#run tiberius run!

[bringerofrains]

I had hoped to embrace the Imperator himself. Yet fate delivers mere shadow of the name Crassus.

[brother-emperors]

Now Valentinian was chosen emperor in Bithynia (as we have said before). He gave the signal for the march for the next day but one, and assembling the chief civil and military officials, as if ready to follow safe and sound advice rather than his own inclination, inquired who ought to be chosen as partner in the rule. [...] Dagalaifus, at that time commander of the cavalry, boldly answered: "If you love your relatives, most excellent emperor, you have a brother; if it is the state that you love, seek out another man to clothe with the purple." The emperor, angered by this, but keeping silence and concealing his thoughts, forcing the pace, entered Nicomedia on the first of March, and appointed his brother Valens chief of his stable with the rank of tribune. Then, on his arrival in Constantinople, [...] on the twenty-eighth of March he brought the aforesaid Valens into one of the suburbs and with the consent of all (for no one ventured to oppose) proclaimed him Augustus. Then he adorned him with the imperial insignia and put a diadem on his head, and brought him back in his own carriage, thus having indeed a lawful partner in his power, but, as the further course of our narrative will show, one who was as compliant as a subordinate.

AM 26.4.1-4

there's some hint of 'no one's allowed to talk shit about my brother but me,' energy, but also generally I'm just kind of obsessed. not with Valentinian I, but with Valens. hello.

I'll probably get into Valens later, since he's taking up a significant amount of room in my thoughts, but for now, it's the 'oh! the brothers were co emperors!' that's making the wheels spin. (the last time I was reading about brothers, or people made to be like brothers, as co-rulers, it was with Tiberius. and that goes about as well as you expect it to lmao)

Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D, Noel Lenski

⭐ I have a tip jar (ko-fi)!

⭐ and other places I'm at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app

[techmomma]

How Ed starts:

And how TB starts:

[strangenewheadcanons]

“Hey, Jim?” Sam asks. Jim can feel his apprehension and raises his brow.

“Yeah?” He responds.

Sam swallows with a minuscule nod of his head. “I love you.”

A public display of affection is rare for Sam and it genuinely touches Jim. He offers him a little smile.

But he’s still Sam’s little brother after all. “Engage.”

Jim disappears in a flash of light, leaving a steaming Sam in his wake. “That little shit didn’t even say it back!”

[brightwoods]

Ty years after the fact when he finds out that Kit's "I love you" was meant romantically and that Kit left because he thought Ty rejected him when Ty had assumed those words had been said as platonically as when any of his family members had said the same thing to him:

[marshmallows-and-bonfyres]

Hi..! Um… Geez, this is already so, so nerve-wracking...

I'm the... Firestarter at C.O.G.S., but going on the rumors I've heard, a lot of you seem to know me better as Flint, ehehe...

It was hard to work up the courage to make this, but... a lot of my co-workers made blogs too, so... I'm happy to finally be here..!

OOC: Heya! This blog is run by @mapleflavedpepperoni! This is my interpretation of Flint Bonpyre; there are headcanons galore, so please bear with me!

I also run a Toonsona blog, @pancakecuddleroni!

[sodrippy]

hiii val!! alone fear and guilt for fish my favorite for the oc ask meme please!!!

hiiii hi thank u i love fish so much ^.^

alone: How does your OC deal with loneliness? Have they ever been completely alone before? How do they act when there's no one around to see them?

fish has been alone a lot in recent times, but its still unfamiliar to him and he's not exactly 'dealing' with it. he spent his whole life surrounded and connected, and kind of even watched, so he doesn't know how to navigate the sudden absence of that. it makes him disappear into himself until he's sort of this walking ghost, untethered without the purpose he built his life around. it's not the physical solitude that's making him sort of insane though, its the loneliness in his head now, and the lack of that divine thrum in his veins.

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

his greatest fear was not being able to save people he's meant to help, of having to just stand by and watch while they suffer, and it happened already. he dealt with it by getting mad at god. i suppose its more of a fear of failure though, right, when you're made and raised for one thing and suddenly you can't do it anymore. it was definitely a deeply hidden fear, he didnt want to sit with those sorts of thoughts in case they were heard.

he has a new fear now: getting to the end of whatever path he's on only to find out there's nothing there. there's no answer, or fix, or anything, and instead, all of these things he's done to get here have been for naught. part of it is definitely also a fear of like, what if the road to vengeance feels better than the actual thing? sometimes its a bit too easy to do what has to be done, and sometimes he doesnt linger in guilt for long enough, and what does that say about what he's becoming?

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

kind of covered it already w the other two huh, lol, but yeah. fish is a paladin, he feels guilty all the goddamn time. first, for not trying hard enough, then for waiting too long, and now for doing it all the wrong way. it's really hard for him at first, and he's totally overwhelmed, but it becomes his cornerstone in a way, driving him forward to make use of the feeling instead. as he goes on and he's taking on more and more, the only way he finds to cope with it is to fall into the trap of 'i've done something awful in pursuit of my goal, and it has to mean something so i can be absolved'. and eventually guilt as a concept just stops registering the same way. he accepts it maybe too easily, oftentimes trying to shoulder other people's as well by doing a hard thing to spare them the burden.

OC ASKS

[ruvviks]

🔶, 🖤, and 🤔 for tiberius!!

oc asks for tiberius!

🔶 LARGE ORANGE DIAMOND — does your oc know cpr? do they have any other medical expertise?

tiberius doesn't have a lot of medical expertise despite stella, his sister, being a nurse. she would've tried to teach them some things pre-war but they've forgotten most of it since they never paid enough attention :( that's something he really really regrets now because 1) medical knowledge comes in super handy in the commonwealth and 2) he should've appreciated stella more when she was still alive and he's now just constantly beating himself up for having been such a horrible brother

so yeah if you get injured and tiberius is the only one there to help, best he can do is stick a stimpak in your ass (which is more than what the game lets you do for glory so i guess that's a win)

🖤 BLACK HEART — has your oc killed or seriously wounded anyone before? have they broken someone's heart and/or broken someone's trust?

tiberius has never killed anyone pre-war, or broken their trust. he HAS had his own trust broken though, since he's going through a breakup when the bombs fall with his girlfriend of three years who's been cheating on him for like, two of those years. so that's not fun

post-war however, the wasteland gives him no other choice than to kill people before they kill him :( most of it would just be trigger-happy gunners, and forces sent by the institute or brotherhood of steel, but it would still get to him a lot more than he'd like to admit. the only person he doesn't feel bad about killing is kellogg, since the guy killed his sister

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

answered here!

[mariuslepual]

people are out there saying they massacred zahra kashaw's characterisation... did we watch the same c1

[lenievi]

still thinking about how when I was doing the “fave mckirk scene” poll someone commented how naming a child after mckirk is peak mckirk and honestly, Friday’s Child is such a good episode for pining!Jim who thinks McCoy likes Spock lol

[burr-ell]

Hello! It's New Fan again. I hope you're doing well. I'm still slowly making my way through Campaign 1 of CT but I have a concern.

When you said that One Guy will go away soon, how soon are we talking about? It wasn't bad at first and I found Tiberius to be a bit charming but there are moments when it feels like it is not roleplay anymore and the player is genuinely being a dick.

Maybe I'm getting confused because they are pro-VAs and he's just really into it but I just cannot stop the bad feeling.

I'm debating on whether I should skip until he's gone or just endure it.

it's never that bad at first, is it

The thing about Tiberius is that the cast had been playing together for two years prior to the start of the stream and had known each other for longer because they were colleagues. And while I can't speak to who they are as people, they at least seem genuinely kind and forgiving, especially Matt, which is probably why Orion was allowed to stick around as long as he did. (And in fairness, Orion was also dealing with cancer and substance abuse issues during this period, which doesn't excuse his behavior but also helps explain why the cast gave him so many chances.)

But you are not at all alone in feeling that way, anon. I feel secondhand embarrassment sometimes even thinking about what he was like and how uncomfortable some of his behavior made everyone. For what it's worth, to give you a timeframe, Orion leaves after episode 27, and episodes 18 and 19 also don't have him (and the change in vibe is palpable). His last episode is really the nadir and it's pretty skippable. Personally, I'm messy and live for drama and found that reading people's salty YouTube comments helped get me through it (as well as the fact that I always listen to the show while I'm doing something—early C1 was for either portfolio work or support grinding in FE Awakening), but it's not for everyone.

If it gets to be too much? Skip to 18 and 19, then to either 24 or 28 depending on what you think you're up for. 24 is the actual start of the Briarwood arc and it opens with the scene where Percy reveals his backstory, which is excellent, and as an added bonus, Tiberius isn't in that part at all because when Vex said they should all go down to the workshop to check on their friend Tiberius just left to go do his own thing. (A microcosm, if you will.) 28 is when he's actually gone, and again—the change in atmosphere is pretty visceral. 25 is also worth watching, in my opinion; Orion tries metagaming with the Briarwood fight and Matt immediately has Delilah hit him with Feeblemind to take him out, and then #NoMercyPercy reveals himself and it's just as incredible as it is in the animated show—honestly, in my view it hits even harder.

If you want my opinion, the Orion episodes are still worth watching at some point...but no one in the fandom blames you if you don't, or if you decide to skip all his episodes and then go back and watch them later if you like everyone else enough to suffer through him. If you do decide to skip ahead, this reddit post has a pretty good rundown of what happened (with a few incorrect minor irrelevant details); it's not on the CR subreddit because fun fact! Discussions of Orion got banned in any context there outside of the first 27 episodes.

[aroace-cat-lady]

If Ty and Kit meet again at the beginning of the book (100-150 pages) they probably are going to make peace between the first half and the second third, been more allies than friends (with tons of tension, dah) until the last third where I hope they let the stubbornness aside and finnally confess their feelings and we are going to be happy for, like, three chapters. Top.

And then.

Have you noticed how CC always gives us the cookie and then takes it away from us on the last minute every. single. series.

It wouldn't be fun if Kit has to go again?? But this time against his will?? Just when he and Ty are finnally honest with each other?? And he can't tell anyone that he is leaving for *reasons*?? So Ty wakes up and can't find Kit and it's the same thing that in qoaad all over again but worst??

I'm probably wrong, but yeah.

[um-lavenders-ig]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY THE FUCK DOES TY LOOK THAT GOOD

[brother-emperors]

BROTHERS

The river Weser ran between the Roman and Cheruscan forces. Arminius came to the bank and halted with his fellow chieftains:— "Had the Caesar come?" he inquired.​ On receiving the reply that he was in presence, he asked to be allowed to speak with his brother. That brother, Flavus by name, was serving in the army, a conspicuous figure both from his loyalty and from the loss of an eye through a wound received some few years before during Tiberius' term of command. Leave was granted, and Stertinius took him down to the river. Walking forward, he was greeted by Arminius; who, dismissing his own escort, demanded that the archers posted along our side of the stream should be also withdrawn. When these had retired, he asked his brother, whence the disfigurement of his face? On being told the place and battle, he inquired what reward he had received. Flavus mentioned his increased pay, the chain, the crown, and other military decorations; Arminius scoffed at the cheap rewards of servitude.

They now began to argue from their opposite points of view. Flavus insisted on "Roman greatness, the power of the Caesar; the heavy penalties for the vanquished; the mercy always waiting for him who submitted himself. Even Arminius' wife and child were not treated as enemies." His brother urged "the sacred call of their country; their ancestral liberty; the gods of their German hearths; and their mother, who prayed, with himself, that he would not choose the title of renegade and traitor to his kindred, to the kindred of his wife, to the whole of his race in fact, before that of their liberator." From this point they drifted, little by little, into recriminations; and not even the intervening river would have prevented a duel, had not Stertinius run up and laid a restraining hand on Flavus, who in the fullness of his anger was calling for his weapons and his horse. On the other side Arminius was visible, shouting threats and challenging to battle: for he kept interjecting much in Latin, as he had seen service in the Roman camp as a captain of native auxiliaries.

Tacitus Annals 2.10-11

there's a lot going on in there! Arminius switching to Latin is a detail that always makes me feel a deep kind of sadness, especially with how it's preceded by mention of their mother. I wonder what she thought of what became of her sons, on opposite sides of everything but still, inescapably, brothers. even when they want to kill each other. there sure are a lot of fucked up and unhappy brothers around. and Arminius asking about Flavus' injury............I also had a whole thing typed out about the horror of imperialism and colonization and the trauma of assimilation but I think this sets the tone better

Rome's Greatest Defeat: Massacre in the Teutoburg Forest, Adrian Murdoch

and also this, just for fun

(ibid)

this post is already a mile long, so lets add another mile to it: a little scene at the start of their conversation! tfw you go in for a hug and your younger brother who also ended up being taller starts roasting your hair style

bsky ⭐ pixiv ⭐ pillowfort ⭐ cohost ⭐ cara.app⭐ko-fi

[blueiskewl]

Rome’s 'Lost' Imperial Palace 'Domus Tiberiana' Reopens

Until recently a crumbling and off-limits ruin near the famous Colosseum, the Domus Tiberiana palace — built in the first century AD and beloved by Nero — hopes to once again take its place as one of the city’s top tourist attractions.

The ancient palace sits on Palatine Hill — the city’s oldest hill, overhanging Rome —from where imperial dynasties ruled for centuries. But over the years, the site fell into disrepair and in the 1970s, the Domus Tiberiana site was shut due to the structural instability of some of the ruins. The closure left behind what many Romans described as a “black hole” in the capital’s archaeological heart.

Now, after a six-year makeover, the palace has reopened its doors as a “diffuse museum,” with findings and frescoes scattered across the site to provide visitors with an insight into the palace’s ancient grandeur.

And it was grand. The Domus Tiberiana was Rome’s first imperial palace, built by the emperor Tiberius who combined and incorporated the pre-existing noble mansions built on the hill. Occupying over four hectares, the palace featured residences alongside large gardens, places of worship and rooms for the emperor’s Praetorian guard.

As the seat of Rome’s power and politics, Domus Tiberiana held a prime location, high above the Palatine and Roman Forums, offering its occupants a “balcony view of the city.” Over time, the Domus was embellished and enlarged by other emperors including Nero, who was crowned on its steps aged just 16, in 54 AD.

Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum’s archaeological park (in which Domus Tiberiana falls) and lead archaeologist on the renovation, said that ancient antiquities, many exceptionally well-preserved, were unearthed during the project.

The artifacts — bright stuccos, frescoes, amphorae, potteries, looms, terracotta, and divinity statues related to the cults of Isis, Dionysius and Mithras — offer visitors a trip through time, said Russo.

“They make this place — formerly (inhabited) by aristocratic families, then Roman emperors — feel alive again,” she said. “There are seven exhibition rooms full of extraordinary finds, starting with those preceding the original construction of the palace when aristocrats lived in mansions before Tiberius subsumed them into the Domus.”

Among the newly-exposed and frescoes are some of the earliest paintings of lemons (considered an exotic fruit in Ancient Rome, as they hailed from the Far East) and a depiction of a gladiator, proving that the era’s gladiatoral games were appreciated by rich families, explained Russo.

The imperial palace remained in use until the 7th century, when it became the papal residence of John VII. In the mid-16th century, the aristocratic Farnese family — who were powerful local landowners — built the lavish Orti Farnesiani gardens on the site, adorning it with ornaments and sculptures of nymphs, satyrs and fauns.

“This monument speaks of history,” Russo added. “We have restored (Domus Tiberiana) to its past splendor, but more work lies ahead.”

Indeed, painstaking efforts have been made to blend old and new. A series of majestic, reddish-brown vaulted arches that greet visitors having been carefully reconstructed with the same materials as ancient Romans used in the past.

“What makes this revamped Domus unique is the architectural style,” said Russo. “We managed to use original materials to reinforce and strengthen the handmade 15-meter (50ft) tall front arches (which run alongside the palace’s) ancient paving.”

It has certainly caught the public’s attention. Since reopening at the end of September, Domus Tiberiana has attracted some 400,000 visitors, a “huge success,” said Russo, adding that she believes that this incarnation of the Domus Tiberiana offers visitors the most “evocative” visit in generations.

Archaeologist and scholar of ancient Rome Giorgio Franchetti saidN that, in the reopening of the Domus Tiberiana complex, Rome has “recovered a lost jewel.”

“The Palatine Hill has always been the stage of Rome’s power politics,” he said in an interview. “Tiberius likely chose this spot to build the palace as it was where his family residence stood. There aren’t many places like the Domus Tiberiana where you can really breathe the past.”

By Silvia Marchetti.

[i-am-trying-my-best-okay]

Literally all of The Shadowhunter Chronicle romances are completely unhinged it’s not even funny (I lied, it’s very funny). Here’s just some examples:

William “Will” Herondale/James “Jem” Carstairs + Theresa “Tessa” Gray: It totally would have been a vee type polyamorous situation if it wasn’t for all the death and 1800s London society going on.

Henry Branwell + Charlotte Fairchild: How dare this misogynistic society put us together, I mean, we wanted to get together anyway, but not for those reasons. Welp, time to be as unconventional as possible.

Gabriel Lightwood + Cecily Herondale: Look, you made fun of my sister, it’s only fair that I marry your sister; that’s the rules.

Gideon Lightwood + Sophia “Sophie” Collins: Dad, I have a perfectly valid reason to betray you and go to the other side. What your doing is wrong and – nO tHiS haS nOThiNG to do wiTh tHeIR mAid wHy wOUlD yoU eVEn sAy tHat?

Jesse Blackthorn + Lucie Herondale: Your request to not be brought back to life has been denied, deal with it.

James “Jamie” Herondale + Cordelia Carstairs: He didn’t commit arson we were just having sex – why are you all looking at me like that’s worse?

Anna Lightwood + Ariadne Bridgestock: Listen, there’s a lot of society going on right now, so we’re going to have to get together in secret. Oh, you don’t want to? Okay, never mind, fuck society, let me win you back real quick.

Christopher Lightwood + Grace Cartwright: Oh good, you broke into my house, now we can talk about science.

Thomas Lightwood + Alastair Carstairs: I’d really like to hate you, but I think the biggest problem with that is that I love you. Once I get over that hurdle, I think we’ll be in the clear.

Lucian “Luke” Graymark + Jocelyn Fairchild: Good job on us for breaking away from the genocidal cult run by our best friend/husband; we should hook up, you know, as a reward.

Jonathan “Jace” Herondale + Clarissa “Clary” Fairchild: Ayo the same guy conducted experiments on our blood, that’s crazy; btw so glad we’re not actually siblings.

Alexander “Alec” Lightwood + Magnus Bane: Marrying each other is against the law? Okay, fine, I’m a law biding citizen. Oh oops, I made it legal. I am the law now, and I want a wedding on the beach.

Simon Lovelace + Isabelle Lightwood: It makes sense to have our engagement party on the day of my brother’s death, that’s when we really started bonding.

Helen “Alessa” Blackthorn + Aline Penhallow: Well, I guess we’re going to go in exile together. Yes, I said together; your exile is my exile, what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine, that’s how relationships work.

Julian Blackthorn + Emma Carstairs: Yes, it’s a technical war crime to love each other, but the law itself is not really our main concern about it.

Kieran Hunter + Mark “Miach” Blackthorn + Cristina Rosales: We’re really living that cottage core aesthetic, and all we had to do to get here was do a small war and some amnesia. Worth it.

Gwyn ap Nudd + Diana Wrayburn: I’m going to stand by just in case something happens, but it probably won’t, she knows what she’s doing – WHY IS SHE JUMPING OUT THE TENTH STORY WINDOW OH MY GOD WAIT

Tiberius “Ty” Blackthorn + Christopher “Kit” Herondale: We take cosplaying Sherlock and Watson VERY seriously, so of course we needed to go to all the most illegal places, it’s only natural.

Ash Morgenstern + Drusilla “Dru” Blackthorn: So anyway I saw them in a sort of fever dream like state this one time and they’ve still been on my mind for years.