#Lucretia inspired

[sofancydancy]

*slams fist on table* more body hair and more light--

[nutmegnautilus]

I can't stand the noise.

[corridor-bard-art]

What do you think? I'm thinking of making posters of this and selling them in multiple designs once I figure out the details.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

It would have been easy to miss her if Barry hadn't been keeping an eye out. She wore a dark cloak with a silver clasp and had her hood drawn up over her head. The crowded streets of Neverwinter— Neverwinter, why was he in Neverwinter again?— pushed them past each other but for a moment, they caught eyes. He got the shortest glimpse of her face, aged, and stressed, and focused— and then recognition. Surprise.

He knew her. No, he didn't.

Fuck, wait, yes he did.

So Barry did something he had recently discovered he was very good at doing: He ran. The crowd helped him along, pushing him forward as he stumbled over his own two feet. He kept his head low, trying to get cover from the people around him. He crossed the street, and then went left, and crossed the street again, trying to drown himself into the crowd. He kept going until he was reasonably sure that he had lost her and then ducked into an alleyway.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Barry twisted his bag, fumbling for his inhaler. Good fuckin' Gods. This day and gone from bad to worse. He took a hit of it (and someone in his head told him to stop saying that he "took a hit" of his medication) and leaned against the alley wall, trying to breathe deeply again.

He dug through his bag, finding the little gold coin he kept with him. He was… gods, Barry wished he knew what was happening anymore. But he couldn't— he couldn't lose focus. He was looking for someone. He was supposed to be looking for someone, but, well, this attempt had hit a dead end. And, for the first time (?), Barry had come across the person who was looking for him.

He pressed a little notch on the coin, flipping back through old recorded messages until he found the right one. The coin buzzed a little, like a staticky radio line, but crackled to life with a message in Barry's own voice. One he didn't remember leaving, but he knew the words by heart by now. They were important.

"— and— and another thing— there's this… Geez, I don't wanna call it an issue, but it's kinda an issue. There's a— there's a woman looking for you. Not the one we wanna find. On purpose, I mean. God, I hate this. It's making her sound like some sorta villain and she's no— well…"

The coin sighed.

"Her name is Lucretia." There was a shuffling noise in the background of the recording, as if someone was adjusting papers. "She's— she's part of the family you don't remember. But it's— I can't stress enough how much of a no-go talking to her is. Like, even more than the others, so, so much more. In fact, if you ever see her just— I don't know, just fuckin' run, I guess. That's— Gods."

The coin was silent for a moment. Barry took another puff of his inhaler.

"There's nothing good that you can get by talking to her right now," the coin continued. "And if you talk to her, she might— I mean, I don't think she'd do anything to you besides talk, but that's— that's enough sometimes, y'know? She's… she's the reason we're in this mess. Why we can't remember ###—" Barry winced at the static. "I don't— I can't physically explain what she did, but don't— don't talk to her. If you see her, just run. Just go."

The coin went on to describe some of Lucretia's features— her eyes, the white hair, her age ("—because she wouldn't fucking listen to me about Wonderland and #### ###### ##—"). Barry thought back to the glance he had caught of the woman he passed by and just barely managed to swallow his fear about it. He hit the notch on the coin again, shutting it off. Sometimes, it would delve into static for a while, especially when talking about Lucreita. He put the coin back in his bag, along with his inhaler.

He peeked back into the streets and then pulled back into the alley. He could still slightly see from his space between the buildings, but hopefully, she couldn't see him.

Lucretia had lowered her hood, and was looking around. The crowd had thinned some, just enough for her to stand in place without being pushed around. But her eyes never found his hiding spot and, after a moment, an orc woman jogged up to her. Barry could barely hear them over the hustle and bustle of Neverwinter, but he caught wind of,

"— just started running! What gives?"

"I thought I saw…" Lucretia scanned the area once more. Barry scooted back a bit to hide himself, holding his breath. "No, it was nothing. It's— I'm a just little on edge today, I suppose."

It was obvious the orc woman didn't believe her, but she must have known Lucretia enough to not question it. Or at least, not to publicly question it.

"You're gonna be late for your meeting," the orc woman said after a moment's pause.

Lucretia turned and while Barry couldn't hear the curse word, it startled a laugh from the orc woman. They retreated back the way they had come. Barry sighed, relaxing a little.

Okay. Okay, time to regroup. Refocus. Once he felt it was safe, he stepped back into the street again, carefully retracing his steps to regain his bearings. From here, he'd go to Farnfoss. There was an enchanted forest that supposedly protected some powerful magic items— it was a better lead than nothing.

As long as he made it there alive, at least.

[emotionalwarmth]

I came across this picture on Facebook a while back and my mind went "oh lord Vincent Lucretia Miniroth" Alucard and Sephiroth have so much in common tho tbh And let them be happy

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

So fun fact My Last Duchess (Robert Browning) is one my favourite poems and I am currently reading The Marriage Portrait (Maggie O’Farrel) and quickly falling in love with it and one of my favourite songs is Portrait of a Dead Girl (The Last Dinner Party) and I don’t think you understand how I can never recommend enough times that if you love one of these things individually you should check out the others and if you don’t know any of them you should introduce yourself to them because *screams*

(Btw for added context The Marriage Portrait and My Last Duchess are both inspired by the same historical figures Duke Alfonso II d’Este (fifth Duke of Ferrara) and Duchess Lucretia do Cosimo d’Este (née de’ Medici). Lucretia was much younger than him and died at 16, within the first year of their marriage. Her official cause of death was putrid fever but it has been popular theorised that Alfonso poisoned her. My Last Duchess describes the painting that Alfonso had commissioned of her, known as her marriage portrait. I included Portrait of a Dead Girl in this because the themes are very similar and it makes me think of her when I listen to it. ALSO: I’m not classing this as spoilers for the book because it is real history and the book tells you what happens to Lucretia all the way through the beginning including in the epigraph, but if anyone thinks I should tag this as spoilers let me know and I’ll add it)

[theadventurezoneoftruth]

the IPRE playing Civ 6

This post started as a teehee joke, but then it became. Well. Far too long.

Anyway, it started with this simple idea: to ME Barry Bluejeans loves the Sid Meier's Civilization series. Do I feel this way because he's a long-time blorbo and I'VE been really into Civ lately? perhaps.

Anyway. He brought a copy of Civ 6 with him onto the Starblaster. He managed to achieve all victory types for all leaders by the end of the stolen century.

On what would have been his 100th birthday (if they were tracking ages normally), he got all of the crew to play a 7 player hotseat multiplayer game with him.

For those unfamiliar with Civ: it's a strategy game where you play as a fictionalized version of real life historical figures, seeking to create an empire which can survive throughout the ages. Each leader and country have certain bonus attributes, which can influence your playstyle.

Barry - Eleanor of Aquataine / England: This is a really weak civ for multiplayer, since her leader bonus only really works against the AI. But I think he purposefully chose that to try and give himself a disadvantage, since he has so much more experience. Plus it gives him Court of Love.

Lup - Hammurabi / Babylon: I think she'd like the really chaotic and off-beat playstyle of Babylon, which allows you to unlock some things crazy early if you focus in on the right tasks.

Taako - Qin Shi Huang (Mandate of Heaven) / China: I think he'd approach Civ as mainly a city building game / teehee wonders go brrr. Along with the bonus's to wonder production, the Great Wall would allow him to play more defensively.

Lucretia - Seondeok / Korea: A leader which allows her to rush a science victory, which feels thematically appropriate for the future creator of a fake moon. Requires a lot of thoughtful planning.

Davenport - Harald Hardrada (Konge) / Norway: powerful naval-focused civ goes brrr. considered giving him Portugal for a more peaceful approach, but tbh I think it'd be funny if Davenport was really cutthroat at the game.

Magnus - Tomyris / Scythia: I had to think on this one for a while, because at first I was tempted to try and pick something thematic for Magnus - a Diplomacy civ for his rustic hospitality, a civ which focuses on builders for his carpentry, etc etc. But ultimately, I think if you give Magnus Burnsides a game like Civ 6, he's mainly just going to want to have some fun making an army and attacking people.

Merle - Theodora / Byzantium: I think Barry told Merle to pick this one because she's one of the strongest civilizations in the game + she has a focus on faith and culture. Merle proceeds to get a Great Prophet, found the religion of Pan, and then mess up at the game in every single way possible.

[davlucies]

taako rescuing lucretia frfom the depression nexus because otherwise there's no way he and lup can pull off this prank 🌶

[papergardener]

Pivoting from obsessing over TAZ Balance to Warriors is how I remember how much I love powerful women with deep, deep tragedies that they caused by trying to do the right thing for everyone else and should get their happy ending, even if they feel they don’t deserve it.

[vollow-tree]

He pulls away from the kiss, slowly, keeping their foreheads together.

"We're at work," his voice low as a whisper, "so we are going to work, like the respectable members of academia we are," he pulls away completely to straighten her hair, his voice darker "and in the evening, when all the younger students are gone, I want you back here on my table ready to finish this."

Little bit of confusion crosses her flushed face, "but there will still be people in the building, there always are."

"I know," he smiles gently "I want most of the Institute to know you are mine," the faint blue flame in his eyes flaring with desire.

[sofancydancy]

Okay, so the poll reached about 70% on this one and I jumped on it because I'm ADHD...Seriously, thank you for those who voted!! Going for a Lucretia type of martyr! I am obsessed with the stomach currently because the original painting is so fleshy! Also: from far away this looks like a spicy novel cover

Gale approves

[queenslayerbee]

I should NOT be this surprised that (re)watching The Sopranos is giving me extra brainworms regarding "Underground Elysium"... ofc Tony Soprano IS one natural influence of Lucretia (how could he not be? he's the blueprint), but as I develop Constanza, Lucretia's mother, and I see Livia Soprano on the show being... the kind of mother that she is... damn, yeah. this should've been more obvious to me xDD

[anistarrose]

one of the most endearing (and slightly emotional) things about TAZ Balance to me is how it sets up this color symbolism, primarily around red and blue, that completely breaks down and ceases to mean anything once you get to know the characters' real backstories — but how this breakdown is actually completely warranted, because all the color symbolism is just completely made up bullshit in-universe. like. Lucretia just made that up for dramatics. all of it.

because, come on. she's a storyteller at heart, and a visual artist too. you can't convince me she chose blue for the Bureau for any reason other than to juxtapose with the Red Robes — to tell a story she thought would motivate the Bureau; a story with themes, and symbolism, and a color key. the total breakdown of her symbolic binary between good and evil, between blue and red — the way it all turns out to be meaningless, as far as indicating alignment or even identity — actually circles around, to come back and mean everything.

and that meaning is about the way Lucretia aligns herself with blue, despite the old red robe that she definitely still has tucked away somewhere, among her most treasured and guarded possessions. it's about the way Lucretia had the power to — and felt that she had no choice but to — reassign the very color the story associated with Barry, from the iconic blue to the terror-inspiring red. it's about the way Barry felt he had no choice but to play along and let her.

because Balance isn't a story about good and evil, especially not beneath the surface. and in a way that I think is part intentional, part beautifully unintentional on Griffin's part, the use of red and blue show this — they show that Balance is really a story about stories.

[yosbin]

wip... inspired by Frank Cowper's "Lucretia Borgia Reigns in the Vatican in the Absence of Pope Alexander VI"

[nothelena21]

"Random HEADCANONS of BLACK FAMILY members"

Pollux Black: He hates art and anything related to the non-aggressive expression of feelings. Ironically, after his death, his children found complete and incomplete poems among his books of ancient runes.

Irma Black (nee Crabble): She likes to sit and embroider in front of the fireplace in the living room, in the rocking chair in front of the window in her bedroom, or any place she finds suitable for doing so. Many of her children's clothes featured subtle embroidery done by her.

Walburga Black: Known for being a chaotic and tough-to-manage child who could always be found on the move... she found peace walking around her family's vast grounds... that small uncut grove of trees? a perfect place to hide for a while from Pollux and Irma.

Alphard Black: Being one of the most neglected children by his parents, he found himself drifting in and out of different hobbies that kept him busy enough to escape reality. One of them was sailing and cartography... there was something special about feeling the cold wind on his face and the salty scent of the sea in his nose that visibly relaxed him.

Cygnus Black III: Most of the family members were educated in different branches of art: painting, music, theatre... there was nothing that the young Blacks had not tried until they were the best and got bored of it long after. Except for him, of course. He found himself immersed in the world of sculpture for longer than expected, spending days and nights until he managed to finish beautiful works that he asked Kreacher to place in corners of the family properties or their gardens. Many of his later sculptures were inspired by Druella, his beautiful and beloved wife... and later his three little princesses: Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa.

Druella Black (nee Rosier): So small and thin since she was a child... her fragile aura and delicate figure were easy to associate with a ballet dancer. That was how her classes began... her golden hair was tied neatly, her delicate skin was adapted to the makeup of the plays she participated in, her wardrobe was filled with costumes and comfortable clothes for training and her shelf with dolls had to be enlarged to proudly display trophies and gold medals. One of her biggest dreams when little Bellatrix was born was to hope that she would become as interested in ballet as she was and that they could practice and dance together for hours.

Arcturus Black: A skilled hunter for as long as he can remember, he loved to go hunting for animals in dark forests with his frivolous father. Unfortunately for his flirtatious wife Melania, that only meant an entire room dedicated to the taxidermy of these animals and many parts of them placed throughout the house as decoration. The only time he saw a gesture of admiration towards him from his father was in one of those forests.

Melania Black (nee McMillan): Her wealthy but stingy family did not allow her to make large monetary expenses on a regular basis: only on special occasions were goods, decorations or ostentatious clothes acquired to keep up with the elegant and superficial pureblood society. Great was her surprise when, after marrying Arcturus Black, he gave her the freedom to do with her inheritance whatever she wanted as long as she did not exceed what her work provided them. Decorating the properties and gardens as she pleased became her favorite activity, and she found a challenge in making her tastes in decoration ally with her husband's taxidermied animals.

Lucretia Black: Since she was a child, nothing pleased her more than to climb onto the back of any animal that wouldn't knock her down before she could count to ten. That's how Arcturus made sure to build a stable for five brightly colored horses and an Abraxan that Lucretia took years to tame without the help of specialists in the field.

Orion Black: Much to the chagrin of his Arcturus, his only son loathed the firearms hanging on the walls and the taxidermied animals that gave him nightmares which meant the house elves had to change his bed sheets almost regularly. Instead, he found immense love in stringed instruments and the rhymes that flowed on their own into a catchy and emotional song. He could spend hours hiding in the attic where old portraits lay waiting to decay with endless layers of dust on their surfaces. The one where Eduardus Limette Black rested under an apple tree with a predecessor to the conventional guitar glued to his hands was his favorite... and where he learned most of the notes and musical combinations that would drive anyone who heard them crazy.

[moniquill]

Rights of Property Donald Grinde, Jr., professor of American Indian Studies and chair of the Department of American Studies at SUNY Buffalo, recounted this story in a 2002 interview with the journal Spirit of Ma’at:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton describes how, as a young girl on an Iroquois reservation — she was twelve or thirteen — she saw a man come up, and the mother of her Indian playmate went outside and talked to this man for a half hour or more. Then he handed her some money, they went to the barn and took a horse out, and he rode off on the horse.

Stanton asked the mother what had happened, and the woman said, “Well, I sold the man one of my horses. We negotiated the price, and then he gave me the money, and then he left with the horse.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton said, “What will your husband say when he gets home?”

The woman said, “Well, it was my horse, and I can do with it as I please.”

For a young Euro-American woman, it was quite a revelation that this was possible, that a woman could behave in this way, holding property and disposing of it without the approval of a husband or father.