#consulate content

[greyspirehollow]

Vesuvia weekly ; The courtiers' Guilty Pleasures !

Pairing : The courtiers x reader Fandom : The Arcana visual novel Warnings : none. Pure fluff.

Volta :

I like to believe she loves dancing, like ballet, and the opera ; she loves the pretty dresses and the music,, and will secretly try and get some costumes custom tailored for herself, which she'll keep preciously in her closet and put on when she's alone, to admire herself in the mirror and imagine being on stage, amidst the crowd of pretty dancing people and musicians.

I'm pretty sure she would love to be able to fight. Being short comes with a lot of disadvantages,, I'm pretty sure she would like placing a few punches or kicks just right in people sometimes. Maybe she's already asked Vulgora to train her in the past, too.

Loves going to Portia's cottage. Loves Pepi. The flowers. The leaves. It's all so pretty ! And Portia's so nice !

She'll get all flustered and stutter if you ever ask about those secret hobbies of hers, but she'd want to share too, and even get a little frustrated by her conflicting emotions.

Vulgora :

I think they like being calmer and softer when no one's around, and to be treated calmly and with kindness (I'm sure they like being hugged, but you will never for the life of them see them admit it).

They like to play chess with the Countess, even if they loose systematically.

I have a feeling they'd love to go hunting too, with or without a falcon/dogs, or someone else's company.

I think behind their very loud and impulsive facade, they're a rather secretive person, not used to open up about things other than the plainly obvious, and so their little hobbies would be hard to discover unless you look into them a little, or generally get interested in them.

Valdemar :

I think they can play the violin, and some forgotten old instruments. They like how they have to make their finders dance over the instruments to make music.

They're a pretty manual person I think, and can craft little things here and there when they're bored ; pretty sure they tried embroidery even. Very steady hands (heh.)

and fashion. No one can convince me otherwise ; they have a sense of fashion and just don't exploit it. They don't dress often, if ever, or openly comment on people's outfits. but they COULD. IF ONLY THEY DID ARGH-

Secretive person as well. But you'd have no way of discovering any of that if they didn't want you to.

Vlastomil :

Always loved the sound a harp makes. He'd kill to learn how to play it, but he's never dared to take that initiative. It's just such a beautiful instrument, so calming, and it looks really nice to have it lean against you...

I think he'd also enjoy taking walks in the forest, and go lay down in some fresh and humid dirt, listening to the little river nearby, the chirp of birds, the leaves in the wind, the rays of sunlight peeking through...

We know how much he loves his worms, but what if he liked other things as well? what about isopods? tiny lil things.

You may surprise him indulging once or twice, but he'll always stammer a half-made-up excuse and shift the topic of the conversation quickly

Valerius :

Cat person. Loves cats. Wants cats just so he can sit in a big chair and have one on his lap and pet it menacingly while he sips his wine. Will not admit it.

LOVES velvet. Would wear velvet every day of his life if he could ; but he feels it's maybe a little too much in certain scenarios, so avoids it. He does have a cape in the back of his closet, which he wears sometimes when the halls of the Palace are desert.

Actually like to let his hair down ; thinks it gives him a mysterious charm (which yeah, if he styled it a little better), and one time you caught him mindlessly twirling his fingers into his strands.

He's not necessarily secretive, it's just he's learned court etiquette a lot, and so has taken the habit of hiding and bottling his personality down. That part at least.

[maddiesfandommess]

So for those who are keeping track we now know three of the four Better in Black couples

Will and Tessa

Clary and Jace

Julian and Emma

[khaleesiofalicante]

Thank you all for sobh-ing with me over the lash few months. It was actually a fun ride 😇

[starseungs]

biggest scare of my life ... i just crammed a 45 page paper in an hour 💀

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

"Don't cheer on Iran! This could lead to a war!"

And I really hope it doesn't. Israel attacked the Iranian consulate; Iran retaliated and has said that will suffice unless Israel attacks again. I sincerely hope Israel does not attack again and start a war.

But the idea that it's on all other countries to simply take whatever Israel does and not retaliate lest a war breaks out is similar to saying it's a domestic violence victim's duty to not fight back because it will make their abuser more angry.

For months, people have been warning against the possibility of a world war. Israel has been attacking Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. The US, the UK, and other countries have attacked Yemen.

And it's always, "Don't retaliate, (name of country)! You'll escalate tensions!"

The message is clear: The US, Israel, and other Western countries think Arab countries exist merely to be Israel's targets

Now Israel attacked a country with the means to defend itself. Iran defended itself in a reasonable fashion in accordance with international law. Unlike Israel, it did not bomb the shit out of an entire region. It did not use illegal substances like white phosphorous. And Iran has said it is content with this being the conclusion.

I hope this is it. But that is on Israel, the US, and any other country who is supporting Israel. It is not Iran's, nor Palestine's, Lebanon's, or Syria's, duty to become Israel's plaything every time Israel feels like attacking people.

[shattered-eagle]

Shattered Eagle RO Descriptions

Hi all, I got some questions on what the ROs look like and their personalities, so I thought I'd share what I had in mind while writing. All of the ROs are some shade of bisexual, if I hadn't noted that already.

Empress Julia Vitallia Hevernica: The Empress of Iudia is a forty-eight year old woman of average height, with a pale complexion and dark black hair on a slow but steady journey to silver. She has gray eyes which tend to bore icily into whoever she happens to be speaking with. Even as Empress, she has remained active from many years of military campaigning, with a fit and athletic physique. She tends to wear her hair short, barely reaching past her ears.

She is known to be cruel to her enemies, ruling through fear of her merciless wrath. Nevertheless, as a savvy politician, she takes care to project an image of harsh, yet fair, justice at her hand, if dealt with in good faith.

In her most personal relationships, Julia can often be more distant than she intends, as she seeks out understanding and care from her loved ones, despite her cold exterior. She is well known to be estranged from her husband.

Legate Antonius Lethungius/Amalrik Wulfhid: The general of the barbarian auxiliaries is a tall, clean shaven, forty year old man with a great blonde mane of hair. His once youthful good looks have, however, been marred by the scars of countless bloody wars. He has bright green eyes, flecked with a faint gold. A formidable foe in battle, he bears a strong and stout frame.

The Legate is half of 'civilized Iudia' and half of 'barbarous Gruthungia,' and everything from what clothes he wears to what accent he speaks with may change by the audience he finds himself in front of.

As a result, it is difficult to tell whether he is a a fierce, unbowed barbarian warrior, or a obedient, dutiful son of the Empire, an ambiguity is he seems content to maintain.

Ever careful about who he lets get too close, the Legate has been known to be somewhat aloof, trying to steer clear from personal relationships, supposedly out of his sense of obligation to his soldiers and their needs. His resultant lack of experience is then a source of embarrassment, though he does not let others know this readily.

Consul Consentia Plinia Dorcia: An older woman of fifty-five years old with a fair complexion, Consentia nevertheless has features that have aged as well as a fine vintage. Her dark brown hair, once near matching her brown eyes, has long since turned grey, however, reaching down a few inches past her shoulders.

Refusing the indulgences that many of the matrician class enjoy, Consentia is healthy and fit for her age, considering the long hours of work she tirelessly puts herself through for the business of the Senate.

Carrying elegance with her every step, she is well known to be polite and courteous to all in search of a new, more republican form of government, though she reserves ire for the 'barbarians' she views as emblematic of Iudia's decline. She is also a skilled orator, giving rousing speeches filled with carefully crafted rhetoric.

In her personal relationships, the Consul has been widowed for many years, having eschewed remarriage. Some whisper she has taken on a paramour or two in the past decades, though few socialites are brave enough to do more than speculate on the matter.

Tribune Ceto Vera: The Tribune is a forty-three year old woman with shoulder-length brown hair, an olive complexion and hazel eyes. Her features are calloused and weathered from her upbringing in the harsh streets of the slums of Kyro, an attribute most expressed in her scandalously low-class accent, a trait which she proudly bears even amongst the highest of matricians.

Though she stands rather short, Ceto carries a lean frame, her quick reflexes lending her a vicious talent with a dagger.

Despite her brusque demeanor and crude humor with the ladies of Kyro, however, she carries a talent for rousing the passions of the dispossessed and the discontented, using her criminal empire to generously reward those lending a voice to her populist cause, and ruthlessly make examples out of those who would refuse.

Ceto's personal life is shrouded from the knowledge of most, for all her shameless comments and advances she does not speak much on her past relationships. Nor of how she came to rise to power in the streets, both mysteries being either a source of regret or resentment for her.

Prince Darius of Pharia: Darius is a thirty-three year old man, standing at an average height, with black curly hair, a rich brown complexion, and a short and well groomed beard. In public, he bedecks himself in silks, radiant colors, and copious amounts of fine jewelry.

Trained as a warrior as any Prince should be, he is most skilled in the Pharian repeating crossbow, a curious invention that few Iudians have ever wielded.

Despite his status as a foreign hostage, the man has a charming, almost obsequious manner about him, inviting many dignitaries and notables of the capital for tea and idle talk at his embassy, which supposedly functions as his cage.

Darius often speaks of himself as an open book, and has carried on more than a few flings during his time in Iudia, though none have stuck around very long in the Prince's company.

[enlitment]

Top 5 favorite historical events 👀

Oo, good one! Thanks for the ask ✨

1. The Ides of March

Apart from being a beloved Tumblr holiday, I just find the whole event so interesting! Few times in history have had such a lasting cultural impact (hello, statue of Brutus at the National Convention!).

Plus it's so wonderfully morally grey, which you can see from the different perception of Brutus throughout history (burning in lowest circle of Dante's hell vs. being hailed as a hero by the French revolutionaries).

Was it the right thing to do? It was an act of extreme violence, and the republic was arguably beyond saving anyway, as became clear later. Does it mean it was the wrong thing to do though? I'm definitely not qualified to answer that. But it is an interesting question to think about, which makes this event one of my favourites.

(Plus the whole thing kind of reads like an ancient tragedy, since it could be read as Brutus (& co) killing someone who was essentially a father figure to him, but also was widely known to have slept with his mother. Hamlet who?)

2. Camille rallying the crowds at Palais Royal

I'm a sucker for a good epic moment, and this is certainly one of them. Camille leaping on the table and overcoming his stutter to address the crowd of dissatisfied Parisians, inspiring them to take action? Yes please!

(not to mention that any event that demonstrates the power that words can have is going to be automatically interesting in my book.)

3. The Servilia Letter Affair

Situated during the late Roman Republic after the Catiline conspiracy, it's another hilarious evidence of the fact that poor Cato the Younger simply couldn't catch a break.

For those uninitiated: as Cato and Caesar were arguing about what kind of punishment is appropriate for the conspirators wanting to overthrow the consul, a mysterious letter was delivered to Caesar, right in the senate. Cato suspected that there was something foul going on, something that could potentially link Caesar - Cato's oponent - to the conspiracy that was just being discussed. He therefore seized the letter from Caesar and insisted he will read its contents out loud, in front of everyone. Doesn't sound all that unreasonable, right? ...except the document in question just happened to be a steamy, in Plutarch's words "unchaste" love-letter to Caesar, written by none other than Cato's own half-sister, Servilia.* Yikes. Cato apparently proceeded to then throw the letter back to Caesar, saying: "Take it, thou sot." Iconic.

* who was also Brutus' mother. See, it's all connected!

4. Publishing of the Éncyclopedie

I just love studying the Age of Enlightenment as a whole, but I think the Éncyclopedie is perhaps the best embodiment of all of the things the era was about. I like learning about the Éncyclopedistes - their petty personal dramas are fun to read about, but I also like the fact that what fuelled the project was a (mostly) genuine desire to educate people and make human knowledge more readily available to the masses.

Also look what I came across while in Verona!! ->

5. Women's March on Versailles

A great reminder that women can be a strong political force and that their place in history should not be overlooked! Though it was not necessarily a women-only event, it clearly shows just how much of a significant role women (and working class people in general) played in the French Revolution.

[thesobsister]

Aaron Bushnell, an active-duty USAF airman, set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in D.C. on February 25 to protest what he termed the “genocide” being perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians and the U.S.’s complicity in this.

Anyone remember or even aware of the same thing happening in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta in December?

Bushnell set up a Twitch channel to stream his act. The Amazon-owned platform removed the video and shut down the channel. However, it’s available on a variety of other platforms.

The short video shows him, wearing service fatigues, walking down the street to the Israeli embassy as he explains his views. He then sets down the camera, walks to the gate of the embassy, empties the contents of a bottle—presumably, the flammable liquid—over his head, puts on his cap. The video is blurred out at that point, but the audio is intact. He screams “Free Palestine” until he succumbs. It is extremely disturbing, and I do not offer that characterization lightly.

At the start of the video, as he walks down the street, he says this:

I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. And I will no longer be complicit in genocide.

I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But at the hands of what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.

On the Facebook post that linked to that deleted Twitch stream, he wrote:

Many of us like to ask ourselves, “What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?”

The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.

[fanonimus]

My brother is obsessed with TTG, and I am baffled. We binged it, and I looked around in the... Fandom? I know the show is lighthearted, but I'm a psychology nerd.

Tw: Abuse, neglect, shitty people in general, mind conzrol and trauma. Progress with caution.

Not many people talk about the abuse Robin faces. I don't understand why is there basicaly no angsty content.

I also want to scoop that boy up and hug him and take him away from those people that surround him.

This boy has no positive influence in his life. Get him a therapyst.

He's neglected. I was sick watching this.

WHAT THE HELL DUDE this was genuinely hard to watch, and even the colour coded idiots aknowledge how badly he was treated.

Oh but they don't get away scott free. The little idiots.

They constantly hurt him (which I noticed is a reocurring joke, but it happens to him so constantly that it's not even humour. It's just... painful.)

What the fuck was that prank?

Considering I know his backstory pretty well (look, I watch enough dc), this prank just makes me want to cry. He smiles. His smile broke my heart. I genuinely started crying, alonside Robin. It was not a nice experience.

So they clearly don't have a problem with triggering traumatic responses.

Robin is also almost always the butt of the joke, even tough he is the leader nobody respects him.

Which would be understandable if he didn't try his damn hardest. He's resourceful and can make the best of a situation.

Like the time he got dance powers (which is just amazing, holy shit I want dance powers).

He found great use of an othervise "useless" pover.

Speaking of useless, his "friends" look down on him because he has no powers. Even though he is capable of beating all of them without it.

Yknow, like in the movie.

Oh yeah, nice recall to the movie the one where they competed with the Super Hero Girls team (love that show).

Y'know, where it started like this

And ended like this in like, five seconds.

Abandonment issues go brrr:

He's my angsty boy.

Also, the fact that he answered mind control on the last question, and it wasn't even on the board, broke something in me.

Him being a "control freak" is also played up for jokes, which I personally hate, but you can also go with the route of the Titans just not listening, ever, and Robin, still raised by the batman even if differently than in canon, in a city where if you are not on top you are dead, it's obvious that he developed an instictive need for control. He had gotten used to being on top of every situation, so when he felt that control slip, he grasped it and held on. This behaviour is not good, but he can't help it, and without proper consuling, he won't be able to stop this behaviour. He could, if he just let go of the illusion of control he clings to, a safety net, and we all know one can not simply just do that.

(I was someone people called a "control freak". I worked on myself, and I changed, but it took years after I noticed. Letting go is the hardest thing people like me and him can do because letting go means losing control, and that can be the scariest thing in the world. So I have experience, yes.)

(Yes, I also have experience. No, I am not going to talk about it, but it wasn't physical, don't worry)

For the hitting... Wild hot take and shit: Since Batsy was not a stellar dad, he kept robin in line by means not so family-friendly. (He hit his kids in canon, it's really OOC for him, but we have proof that happened) And it was really effective. Children of abusive parents go a lot of ways, but repeating the parents' mistakes is one of them. So maybe Robin decided that violence might be the thing to keep his teammates in line. (We are circleing back yeah.) But it clearly didn't work.

Edit: Holy shit I just realized that this Robin is all of the worst qualities of the other Robins. Obsessive, Controlling, full of himself, violent, and then throw their insecurities into there too (Abandonment issues, parental issues, anxiety, paranoia). Holy lady.

Edit2: Thank you, Yurki-posts, for pointing out some things my little rant was missing. I shall update it now.

[jomiddlemarch]

I've been thrilled to watch the groundswell of volunteers going out to fight for Kamala Harris. I'd really like to join the effort, but I have an issue:

I live abroad. I'm a US citizen, registered in my NJ hometown for an absentee ballot, but I live in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.

That means door knocking isn't an option, and phone calls or postcards are prohibitively expensive. And of course we hardly have a Democratic Party HQ here (to my knowledge).

What can I do? I sent the instructions for absentee voter registration to a few fellow American-Israelis, but I'm lost where to go from here. There must be virtual events, or a need for, say, art or writing? I'm grasping at straws over here.

I'm of course also open to helping Palestinian-Americans who are living in Israel/Palestine. The Jerusalem US consulate serves not only Israel but the West Bank (and Gaza under normal circumstances), I believe.

Hi there-- I'm honored to be asked! Phone and text banking are all done online, not using your actual phone number, so that may be a good option for you, though the time difference could be a factor as most text and phonebanks are now scheduled (unlike the olden days, when it was basically all day every day from like 9a-9p.)

There are definitely groups seeking design work.

Democrats Abroad may be the best place for you to start and there is a specific page for Israel: https://www.democratsabroad.org/volunteer

You could also check out Field Team 6 (https://www.fieldteam6.org) for text and phone banking.

I would also consider simply putting up lots of informative, positive posts about Harris and the entire Dem team and amplifying the ones you find to be a way to help. There is a ton of misogynoir going on and we need everyone to work on directing the narrative to Harris's incredible achievements and inspiring plans for the country.

If you go directly to the campaign volunteer site, there are a lot of options including create content, reach out to people I know, host a social event, share key messaging on media, which should all work for you: https://web.kamalaharris.com/forms/take-action-for-president-biden-and-vice-president-harris/?refcode=actblue_khwebsite

We can do this! When we fight, we win. And we can have a lot of FUN doing it!

[jamiebamberdaily]

The Wives : What We Know So Far (UPDATED - 6th September 2024)

The first casting announcement of 2024 has finally been announced with the news of Channel 5's The Wives.

About

Written and created by Helen Black, The Wives is a domestic thriller that centres on 3 sister-in-laws, Sylvie, Natasha and Beth who, just as they have done for the last 15 years, embark on their usual family holiday to Malta. However, this year is different.

The official synopsis reads:

Last year, four sisters-in-law and their families escaped to their Maltese holiday apartments, as they’ve done every summer for fifteen years. Sylvie Morgan, was happily married, Natasha, was swimming in wealth, and Beth and Annabelle Morgan, were thick as thieves. But this year, as they come together again, everything is different. Sylvie’s now single and loving life, Natasha’s hiding a desperate financial situation, Beth is barely keeping her life together and Annabelle is, well… dead. When Annabelle’s widower Charlie, arrives with a new woman in tow, Beth tries to be happy for them, but something doesn’t sit right. Charlie’s new girlfriend Jade, looks exactly like Annabelle. Beth’s plans to have a great summer are quickly scuppered by Charlie’s odd behaviour, and her suspicion that there is more to Annabelle’s death is heightened. With lies coming to light and evidence building, the women work together and against each other to unravel the mystery and bring the culprit to justice. But with corrupt officials, drug cartels and career criminals closer to home than ever expected, have they bitten off more than they can chew?

The Wives has been ordered for Channel 5 by Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK and Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, Drama, Channel 5 and Paramount+. Executive producers for Gaumont are Jess Connell and Alison Jackson. Produced by Margot Gavan Duffy, The Wives was written and created by Helen Black (Time S2, Life and Death in the Warehouse), with episodes by Ciara Conway (Screw, Holby City) and Jamie Jackson. The series will be directed by Claire Tailyour (Phoenix Rise, Deceit) and Paulette Randall (Waterloo Road, Tin Star).

The Cast

Jamie will star as Annabelle's widower, Charlie Morgan.

Also starring will be:

Angela Griffin as Natasha Morgan

Tamzin Outhwaite as Sylvie Morgan

Jo Joyner is Beth Morgan

Katie Clarkson-Hill is Charlie's new girlfriend, Jade Glover

Christine Bottomley is Annabelle Morgan

Catriona Chandler will be playing Annabelle and Charlie's daughter, Sky Morgan

Ben Willbond is Beth's husband, Frankie Morgan

Jonathan Forbes as Natasha's husband, Sean Morgan

Louis Boyer as charming local businessman, Luca Vella

Ajay Chhabra as consulate official Vinay Taneja

Jamie, Jonathan and Ben will be playing wealthy brothers, Charlie, Sean and Frankie Morgan.

Trailer

The trailer can be viewed here!

Filming Locations

The series began filming in Malta in February 2024.

Episodes

There will be 6 episodes.

Air Date

It will air on Channel 5 (in the UK) during two weeks in September. The first three episodes will air on Monday 16th, Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th. With the final three airing Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th.

[justinewt]

Semper Ad Meliora - THOSE ABOUT TO DIE Chapter Three

[THOSE ABOUT TO DIE MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: Time passed, weeks turned into months and months into years. Soon the year of 75 CE was of the past, as so were the next three years, 76, 77, 78... bringing it all to summer 79 CE. A bond grew between Aldea and Tenax. They cared for each other. She trusted him and he made sure she was safe, and soon there was even more than mutual respect. Love, was the thing that first led Aldea to Rome, but still the last thing she thought she would actually find there.

Words: 4k

Warnings: title means "always towards better things" // Those about to die (appropriation/repetition of lines of dialogue from episode 7 "Death's bed"), 1st person (somewhat unreliable narrator - doesn't mean that she lies about the events, just that it's her recollection/perception of them), fluff

I was a freedwoman, though I wasn’t too sure that I was a Roman citizen, because of my short time as a slave but I didn’t feel Roman anyway. I was proud to be a Spaniard woman and while my people had been made Roman citizens, I didn’t care about it. I came to realize that women had no role in Roman politics – all the consuls and senators were white- or gray-haired men. But I had no “political” ambition and tried to be content with the life I had now, living with Tenax and working for him. He began to offer me to sit with him during meals and eat with him. We bonded even more during that time. The first time he told me to sit across from him at the dinner table was a few days after he made me a freedwoman and I cooked a Spaniard dish for him. He looked at it, not knowing what it was and looked back at me. I smiled and he tasted it.

“Spanish.” I said, waiting for his reaction.

“It’s good.” He then nodded and motioned for me to take a seat, which I did after a second. He told Claudia to grab a plate for me and I ate with him. He made it quite easy for me to not overthink all this. I was always busy too, so time flew by rather quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was already the end of the year and about 6 months since I arrived in Rome. The festival of Saturnalia came around, starting with a public ritual on the first day, the 17th. A sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, which I didn’t attend. Work came to a halt for an entire week – most of the shops closed and Romans spent their times gambling, playing music and singing and giving each other gifts. I saw people take to decorating their houses and I brought it up to Tenax. Though we didn’t work, we still went to the betting tavern to take care of the kids – these orphans he had taken under his wing. They were always happy to see me, and it warmed my heart. Tenax spoke with his men while I began making wreaths with the kids, singing to them in my mother tongue.

They tried to sing along, and I taught them how to pronounce the words and on the second and third day, the tavern got very lively as we all sang, putting up the wreaths and evergreen branches around the betting tavern, lighting the candles and torches on the walls. I don’t think these romans had heard so much Spanish in their whole life, but they cheered me on. We also danced. Nica, one of the kids, made me a wreath with pretty flowers and put it on my head, like a crown. They held hands, in a circle around me and we danced and sang and laughed, a bright smile on my face. I danced as I did in Spain, swirling around, gracefully, holding my dress as it flowed around me with each step I took. I felt home. These people had become my family. I crossed eyes with Tenax as he drank wine with Scorpus and saw the latter nudge him. It made me laugh but I didn’t think much of it then.

In the final days of the festival, I gave cerei – wax candles – to Tenax and he let me set them up on the small altar he had in a cabinet. I never saw him pray – maybe he did while Claudia and I were asleep – and it was the first time I properly prayed the Roman Gods. We stood there, at the dead of night. I watched the flames dance softly and looked at him – he had his eyes closed and I watched his face, bathed in the warm orange light of the candles. When he opened his eyes, he met my gaze and I got embarrassed for staring and looked back at the altar. I quietly said I would go to bed and walked past him. As I brought the door behind me, I looked over my shoulder and locked eyes with Tenax. I closed the bedroom door, my back to it and stared into space for a minute. Claudia was sleeping in her bed, and I slipped into my bed, a little confused about what I was feeling. It got me thinking the whole night. I never liked Tenax that way. I had quite forgotten about my little crush on Scorpus and whatever bond was growing between Tenax and I was overshadowing it entirely. On the final day, Tenax came home holding something in his hand – something in a leather pouch. I was confused when he told me to open it and slipped my hand in the pouch. I felt something cold, a few thing chains and slowly pulled it out. It was a gold necklace. I tilted my head forward to look at it more closely. I had never been gifted a piece of jewelery and I was so focused on looking at it that I was yet to ask myself why Tenax would give me something like this. The chains I felt were four thin braided chains, gathered and passed through beads and pendant coins and the way they overlapped each other gave the impression there were more than 8. When I looked up, I wanted to ask how much this had cost him, but he didn’t let me. He asked me to allow him to put the necklace around my neck – not in so many words though.

“Allow me.” He quietly said. I turned around, gathering my hair in my hand and glanced at my neck as the cold metal touched my skin. I felt shivers run down my spine when his fingers brushed the back of my neck. I let go of my hair and passed my fingers under the necklace, looking down at it. It was really pretty. Back in Hispania, I didn’t have that kind of stuff. Neither did I need it, nor did we have the money for it. I did remember some jewelery that must have belonged to my grandma, but it was nothing such as this, and we ended up having to sell them anyway. The question of the cost came back in my mind. The necklace was all gold, with fine braided chains, nice beads and half a dozen literal aureus gold coins as pendant. The gold was probably his anyway, and he probably negotiated the price, but it still must have cost him.

“It must have cost you… I can pay you back, or just, don't pay me for a while—” He cut me off.

“I won’t be doing that. And you don’t need to pay me back, just take it.”

“Why this gift?”

“Blame the kids. This was their idea.” He then said, softly. I could tell he wanted to smile but kept his lips tight, the corner lifting slightly. I could also tell that while it was maybe indeed partially the kids’ idea, he had not been forced to commission it. No one could force Tenax to do anything, let alone give such a fine gift. He never gave anyone gifts, except for a few coins, and those were to pay salaries.

I chuckled, “Blame them? I like it. Thank you, Tenax.”

I wasn’t sure why but looking at him then, I thought about how pretty his eyes were – such clear blue eyes. I surely had noticed they were this colour, but it was just my whole perception of Tenax that had been shifting lately. We were both looking at each other differently but life went on and the year 76 CE came around. I wore my necklace everyday. The first time I did after the week-long festival of Saturnalia in December, the kids commented on it with excitement, and I got a compliment from Gavros and Scorpus as well – though the latter gave Tenax a smirk. One day, less than a month after receiving the necklace, I woke up in the middle of the night. I hadn’t had a nightmare about what happened on the boat in quite a while now, but it returned to me and it felt like a violent slap to the face, reminding me of something I wanted to put behind me and forget and with how busy I was everyday, I never had time to be alone with my thoughts, except at night. And I did think a lot then but for some time, it didn’t trouble my sleep. I got out of bed quietly to not wake up Claudia, taking light steps and softly pushed the bedroom door open. Looking up, I saw light coming from the altar’s cabinet and saw Tenax standing in front of it. I stopped in my tracks, not even realizing I was holding my breath and watched him from afar. He had his eyes closed, his head slightly tilted forward and was shirtless, with only his bracae on – his pair of trousers he wore under his tunic and toga – while I was just standing there in my off-white night tunic. I eventually took a step further, to close the door behind me. I initially walked out of my room to go get a cup of water – my throat felt dry – and so I did, and that’s when he saw me, as I poured myself some water.

“Trouble sleeping?” He asked.

“Just had a nightmare. It’s fine.” I brushed it off, not really in the mood to talk about it and he didn’t ask anything else. He closed the cabinet and walked over to the kitchen to sit at the table. I sat across from him, and we both kind of stared into space. I was playing around with my cup, making it roll in my hand. I was the one to break the silence and he looked at me, “I hadn't had a nightmare in a while – probably a few weeks.” I chuckled but my smile dropped quickly as I remembered said nightmare. I buried my face in my hands, pressing my fingers on my temples. “I was back on the ship…” I let one of my hands rest on the table and looked at Tenax when I felt his hand on mine. When he pulled away, unsure about his gesture, I stood up and came to stand next to his bench. He stood up as well and our faces were mere inches apart. It felt as though we were staring into each other’s soul. His hand found my shoulder, holding my arm gently. I was the one to initiate the kiss. My lips brushed off his, softly, delicately, like butterfly wings, just long enough that he could inhale my breath, feel the warmth of my skin, and the taste of my lip balm, a sweet mix of olive oil and beewax that I started wearing at night. He pressed his lips to mine and I closed my eyes, losing myself in the intimacy of this kiss, my hand finding his chest, resting right above his heart. I felt it pounding under my palm, as was mine.

I slowly pulled away, pinching my lips to contain my smile and whispered, “I should go back to bed.” His hand slid along my arm, and I walked past him, my head low as I smiled to myself. I slept well the rest of the night. No nightmares. I actually dreamt of Tenax – of our kiss. The next days, in public, we acted as if nothing had happened between us, though it seemed the kids saw through us and understood the glances we exchanged, as they sometimes giggled and whispered to each other, their hands covering their mouths as they looked at either of us from afar or then ran in different directions when we spotted them, giggling louder. At home, we shared meals as usual but at night, we met at his altar, not even to pray – he was in fact praying quite rarely – but rather to talk, eventually sitting at the table, when we couldn’t sleep, and look at each other under the moonlight coming through the window.

Eventually, I came to share his bed, and our relationship wasn’t a secret to anyone anymore, although we remained undemonstrative in public, but it seemed to be the norm among the Romans, and that suited me. I liked to keep things private. And though we shared his bed, it would be long before we would actually get intimate. I was still not ready for such things, and it seemed he understood, and I appreciated his concern and consideration. It also seemed he was rather more interested in us living together as a couple than sleep together. One night, he awoke in the middle of the night with a start, reaching for the blade he kept by his side. He was panting, scanning the room. I straightened up, looking at him worriedly, my hand going from gently squeezing his shoulder to caressing his upper cheek in an attempt to comfort him with my touch. I knew he had nightmares as regularly as I did but I was yet to know what they were about. I waited for him to be ready to tell me about them, and about his past, as I came to realize the two were related. I noticed something I had not seen the first time I saw him shirtless – an old burn scar spread across his back. He did tell me it was from a fire he escaped when he was a child, before he came to Rome, but I felt he wasn’t prepared to tell me more of the story as of yet, so I waited for him to be ready to share his past with me.

“The fire again?” It wasn’t the first time he had woken up like this since we began sleeping in the same bed.

“Yes.” Putting down his knife, he caught his breath. The apartment was silent, as was the street. The whole neighbourhood if not the city was asleep but us. Closing his eyes, he took a sharp breath, his head tilted forward. He told me about how he kept dreaming of a fire – the fire where he got those scars on his back �� but he never elaborated, until then. “I haven’t told you… about my past. And I have lied to you. My real name, is Quintus. I lived with a great family when I was a boy. The master of the house… he liked boys.” I let out a quiet sigh, slipping my fingers between his, the palm of my hand on the back of his. “Myself, but mostly – Ursus. We were—” He cut himself off and continued. “Ursus and I lit a fire to escape. I got away. Ursus was caught… because of me.”

“Did he die in the fire?” I asked softly.

“Yes.” That’s what he believed, but I could tell from the tone of his voice he wasn’t totally sure and was haunted by what he had done. I caressed the back of his neck, squeezing his hand under mine.

“You did what you had to do.”

“I didn't know what I’d done.” My hand slid upwards along his neck and brushed his hair.

“Maybe. But you were a child… you didn’t know what else to do. You rarely pray, but is that what you ask for when you do? Forgiveness... for leaving him behind?” He slightly turned his face towards me, looking at me from the corner of his eyes. There was sometimes such vulnerability shining in his eyes, with his lips parted and a mix of emotions washing over his face – guilt, remorse and regret. “What happened to him isn’t your fault.”

“But it is.” He said under his breath, almost as if he didn’t want to be heard, insisting that he was fully to blame for the incident, but I disagreed.

“You – and Ursus – started the fire. It’s not your fault. You were a child, Tenax. If you want the gods to forgive you, try to forgive yourself.” His eyes twitched. It got him thinking. He didn’t believe that he deserved to be forgiven, let alone forgive himself. We closed our eyes, taking in the peace and quiet of the night, as I rested my forehead against his temple, gently kissing his cheekbone. I felt him relax against me and we lied back, holding each other. Despite the nightmares we often had, I grew to love these intimate moments, cuddling and opening up. I loved Tenax. I loved him a great deal. By this point, my heart belonged to him, and his heart to me. I even began to envision a future together. Getting married, supporting each other, maybe having children of our own – though the latter would come later. I dreaded the idea of that kind of physical intimacy, although we were both very attracted to one another. With both our pasts, it was understandable why we were uncomfortable with it. I had had experiences in the past, teen romances, almost got married when I was 17 or so, to a boy my age from my village, but he died unexpectedly and the long distance romance with the sailor, Aelius, didn’t turn out for the best but my relationship with Tenax was what I needed, and I couldn’t have expected to find it here in Rome with him, but I did and I was glad for it. I could share all the love I had, and I received just as much. I liked to see the impassible and unwavering façade he put on everyday and think to myself how he truly was on the inside. I was one of the only few to see him for who he truly was.

Summer arrived quickly, the month of Junius soon beginning with the festivals in honor of the goddess Vesta, the virgin goddess of hearth, home and family, along that of the goddess Mater Matuta, goddess of female maturation and also of dawn. As the month advanced, I thought about how I had been in Rome for 9 months. My arm was still somewhat stiff, and it could hurt if I forced it up too much, but it was more or less healed, and I had no need for the sling any longer. I had taken the habit of moving it carefully and using my other arm more and even without the sling, I kept wearing, over my stola, a palla – my cloak, which I fastened around my shoulders with brooches. I didn’t want people to notice my drooping shoulder. I was embarrassed by how out of place it looked, and I realized it was stupid. I couldn’t do anything about it. Maybe I wanted to preserve my dignitas, as Romans called it. In any case, with my arms almost fully healed, I could help around the stables more. Gavros was kind enough to let me stick around and gave me easy tasks to not use my arm too much still. Being able to move both of my arms helped at the betting tavern as well and sometimes there would be Spaniard coming to place bets and I took great pleasure in being able to talk in my mother tongue every now and then. The days succeeded each other, busy with work and regular festivals, and games and races at the Circus Maximus. I witnessed some food riots every month and avoided the crowds when they happened. They were usually diverted by races.

The year of 76 CE eventually came to an end, with another week-long festival of Saturnalia. I couldn’t believe it when I realized I had lived in Rome for almost a year and a half – 15 months, to be precise. 13 months of which I had been a freedwoman and a dozen of them of Tenax and I living as a couple. I didn’t dream of a grand wedding, if we one day got married and had heard that after a whole year of two people officially living together as a couple, it was possible to simply declare ourselves married, given they were able to provide proof of the duration of their relationship. And we could, though it wasn’t a whole year, but it was a lie Tenax couldn’t have cared less about. In the first days of Saturnalia, a year after gifting me the necklace I wore every single day, he put a ring on my finger – a gold ring with two hands holding each other engraved on top. He wore one two, as well as the signet ring he had on his index. We had a small feast at the betting tavern, with the curtains closed and no one but us, the kids, Tenax’s men, even Gavros and Scorpus were there. The children and I had already decorated the tavern with wreaths and evergreen branches, and Tenax knew of my taste for music, so he had paid a few musicians to play some music in the background as we celebrated. I sang, of course and danced with the children. It was the most beautiful day of my life and Saturnalia became my favorite festival of all. Being with Tenax, loving him and feeling loved by him, it made my homesickness and longing for my brothers more bearable.

At the dawn of the new year, I was a married woman, and a working woman still. Tenax didn’t care about my occupations as long as I was safe and though he didn’t tell me, I knew he had asked Dacia and Noro, some of his most loyal men, to keep an eye out and watch me from afar. I was well liked among his men, and I didn’t mind their protection. Life in Rome was often times dangerous, especially when associated with the underworld and a criminal such as Tenax. He had detractors, and as his wife, I could have been a target to one wanting to take revenge or take a blow at him and he refused to let that happen. He ensured that I was as safe as could be. I had to come to Rome as a slave, became a freedwoman and got married to the one man in Rome who didn’t care to subdue me. I had become aware, as I spent time in this city, that women’s freedom was all but guaranted and quite relative, with not so many rights and I was among the lucky few to have a good husband, treating me as his equal, or at least having the decency of giving me that impression. I didn’t care about politics in Rome. I still didn’t feel Roman and would never feel that way. I was a proud Spaniard woman. The only Roman I had true respect for was my husband. I had learned that Scorpus, who I knew was about as Roman as me, was actually Syrian, and Gavros wasn’t Roman either. He was from Numidia.

It was only on the kalend of the month of Martius of the year 79 CE, two months and a half away from the four-year anniversary of my rather traumatic arrival in Rome, and two years and a half since we married, that Tenax and I took our intimate moments further. I was actually the one to initiate it, not stopping at just a kiss and a few tender caresses. And he showed to be just as tender, as we laid together for the first time, though it was not my actual first time. Aelius was, and I wished he hadn’t been. I wish it had been that boy from my village. He was actually sweet and fond of me – way more deserving of such a moment with me, but the past didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was the life I built with Tenax. I remembered well that night with him, new year's celebrations, the sacred fire of Rome was renewed and the fire in Tenax and I's hearts was lit up as well. I felt both fear and excitement when a month and a half later, in the midst of Aprilis, I found that I was with child – his child. And that time, the thought of getting rid of it as I did years prior didn’t even cross my mind. I wanted it, and already loved it, and so did he. We were in bed when I told him and he didn’t expect such news at all. He approached his hand, but I gently took it and placed it on my belly, putting my hand on top of his and he pressed his lips against mine, sliding his hand across my back and grabbing onto my waist to draw me closer to him.

“How long have you known?”

“About a week or so. I wanted to be sure before telling you.” He kissed me again and I smiled, our faces a mere inch away from each other. “I’ve thought of names.”

“You have?” He chuckled, grinning amusingly.

“Fortuna, or Aeliana, if it’s a girl. After the goddess, or my sweet brother, Elia. Luck, or sun.”

“I like these options. And if it’s a boy?”

“Amatus – to love.”

“It’s perfect.” He then said in a whisper. And it was, indeed, perfect. The night I told him that I was with child, that I bore our child, was almost just as perfect as the feast we had with our friends to celebrate our union. Maybe it was true that time healed all wounds, even if not completely. Bad things happened all the time, but good things happened too – perfect, and beautiful things even.

[To be continued…]  

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Published (08/09/2024) by Andrea

[empirearchives]

Political gains & contents of the Concordat of 1801

Agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII on 15 July 1801 in Paris.

Rome seems to have made immense sacrifices. The first advantage won by the First Consul was to seal, by the very act of signing an agreement, the recognition of the French Republic by the Holy See, and hence the rupture of the traditional alliance between Rome and the legitimate monarchies. It was a disastrous blow to French royalism in exile, for it freed the faithful in the interior from scruples about the regime of the Year VIII.

The second advantage was to confirm a church of salaried public servants, amenable to the State and having mainly sociological functions. Here we see a continuation of the Gallican tradition, but also of the thought of philosophes who had urged both the submission of the clergy to the State and its integration within it. The refusal to reestablish the religious orders meant also the rejection of any ecclesiastical life that might escape the authority of the bishops. Even the cathedral chapters were reduced to decorative functions.

Thirdly, no question was raised about the sale of the former Church properties, a matter of great importance for strengthening the prestige of Bonaparte in the eyes of the property-owning segments of French society.

Pius VII, for his part, failed to obtain the recognition of Catholicism as the state religion. He agreed to use his authority for what Consalvi called “the massacre of a whole episcopate,” by requiring the resignation of all French bishops, both constitutional and refractory, since Napoleon judged such a step to be indispensable for effacing all traces of the revolutionary schism. It is right to see in this operation an encouragement to ultramontanism, for it affirmed the powers of the Pope over the French Church. But it also encouraged a tendency in the French episcopate, that is, a whole ecclesiological movement for appeal to an ecumenical council in matters of discipline.

Among the numerous provisions of the Articles we may point out those that legalized all forms of worship in France, and those that strictly subordinated the lower clergy to the bishops (“prefects in violet robes”): only a fifth of the parish priests received the title of curé, and with it secure tenure; all others became simple desservants of succursales, that is assistant pastors.

This is what the Church got out of the deal:

What then did the Pope gain in this Concordat, “more likely to raise difficulties than to solve them” (Bernard Plongeron). Maintenance of the unity of the Roman Church, which a consolidation of the schism in France might have ruined forever; recognition of canonical investiture, which allowed the Pope to overcome the zelanti among the cardinals who opposed the Concordat but favored a reinforcement of spiritual authority; and resumption of regular pastoral life in France, where the new administrative and social status of the priest encouraged a growing number of ordinations, which reached several hundred by the end of the Empire.

Pius VII in any case remained attached to the results accomplished, a fact that deprived the small “shadow church” opposed to the Concordat of the possibility of resistance. His continuing attitude was shown later in his willingness to come to Paris for the Emperor’s coronation.

Source: Louis Bergeron, L'Episode napoléonien. Aspects, intérieurs: 1799-1815

English: France Under Napoleon, tr. R. R. Palmer

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 6 December 1938, after word of the antisemitic pogrom by the Nazis known as the Kristallnacht began to reach Australia, Aboriginal people held a protest against it (content note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this post features an image of a deceased person). A dozen men and women of the Australian Aborigines’ League, led by 78-year-old William Cooper (pictured), of the Yorta Yorta people, marched to the German Consulate in Melbourne to deliver a letter to Dr. Drechsler, Consul General to the Third Reich, stating: "On behalf of the Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia, we wish to have it registered and on record that we protest wholeheartedly at the cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government in Germany. We plead that you would make it known to your government and its military leaders that this cruel persecution of their fellow citizens must be brought to an end." Today a plaque at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum commemorates the Australian Aborigines’ League delegation's attempt to present their letter to the German consul. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2153330918185380/?type=3

[maplewoodstreet]

The Pro-Palestine Self-Immolation of Aaron Bushnell

CONTENT WARNING: extreme, self-inflicted violence

Self-immolation is an extreme and brutal form of protest in which the protester purposefully sets themselves on fire. The act is excruciatingly painful and can result in death.

The Self-Immolation Protest Event

On 25 February 2024 at around 1 p.m., a 25-year-old active US Air Force serviceman named Aaron Bushnell dressed in military fatigues doused himself in flammable liquid and lit himself on fire outside the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC. This act of self-immolation was done to protest Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

Before the event, Aaron Bushnell had emailed several left-wing news outlets saying he will "engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people". He also posted on Facebook a Twitch link with this caption: "Many of us like to ask ourselves, 'What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?' The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now."

As he was livestreaming the event on Twitch outside the Embassy, he said, "I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. And I will no longer be complicit to genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers—it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal." After lighting himself on fire, he repeatedly shouted "Free Palestine!" until he collapsed.

Meanwhile, a police officer aimed his gun at the man as he was on fire. Another policeman said, "I don't need guns, I need fire extinguishers!"

From ignition to extinguishing, Bushnell was burning for approximately 90 seconds. After fire extinguishers were used, Aaron was transported to the hospital and at 10:06 p.m. was pronounced dead.

A censored version of the video can be found on Twitter.

This is the second pro-Palestine self-immolation performed by US citizens. The first was by an unknown woman performed outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia on 1 December 2023.

Reactions to the Protest

An unofficial group of White House administration staffers created a statement calling for a permanent ceasefire and criticizing President Biden for not using his power to prevent Israel from committing genocide.

Bernie Sanders responded to the self-immolation saying, "It's obviously a terrible tragedy, but I think it speaks to the depths of despair that so many people are feeling now about the horrific humanitarian disaster taking place in Gaza, and I share those deep concerns. Children are starving. People are dying—29,000 Palestinians have died, two-thirds of them women and children. The United States has got to stand up to Netanyahu and make sure this does not continue. We are increasingly isolated. The international community understands that what Netanyahu is doing is a humanitarian disaster. It is a horror, and we continue to be one of the very few countries in the world that stand by Israel, and I think that is a terrible, terrible mistake. And as you may know, I'm doing everything I can to make sure that the United States government does not send another nickel to Netanyahu to continue this terrible war." Despite outcry from his followers, Bernie Sanders still has not supported a ceasefire.

Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein responded by saying, "May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now."

News outlets like FOX News, USA Today, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN neglected to include the reason for the self-immolation in their headlines.

There have been vigils held throughout the United States. A vigil in New York City had NYPD officers with riot helmets and batons ready one hour before the vigil started.

There is speculation that Aaron Bushnell may have been a closeted transgender woman and used the name Lilly. Aaron's Twitch username was LillyAnarKitty. The "AnarKitty" could also be a play on words for "anarchy". The profile picture for this account was of the Anarchy symbol.

Various Internet User Reactions:

The Most American Thing That Has Ever Happened by Caitlin Johnstone

BabyHilton

Rayne Fisher-Quann

MaxBluementhal

MicahinATL

TroyTheCatfish

Sean McCarthy

[bottomvalerius]

“all Botttom does is smoke weed, eat hot chip, and talk their shit” 

hi hello hi 🖤✨ My name’s Dami but literally everyone on here refers to me as Bottom™️ :3c I’m 26, hate my job, and am currently transitioning (I’ll be a year on T in July!!)—so a very normal guy lmao

There isn’t any specific theme or fandom here; this is my og blog from when I was a wee lad and it consists of all my interests and never ending yapping lmao

Main fandoms/topics I post about:

The Arcana but like. My friends’ ocs, my OCs, and the wet coat of paint we’ve all slathered the canon characters with lmao

I’ve gotten embarrassingly into WWE and wrestling (I am a CM Punk girlie (gnc) I love brats what can I say)

Been a Hannibal fan since its air date and won’t let go

Currently very into Dungeon Meshi, transactionally into BG3 (did not finish the game but idc about spoilers and the like), and my Stardew obsessed has been reignited

HORROR I try to tag horror gifs but be warned I will randomly post about horror movies and content

General art & art inspiration (including fashion, photography, etc); I also post my WIPs on this blog and finished work on @consul-valerius

I am kinky and p active in the scene currently and will reblog/post my own content around that! I try to tag this as either nsft, lemon, kink talk or some variety of them all

I don’t have a standard tagging system other than my personal posts & triggers. If you need a specific type of post tagged (ie wrestling, horror content, specific kinks, etc) please let me know✨