to a remote, romantic place with candles and gauzy curtains. Dinner AND breakfast will be in bed. The conversation is stimulating, she's beautiful and intelligent, and she knows all the best gossip in town. She will send love notes to your Senate meetings/workplace during the day.

Fulvia Flacca Bambula

She tends to prefer handsome individuals, but once she's loyal to you, she'll be your Ride or Die. (And she doesn't care who has to die to get what you both deserve.) Date wise, Fulvia would enjoy something active and exciting. Take her to a sporting event, a Ninja Warrior competition, an escape room, or go on a hike. She'd love to follow that with a sumptuous dinner and the severed heads of your enemies laid before you in time to enjoy dessert.

Livia Drusilla

Much like Fulvia, this woman is an ideal partner for those who want power. Unlike Fulvia, she's subtle about it. Livia is clever, influential, and could be the perfect politician's wife. Due to her work ethic, she could use a relaxing spa date that includes a massage. Don't worry, the poisoning thing is only a rumor. (And doesn't everyone deserve better than Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus?)

Octavia Minor

An absolute sweetheart, she is the kindest of the bunch and "a marvel of womankind." Octavia loves the arts, so heading to an art museum, a play, or even a poetry reading would be appreciated. This woman will literally go to the ends of the earth for you--including Athens after you finish a terrible military campaign. She's the complete package, but keep two things in mind. One: she comes with children and most likely will adopt more. Two: she also comes with her brother Octavian/Augustus as a possible new in-law.

Porcia Catonis Brutus

Affectionate and intelligent, she's a deeply loyal choice. She will remind you of your good qualities and keep you on the correct path so long as you trust her with your burdens. She will even support your need for a political assassination. Her ideal date may actually be a masquerade ball. You get to dress up, dance, wear masks, and it would really be a perfect time for a side meeting of similarly inclined couples. (Possibly Junia Tertia could come with her partner, for instance.)

Clodia Metelli

Her ideal date involves listening to you read her poetry and then a nice picnic outside. She enjoys discussing philosophy as well as every political player in town. She's charming and experienced, just don't expect it to last or you'll end up like Catullus.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopater

Her charm is famous throughout multiple lands and her wisdom and prowess equally lauded. Not only is she a brilliant politician, she is interested in science, the arts, and can speak over seven languages. Cleo is an amazing partner and her love is worthy of fighting a civil war over. Seriously. As far as dates, she would enjoy a scenic, luxury cruise on the river. Just beware that once you have her in your life, you will be unwilling to live without her.

Julia the Elder/Julia Caesaris filia

She is a very passionate woman who loves literature, culture, and a good nightlife. If you take her on a date, expect to either go for a night of pub crawling or to a fancy cocktail party complete with glittering outfits. Julia wants a good time, but her kindness and empathy are famous, as are her quick wit and rebellious ways. She is worthy of getting yourself exiled or worse over.

Type of post originated by @just-late-roman-republic-things

So many wonderful women to choose from, it was difficult! I just didn't want to have too many choices... Maybe a part two? Junia Tertia, Tullia, Pompeia, Atia, Julia Antonia, Attica are just a few others I wanted to include.

Also Cleopatra was involved with the Late Republic of Rome so I included her even if she is obviously not Roman herself.

Please reblog if you want and definitely vote for the girl bosses.

#ancient roman memes #classics memes #ancient roman women #i wrote woman romen twice. should not be doing this without sleep #women's history #ancient women #ancient Ptolemaic women #ancient rome #ancient egypt

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wht-am-i-doin · 2 months

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Driver's Ranked by Year

Ok, this is going to be a long one because I don't want to spam, so everybody buckle up

Disclaimer: This is not my personal ranking of the ships, this is purely based on how I view the historical event that takes place in the year that the numbers make up. I will happily further explain any of the events, my analysis of the events with the ship, and why I ranked them that way if anybody is interested. I tried to get a variety, but I am better with western history so there is more of skew towards western history. I have used both CE and BCE years to create more variety. As with everything with RPF, I do not believe any of these drivers are together and this is all in good fun, if you don't want to view it as ships view them as teammates! All images are pulled from google.

okie dokie here we go, Hope you enjoy!!

*means that it is in the area of that time period and do not have exact date or may occur over multiple years

1. Maxiel - 31 BCE

Jesus was crucified in 31 BCE

2. Simi - 75 BCE

Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates and demanded a higher ransom in order to be saved

3. Lestappen - 1633 CE

Galileo was convicted of Heresy for saying the earth goes around the sun

4. Brocedes - 644 CE

Zenkoji temple is built by Empress Kogyoku

5. Zhou + Mick - *4724 BCE

Earliest form of photo-writing in history

6. Yukierre - ~2210 BCE

Hale Bopp comet is seen and won't be seen again until 1997 CE, about 4,000 years later

7. Landoscar - ~814 BCE

Homer was born

8. Fernando + Esteban - 1431 CE

Joan of Arc is burned at the stake

9. Zhou + Valtteri - ~7724 BCE

Tollmann's hypothetical bolide which led to global cataclysm, i.e. the great flood

10. Loscar - ~812 BCE

Olmecs began to build their pyramids, earliest pyramids from mesoamerica

11. Lewis + Charles - 1644 CE

one of eight years to contain each roman numeral once- MDCLXIV

12. Oscar + Zhou - ~2481 BCE

Construction of Stonehenge

13. Esteban + Pierre - ~3110 BCE

Narmer reigns and unifies Egypt for the first time

14. Carlos + Max - 551 BCE

Confucius was born

15. Sewis - 544 BCE

Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, was born

16. Esteban + Lance - 1831 CE

Victor Hugo publishes the Hunchback of Notre Dame in Paris

17. George + Lewis - ~6344 BCE

Great Britain and Ireland separated from the main land and became Islands

18. Oscar + Max - 181 CE

Lake Taupo Volcano erupts in New Zealand and is seen in both China and Rome

19. Max + Lewis - 441 BCE

Sophocles writes Antigone, one of the first greek tragedies

20. Lewis + Valtteri - ~7744 BCE

Agriculture starts to develop in the Americas

21. Fernando + Lance - 1814 CE

The Great Stock exchange fraud is exposed in London

22. Logan + Alex - 232 BCE

Gaius Flaminius distributes land to Plebians after the Punic Wars in the North

23. Lando + Daniel - 43 CE

Roman conquest of Britain

24. Lando + Max - 41 BCE

Mark Antony meets Cleopatra VII

25. Charles + Pierre - 1610 CE

Tragedy of Macbeth's first performance

26. Nico + Kevin - ~2027 BCE

The Epic of Gilgamesh is written

27. Galex - ~2363 BCE

Hekla 4 eruption with a VEI 5, explosive eruptions, but nobody was hurt

28. Charles + Lando - 164 BCE

Halley's Comet makes its appearance, occurs once every 75 years

29. Checo + Max - 111 BCE

Spartacus was born

30. George + Lando - 634 CE

The Siege of Damascus

31. Carlando - 455 CE

King Generic sacks Rome

32. Charles + Carlos - 1655 CE

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered

33. Charles + Sebastian - 165 CE

Antonine plague decimated the Roman Empire and China

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whencyclopedia · 1 month

Photo

Cleopatra & Antony

Regarded by the Romans as “fatale monstrum”- a fatal omen, Cleopatra is one of the ancient world's most popular, though elusive figures. The Egyptian Queen has been immortalized by numerous writers and film-makers, most popularly by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra, and by Hollywood in Cleopatra (1963) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The latter work features the memorable image of the enticing young Cleopatra emerging gracefully from an unfurled carpet in front of Roman general Julius Caesar. But is Cleopatra to be regarded merely as the lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony? Or did she play an important role not only in the history of Egypt, but also in that of the mighty Roman Republic?

Cleopatra VII Philopator ('father-loving') was born in January 69 BCE in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes (117 BCE –51 BCE) and possibly Cleopatra V Tryphaena (c. 95 BCE – c. 57 BCE). Cleopatra was to become the last monarch of the Ptolemaic Empire (established in 323 BCE after the death of Alexander the Great), ruling Egypt from 51 BCE to 30 BCE. In 48 BCE Cleopatra had become an ally and lover of Julius Caesar and remained so until his assassination in Rome in March of 44 BCE. The death of Caesar threw Rome into turmoil, with various factions competing for control, the most important of these being the armies of Mark Antony (83 BCE– 30 BCE) and Octavian (63 BCE – 14 CE), the former a supporter and loyal friend Caesar, the latter his adopted son.

Cleopatra Meets Antony

In 41 BC Cleopatra was summoned to Tarsus (in modern southern Turkey) by Mark Antony. She is said to have entered the city by sailing up the Cydnus River in a decorated barge with purple sails, while dressed in the robes of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Antony, who equated himself with the god Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, was instantly won over. Much like the meeting between Cleopatra and Caesar, both sides saw something in the other which they needed. For Cleopatra it was another opportunity to achieve power both in Egypt and in Rome, for Anthony the support of Rome's largest and wealthiest client states in his campaign against the might of the Parthians (Parthia was a region in modern north-eastern Iran) was highly desirable. At the meeting Cleopatra allegedly requested that her half-sister Arsinoë, living in protection at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, be executed to prevent any future attempts on her throne. Anthony and Cleopatra soon became allies and lovers and he returned with her to Alexandria in 40 BCE.

In Alexandria Cleopatra and Antony formed a society of “inimitable livers”, which some historians have interpreted as an excuse to lead a life of debauchery, though it was more likely to have been a group dedicated to the cult of the mystical god Dionysus. In that year Cleopatra bore Antony the twins Alexander Helios (the Sun) and Cleopatra Selene (the Moon).

#History #BattleofActium #CleopatraVII #MarkAntony #WHE #[#]

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theonevoice · 4 months

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Quick off-fandom intermission to share with you visual proves of what happens if you try to go for a coffee on Chariots Sunday during the Carnevale in Italy: you meet

a gang of Luigis,

Cleopatra and Julius Caesar planning a sushi dinner with an escaped prisoner,

a king in full armor enjoying a drink with someone who introduced themselves as "Generic Blonde Prince",

two (of a group of eight) NASA astronauts complaining because their Shuttle inspired chariot was seized by the Police on the account of the tractor not having all the required documents,

Kenshiro, 10/10, no notes.

Bonus:

The Last Supper: they were actually eating, there was real food up there.

I will never forgive myself for failing to take a picture of the tractor driver, who was dressed as an angel with a blonde curly wig and sunglasses.

#pure chaos #italian carnival

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brother-emperors · 1 year

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dies vitiosus

antony's birthday was technically yesterday, but we can do it a day late.

so the 14th was antony's birthday, which also highlights my favorite part of the octavian-antony divorce arc:

During this time and still earlier the Romans at home had passed many resolutions in honour of Caesar's naval victory. Thus they granted him a triumph, as over Cleopatra, an arch adorned with trophies at Brundisium and another in the Roman Forum. Moreover, they decreed that the foundation of the shrine of Julius should be adorned with the beaks of the captured ships and that a festival should be held every four years in honour of Octavius; that there should also be a thanksgiving on his birthday and on the anniversary of the announcement of his victory; also that when he should enter the city the Vestal Virgins and the senate and the people with their wives and children should go out to meet him. But it would be quite superfluous to go on and mention the prayers, the images, the privilege of the front seat, and all the other honours of the sort. At the beginning, then, they not only voted him these honours but also either took down or effaced the memorials of Antony, declared the day on which he had been born accursed, and forbade the use of the surname Marcus by any of his kind.

Cassius Dio 51.19

cheers! the speech balloon is empty on purpose, personally I'm imagining a version of the break up speech from octavian-octavia-antony divorce arc from the french cleopatra musical, feel free to imagine whatever melodrama makes you happiest!

society6 | ko-fi | twitter (pillowfort, cohost) | deviantart

#octavian #mark antony #roman empire tag #erugh. empires. what a bunch of motherfuckers #god throw back to when i cared about antony on a personal level and remembered all of his important life dates #literally now i could not tell you the year he died if you asked me now #tbh the only dates i really keep track of are like. the pazzi conspiracy assassination. mabini's life dates. also cassius #but the thing about cassius is that he died on the same date he was born and that was sexy of him #drawing tag

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annachum · 1 year

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Julius Caesar may be Cleopatra's sugar daddy

But Cleopatra is so rich from her Princess to Queen to Pharoah Regent of Egypt status that she can sugar mommy him right back

I don't make the rules

#cleopatra #julius caesar #caesar spoiling cleo with expensive gifts big romantic gestures and extravagances?#yeah that sounds like sugar daddy to me #i googled cleo's age gaps with caesar and mark antony #and it seems that cleo likes older men #i know that caesar and cleo never had a sugar daddy like deal #but still #asterix #anyway caesar literally had a statue of her and their son built in temple of venus on 46 bc venus day aka april 1st #and she was so moved she cried in his arms out of overwhelm for some time #venus day is ancient roman Valentine's day #in mansions of the gods he had that hotel built in dedication of her and also as an invasion plan #and i think cleo is pregnamt with their kid in mansions of the gods #lol she defo found out about that eventually #but she just decided to keep mum for shits and giggles later #lets not forget that she rolled out of a carpet in front of him during their first meeting #AND THAT MAN IS GOOONEEEEE BABY #and then in asterix the crystal menhir the whole invasion drama on thule is literally caesar trying to get her that big Crystal as a gift

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goddess-mixmi · 4 months

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Battle Tendency Oc’s

Doing a bit of a reposts of my part 2 oc’s ( will do fan kids again)

Normani Artemis DeNile

Born October 25th (Scorpio) stands about 199 cm tall with the pillar mode of Psychokinesis, the ability to move things with her mind and enchantress like abilities. She is the Queen of her own pillar colony in northern Africa now known as Egypt in a sanctuary,she earned the nickname “Artemis the enchanted” from humans who sought to learn from her. She had two brothers but they’ve left and started their own families once their parents died and because she married Kars. Her and Kars relationship has a mutual understanding but he was far too obsessed with finding the stone to truly pay attention to her feelings. Before he left on his quest she fell pregnant gave birth while he was gone. Montero and Sza who were months apart. When he returned he apologized for his long absence and finally shows her the outside world but also used her to get back the stone from Lisa Lisa. Feeling betrayed she refused to help him any longer and decided to leave soon her colony advanced to its tribes she rules over ( Wakanda is my inspo). The great DeNile Ancestor is what she became. In a Au she ended up having four other children that was gradually raised by Kars too.

Selena Bia Rosa

Born April 9th ( aries) stands about 199cm tall and is the wife of Esidisi, her pillar mode is stone goddess which is the ability to harden her skin to that of stone. Her and Kars are natural enemies since the day they met as kids. She is the warrior of the tribe settled in Mexico and was supposed to become warrior chief like her dad was but when she returned home everyone was killed except for you young cousin Santana, little Wammu, her husband and Kars. Finding out they caused the massacre she was angry. Later down the line she met Normani and the two have been best friends ever since and Selena birthed Camila. She always warned Normani of how selfish Kars was. During BT she is unable to fight due to finding out once again she was pregnant with her sons Luis and Ozuna. She ends up leaving with Normani and became the leader of the mining tribe in the colony. She also found out about her brother continuing the Rosa lineage once she met her descendant Angelina Rosa.

Here’s a visual of her pillar mode

Amara

Born in the month of February stands about 6’3, the love pillar. She is Queen Normani’s one and only trusted advisor in her royal court, has helped her rule when her parents passed and encouraged her to pursue a life of love and happiness with Kars and ensures her that she may have a few obstacles in the way but love will prevail. She most definitely the Cupid of the pillar men species and wise beyond her years, she dies palm readings to predict future love lives for others. She is able to grow winds on her back and has specialized arrows made of light that can affect the emotions of the person hit with them and regular arrows as well.

Cleopatra DeNile- Speedwagon

Daughter of Robert E.O. Speedwagon and Rosemary DeNile, her mother died giving birth to her leaving Speedwagon to raise her on his own until he met his husband Winston. She was born a Virgo on August 31st 1918 and as a little girl she never too hamon training seriously until she was sent to learn from Lisa Lisa. She has a crush on Caesar Zeppeli but jokes around too much to be taken seriously by him. She only found out recently about her pillar man ancestral connections when meeting Normani during the fight to achieve the stone. Once Speedwagon dies she runs the foundation alongside her husband Ceaser. She has more closer connections to my 21st century Denile linage.

Here is Magnoila ( already posted her)

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a-world-of-whimsy-5 · 2 years

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ʚ Pairing: Prince Nuada x Female Reader (First person POV)

ʚ Themes: Soft | Fluff | Supernatural | Slow Burn

ʚ Warnings: Kissing | Mention of creature death / euthanasia

ʚ Disclaimer: I don’t own the original image in this edit.

ʚ Author’s notes: Elven year Elven thousand and fifty three (Our year 2020. I just made this up for the story.)

In the elven year of eleven thousand and fifty-three, a great war raged between mortals and the children of the earth. This war was terrible, for it brought with it the awakening of the Golden Army. Seventy times seventy strong, these mechanical warriors hacked and slashed through the armies of men until King Balor, thinking there had been enough bloodshed, called for a truce before unarmed civilians fell under the blade of his army.

The agreement, mediated by members of BPRD, went like this: Humans would stick to their cities, and the forests would be allowed to flourish for the children of the earth. This was later extended to include abandoned tracks and parks. Only the threat of the Golden Army kept the humans from breaking the truce, and lasting peace was finally achieved. Part of this agreement also included an exchange of hostages to live with hosts on the other side.

I, y/n, was part of the exchange, and I had been sent to live with Crown Prince Nuada. The prince balked at my presence, begrudging even the food I ate, muttering barbs just loud enough for me to hear and avoiding me as much as he could. It hurt, but there was nothing I could do but wait out the allotted five years, and you had barely been with him for two months. Not knowing what else to do, I stayed out of his way, only leaving my rooms when I had to eat or go to work. Mister Wink, bless him, accompanied me to and from the office. Truth be told, I found him to be better company than his more eloquent friend. Mister Wink was fascinated by everything above ground, from hawks dipping and diving between buildings to the phone I was holding. While I was reading on the subway, I noticed him peering over my shoulder. I brought books to teach him to read after stopping at a nearby bookstore.

That’s when I noticed the first change in Nuada, after I bought those books. I’d feel his eyes on me whenever I taught Mister Wink how to read, but he said nothing, preferring to stick to the shadows while the two of us carried on.

A second change came not long after that. The prince would now have a greeting for me if I ran into him in the corridors. He even joined me and Mister Wink at the kitchen table for meals, but I kept my head down every time. That second shift gave way to a third, and that was something I didn’t notice until I was in his library one evening.

"Y/n."

The prince had been behind me, watching me while I was studying a stone table in its very own glass case. I mumbled an apology and moved to the side, hoping he wasn’t provoked by my being here. After seeing all the artefacts, books, and paintings in this room, I was starting to understand why he didn’t want anyone in here.

There were no scoldings. No reprimands, just a simple: "There is no reason for you to apologize." Nuada tilted my chin, his grip surprisingly warm and gentle. He then gestured for me to go back to the tablet. "This was from the library of Alexandria." He pointed to a seal at the bottom left of the tablet. "It is one of the last edicts of Cleopatra. The Cleopatra."

Woah. The Cleopatra he said. "Did you meet her?" He nodded. "What was she like?"

"Ordinary looking. Place her here, in modern clothes, on a busy street in New York, and you would not be able to make her out from the crowd. But," Nuada paused for effect. "She more than made up for it with her wit and intelligence."

I go back to the stone table and think. Nuada was over eight thousand years old. How much would he have seen in his long life? "But she backed Mark Anthony," I said, "and not Caesar’s rightful heir. That's not very smart."

He simply shrugged. "She was a mother looking out for the interests of her child. The dearest friend of Caesar was her best bet. Octavian had to kill Caesarion to protect his own claim. That was how it was back then."

"If you ask me, it seems like a very violent time," I shuddered.

Nuada thought otherwise, he had seen enough to do so. "Has much changed since then? Look at your news." Nuada gestured to the door and, beyond that, the little room Mister Wink used to watch TV. "Violence and bloodshed, pain and suffering, sometimes caused by people simply for the sheer joy of it all."

That gave me pause. "We haven't changed much, have we?"

"No," Nuada said. "Neither have we." He looked back out, to the little TV room. He grinned when he heard Mister Wink laugh at something. "He speaks very highly of you, our Mister Wink. He says you are very nice to him."

"Not many people are nice to trolls?" I’d heard all the stories, about how trolls were treated as just hired muscle with very little to commend them, and how the prince was one of the few to treat them with any decency. He and his twin, of course.

Nuada shook his head. "Many see his kind as the, what was that mortal word?" He stopped to think before his eyes lit up. "Oh yes. Knuckle-draggers of our races. As simple-minded savages, remnants of a primitive time, and nothing more than that."

That was indeed a horrible way of thinking, but then I remembered how he behaved towards me. "But you're no different from them," I said quietly. "Remember, the things you called me during my first few days here?"

Nuada bit his tongue and nodded. He had been cruel, as his sister made it clear when he called on her to ask her advice on an important matter. She said that nothing was going to happen in his little quest unless he changed. "And I have no excuses for it. Only a sincere apology. You were frightened and dependent on me, and I was just a boor to you. Y/n," when I backed away, he reached for me like I was a skittish horse, contenting himself with holding my hands. "I am so sorry, for everything. Could this be a new start for us? I promise to do everything within my power to make amends."

There was strength in those hands and a great deal of gentleness too. Strange that these hands, hands that have spilt a great deal of blood over the centuries, could be so... so... soft and tender, as if they only moved to protect, not to hurt. And that apology. It was simple and may not have meant much to others, but coming from someone as proud and cold as him, it mattered a great deal. He wanted another chance. Should I give him another chance? Or should I walk away, and fight for reassignment elsewhere? Surely the BPRD would consider it.

Fingers brushing hair off my eyes sent a jolt down my spine, made my skin tingle and my mouth go dry. Then there were his eyes. They were looking at me in a way they had never done before. There was something there, something I couldn't put a finger on, but it drew me in all the same. When I moved, he moved on instinct. "Please, y/n." Nuada was just a hair's breadth away from me. If he moved any closer, his lips would be pressing against mine.

Would that be so bad? Him kisisng me? "Yes?" I felt a little light-headed and dizzy, and I didn’t know what to make of it, until my eyes moved to his. The way he was looking at me, my mouth. "One chance." He didn’t move any further than that, but he bit his lip, as if lost in thought. "Please."

I think, and think and think. I wanted to say no, but something was stopping me from saying so. I wanted to shake his hands off and walk away, but my feet were rooted to the spot. My gut was practically screaming at me, to give him a chance. That I won’t regret it.

Oh, to hell with it. I nodded and said yes, and he smiled, really smiled, his face radiant like the sun.

✨✨✨

Things grew easier after that. He’d ask me about everything, listening to what I had to say. He wanted to know about my work, my friends, the boss who was obsessed with mythology, and my favourite coffee shop down the road.

He’d talk about his family in turn, his sister especially, and his father. King Balon was busy, but he always found time for his children. Even the simple notes he sent held so much love in each word, and Nuada had saved everything.

He joined in on the English lessons, helping me and calming Mister Wink when he complained and called it a language from the bowels of hell. He’d take me to the troll market, buying little trinkets for me, rare books. He took to reading a chapter to me every night after dinner, and I looked forward to that, listening to him. I realised I could listen to him for hours. Sometimes my mind would drift to the day he apologized and how close he was to me. What if he had actually kissed me? Simply pressed his lips to mine and pulled the breath right out of me. Nuada would see the wistful looks in my eyes, put the book away with a grin, and I’d blush before groaning and curling into my chair. Nuada said nothing, but he’d escort me to my rooms and kiss my hands before vanishing. I’d be left standing there, my skin still warm where his lips touched and a sigh escaping my lips.

My dread of him gave way to something else, something gentler and sweeter. It was there when he greeted me in the morning and again in the evening, when he searched for me after coming home. It was there when he read to me at night or when he took my hand in his. This feeling grew and grew, like a wave that threatened to drown me.

One night, when I went to call him for a late-night coffee, I found Nuada in the sparring yard, training. He moved lightning quick, so fast I could barely see him in the flickering light. A spear glinted menacingly in his hands. One strike and ropes as thick as arms were severed like thin strings. A second, and a puddle was struck. A third, and some of the water droplets that were flung into the air were sliced clean through the center. Nuada was lithe and deadly, like poetry in motion. I thought he looked magnificent.

"Y/n," he paused before tossing his spear onto a nearby rack, a shy grin tugging at his lips. This was the first time I had seen him train. "This is a pleasant distraction."

“I just came to say coffee is ready." My eyes lingered on the scars that were all too visible on his chest. Nuada’s life had been one of war and violence, and I was seeing the evidence of it for the first time. Beyond that, he was incredibly handsome, the sort of handsome I’d only hear of in poetry and song. My cheeks grew hot when I realised I had been staring. "Sorry."

My chin was tilted so my eyes would be level with his. "There is nothing for you to say sorry for."

He looked at me, a finger of his tracing a line across my cheek. There’s something different in the air, something different in me, pulling me to him, making me stand on the tips of his toes. I heard a soft outtake of breath, and then he leaned in, his lips brushing against me like soft feathers. When my mouth opened to his, the sweetness of him poured down my throat, threatening to drown me and sweep me away with the tide. It brought out a fire that frightened me, but when he held me, all my fears melted away in the strength of his embrace. My name came out like a whisper and something took root, something I couldn't explain. When he pulled away, he left me stunned and breathless. That’s when I heard coughing. Someone had walked in on us both. "Mister Wink," Nuada said, his arm still around my waist, his face half buried in my hair. If he didn't care about being found out, then I wouldn’t let it bother me either. "Are we late?"

There was a series of grunts and snarls, something to do with a tooth fairy trying to turn the kitchen into its personal hotel. "Have I lived here too long?" I listened to what the troll was saying. There were more complaints about said tooth fairy trying to force open the deep freezer so it could get at the spare ribs Mister Wink had been saving for a midnight snack. "Because he’s starting to make sense."

His chest rumbled when he chuckled in my hair. "Mister Wink makes perfect sense." Nuada grinned. "But only if you care enough to listen. Wait here. I will not be long."

When it comes down to it, anywhere away from the direct range of a tooth fairy was perfect for me. "I’ll stay right here."

One more kiss, and he was gone.

And within a few minutes there was an epic commotion, lots of yelling and swearing, of pots falling and plates shattering. When it finally grew quiet, too quiet for my liking, I gulped and made my way back inside, to the kitchen.

It looked like a hurricane had gone off. The entire kitchen was a disaster. Bowls were upturned, fruits were scattered all over, and there was Mister Wink, holding onto a trap cage for dear life. The cage rattled violently while its occupant fought hard to escape. "Here." Nuada came over with a thick towel that smelled of something strange. "Wrap this around the cage."

The rattling stopped as soon as the towel went around the cage, and they breathed a sigh of relief. "Such a tiny thing and such a mess," I murmured as I surveyed the damage. The tooth fairy may have been tiny, but the destruction it caused was something else. If one of them could destroy so much, what could hundreds do? "Is it dead?"

Nuada peaked inside. "Just knocked out. Mister Wink will take it to the BPRD. They will handle it."

Tooth fairies were too dangerous to be released. The wars resulted in them developing a taste for human flesh and bone, and all captured fairies were sent to the BPRD to be euthanized. "Of course," I said as I knelt to peer into the cage. I had never seen a tooth fairy befor, all I had were horror stories from survivors. "Not too close." Nuada held out a hand, holding me back. "The smell of you might wake it up."

I stayed where I was and looked in. Sure enough, the tooth fairy was knocked out, a piece of meat still in its hands. "Better in there than out here." I shuddered as I stood up. "And they can just get in?"

"If there is a way in, yes." Nuada took the cage, with the towel still around it. "Take this to Abe." He told Mister Wink. "Check the vents for any holes when you get back. And leave this mess." He gestured to the disaster zone that was the kitchen. "We will clean it in the morning. Let the others sleep."

"Is Mister Wink alright?" I kept a safe distance from the cage. "Are you alright?"

Nuada brushed off paint chips that had fallen onto my hair. "More than all right. Come with me." He took my hand and led me out of the kitchen. "There is something I would like to show you."

✨✨✨

On and on we walked, through winding passages and corridors, through one doorway and onto the next. There were torches everywhere, but the rooms and hallways grew barer and rockier and darker the further we went. It felt like we were going deeper underground, but to what?

"And here we are." Nuada stopped in front of a pair of thick teak doors, twice the height of even Mister Wink.

There was a loud creak when the doors were pushed open. "Where are we?"

He lit a torch and led the way in. "You will see."

It was too dark to walk around. I followed the light, watching Nuada as he lit tapers and little torches built into thick rock walls. There was moonlight seeping in through cracks I couldn’t see, but their light wasn’t enough. Then I turned around, my breath nearly dying in my throat.

It was a large indoor garden, the likes of which I had never seen before. Flowers. There were flowers everywhere, all rare and unknown. The floor was covered in soft grass and moss, and there was an actual rose tree in the center of the cavernous room. "What is that?"

"That is the crown rose tree." Nuada led me to it, let me walk around it. "The emblem of my clan. There are only three of these trees in existence."

His was the youngest, he said. The second oldest was at his father’s court, and the oldest, the mother tree, grew wild, deep within the caves of Bethmoora. Even the presence of the Golden Army did not affect it. The elves saw it as a good omen, he said, and that it meant their kind would endure no matter what befell them. "Vows made beneath this tree must never be broken."

"All vows?" I was too busy admiring the tree to notice the way he was looking at me. The flowers looked like crowns from certain angles, all gold with delicate veins of red. The tree and leaves themselves were a rich bluish black, making the roses stand out even more.

"Yes." Nuada was right behind me now. I could feel his breath in my hair. "Especially vows of love."

Especially vows of love. It is an interesting choice of words coming from him.

There was that feeling again, strong and persistent now. "When you mean vows of love," I said nervously, wondering if Nuada was saying what I thought he was saying. It can’t be. My flights of fancy had run riot again. Nuada was an elf, and the Crown Prince of his kind. His father would have expectations, standards, and a human being would fall well short of all of them. He might even be disinherited if he got involved with someone his father deemed unworthy. "Do you mean vows in general, or vo--"

Nuada leaned in, whispering something in the language of his people before moving in front of me. I had been around him long enough to pick up bits and pieces, but what he just said, admitted to me-- No. It can’t be. "I’m not sure I understand what that means--"

"Yes you do." Nuada inched closer, his broad shoulders blocking out the tree behind him. "Do you--" He was pained by the thought of my rejecting him. "Do you object to me? Was it because of how I behaved in the beginning?"

"Yes! No! It’s not about how you behaved at the start! You don’t understand!" How could I make him see, the price he would be paying for my sake? "You’re an elf, I’m-- I’m me," Didn’t he understand the gravity of the choice he was making? Of all the trouble he could bring down on his head by choosing me? "I’m human, Nuada. Human. Your father would never agree to it and--"

He kissed me again, this time hard and frantic, his hands all bunched up in my hair. I was trembling too, my body melding with his as my lips parted for his tongue. "My father approves of you," he whispered into his kiss. "He has already given me his blessings. As for you being mortal--"

Here I stop, panting, my heart racing like I have been running for miles. "Yes?"

"It makes no difference to me." Nuada’s lips captured mine again, his breath mingling with my own. "So long as I can call you mine."

This time it was he who stopped, and waited, for my answer. I didn’t need to think long and hard this time. The prince loved me, and I? I had fallen in love with him. When I kissed him this time, he knew what my answer was going to be. There was that smile again, all radiant and glorious. Mine, he whispered.

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