#romulus au Raa

[nevermindigotthis]

Diomedes and Romulus au Raa

[dangerandbeauty]

This parallel 🤌🏻

“I am Sera au Raa,” she says proudly. “Were you really a red? I heard my father speaking,” she explains.

“I still am a red,” I say. “It’s not something I stopped being.”

“Oh. You don’t look like one.”

She must not watch holos if she doesn’t know who I am. “Maybe it’s not about what I look like,” I suggest. “Maybe it’s about what I do.”

Minutes later…

“You whelp. I pity a world where you decide if a man like Lorn au Arcos lives or dies. Did your parents never teach you?”…”What is pride without honor? What is honor without truth? Honor is not what you say. It is not what you read.” Romulus thumps his chest. “Honor is what you do.”

[happilymad]

I just really love this line

[thegorydamnreaper]

Romulus au Raa

I actually drew about a year ago, crazy to see how much I’ve improved since then (compared to the Dido piece I posted yesterday). Apparently it’s House Raa week here - Pulvis et umbra sumis.

[circeauandromedus]

An updated moodboard for my Red Rising OC, Circe au Andromedus.

[sarcasmiclife]

This is by far the best humourous scene in all four books that does not have Sevro in it

[dm-stands-for]

"I am a son of Io. A child of the Dust. I am a dragon of Raa. An Iron Gold. Akari, bear witness!" - Romulus au Raa

(Iron Gold pg 582-583)

More like "I should have shut up, STOPPED TALKING, AND TOOK ANOTHER

10.

FUCKING.

STEPS.

He was FUCKING ROBBED.

[killsworthss]

‘’I will love you until the sun dies. And when it does,

I will love you in the darkness’’

-Romulus au Raa, Red Rising

[violethowler]

Hi, I read your IG timeline and I must say your work is fantastic! You were very thorough, your timeline is amazing!

The only thing that left me a bit shocked is November 1. All of Lysander’s chapters unfold in one evening?? I thought at least a day passed between Romolus’ arrest and the dinner, and another between the dinner with Dido and the Duel. I might I have read it wrong, but didn’t Dido mention sometime before the dinner that many lords were still to arrive to Sungrave for the trial?

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed my timeline! I'm really proud of all the work i've put into it, especially since I've spent the last few days updating each one to get all my notes as organized as possible before LB comes out.

As for Lysander's chapters, he indicates in chapter 32 that Dido took them straight to Sungrave after Romulus' arrest, and that they were given food on the flight. Then upon arrival they're given access to the baths to get cleaned up, and the opening of the next chapter has Lysander say that he's deposited in his room to change for the dinner. So that tells me that Romulus' arrest most likely took place in the morning, and the meal Lysander was given on the flight to Sungrave was lunch.

The only indication I can find of how much time passed between dinner and the duel are Lysander mentioning in chapter 40 that Cassius has shaved his beard by the time the duel begins, while the wounds from the gruesli that ate his flash mask are still fresh. And when Dido sends Seraphina into the ring, Lysander mentions that "I saw Dido notice the glances shared between us at dinner." If the duel were the morning after the dinner, I think that Lysander would've said "at dinner last night" or "last night" instead. Plus, given the intensity of their desire for his death, I think the Raa would've wanted to delay Cassius' duel as little as possible. So I feel like an hour or hour and a half is probably a reasonable enough time for Cassius get cleaned up while the Bleeding Place was prepared.

And then in chapter 55, Gaia au Raa tells Lysander "your friend died today," putting all of his post-duel, pre-trial chapters on the same day as the duel.

[vesperpharsalius]

As for the pregnancy twist, the willful ignorance of some people in this fandom, especially on the subreddit, continues to astound me. I’ve seen multiple posts advocating for this theory; naturally, they are immediately slain, blasted into smithereens, but... somehow, that doesn’t discourage them? They keep posting! Although, thankfully, less so—they’ve relented.

Definitely don’t ever worry that your RR knowledge’s sub–par; there are people out here reading with their brains off, I swear. One of my friends was very confused reading IG, years back, because he’d forgotten about Darrow’s destruction of the Ganymede Docks and that Mustang became Sovereign. He’d just re–read MS!

As for Cassius x Lyria, I agree that there was potential for romance. Back when I was blissfully ignorant of LB’s ending, it seemed likely that their relationship would eventually become romantic, if they both lived. I doubted that Pierce would leave Cassius and Lyria unpaired—although, as far as I’m concerned, they were both perfectly fine that way. I’m all for combating amatonormativity; brotherly/sisterly love is love; again for the people in the back. But I agree that both time and healing was needed before a romantic twist could happen.

Tbh, I was worried Pierce might jump the gun in LB, given how flirtatious their banter seemed, that he might get overexcited and pair them too early, which, I agree (for the reasons you listed above), would’ve been inappropriate and uncomfortable for me. But… obviously, my fears were unjustified.

Personally, I would’ve preferred their relationship stay platonic. I’m biased, of course, because I’m a Dassius Whore™️; it’s the crack–ship I live for, the hill I’ll die on, even now.

But, from my admittedly flawed perspective, Cassius and Lyria’s relationship felt very much mentee/mentor, with Lyria filling the void Lysander left in a wholesome way, because Cassius chose her, whereas Lysander was more of an obligation, and Lyria genuinely loved/respected him, in a wholehearted way Lysander couldn’t, because of his unforgiving nature and their terrible history.

Despite seeming so radically different, they actually have lots in common. They were both the crux of families that were slaughtered in a way they couldn’t have foreseen or prevented but they blame themselves, still, and resent their own survival, suffering from gnawing emptiness and loneliness and guilt; they also both got ‘vengeance’ that tasted bittersweet because it meant fuck–all.

They’ve both been victims of manipulation, too, and repeatedly exploited by people that didn’t reciprocate their love, that robbed them of their agency and used them to achieve their own ends. They also both struggle with their identities because they’ve been contorted into so many different shapes by necessity, by domineering abuse and conflicting expectations and hardship, that left them with an uncertain understanding of themselves, who they are and want they actually want from life.

Their mentee/mentor connection, Lyria filling Cassius’ Lysander–void and Cassius filling Lyria’s Eph–void, was very healing, for both of them. Because they chose each other, to an extent; they were forced into proximity, of course, but they weren’t forced to bond; their friendship is actually one of the only choices either of them, characters that have basically been rawdogged by the narrative since the start, ever made. Compare this to Lysander and Eph, where Lysander was Cassius’ penitential obligation and Lyria was literally Eph’s mark, even though he did care about her; both of those relationships were too forced to ever be healthy.

And they also empowered each other. Cassius never infantilized, dismissed, or mocked Lyria’s ambitions. He taught her how to fly and celebrated her progress; he supported her commitment to helping Volga. And Lyria is the only one that believed Cassius’ altruism was legitimately selfless and worthy of admiration; she defended him when Sevro came for his scalp, literally and figuratively.

They treated each other as equals when everyone else pitied/doubted them and found understanding and acceptance in each other on equal footing, too, because their relationship was balanced; neither of them ‘owed’ the other or needed to earn forgiveness, to redeem themselves; they could just… be.

They were both outsiders—Cassius as the ‘Bellona’ in the Augustus crowd, the Betrayer; Lyria, as a Gamma, partially responsible for the kidnapping of Pax and Electra—who found an advocate in each other, someone to defend them from criticism and protect them from exclusion, to make them feel welcome and safe and comfortable, a true friend that always had their six, someone who genuinely enjoyed their company to the extent that there’s nowhere else they’d rather be. Neither of them had ever had that type of relationship before, not even Cassius with Darrow; as much as I love them, there’s no denying that Darrow, especially LB Darrow, wasted most of his time with Cassius wishing he was somewhere else with someone else.

Fool.

I’ve never been the greatest fan of Lyria, but her relationship with Cassius was so heartwarming and endearing that I genuinely started liking her (rather than just appreciating her importance to the story) and thinking critically enough about her character that it snowballed into love. And that’s saying something, because I despised her in IG.

Growth—for us both, I’d say.

One of the things I love most about Cassius and Lyria's relationship in Light Bringer is how, yes, Cassius is protective of Lyria because she is younger and smaller and Cassius just can't help being a big brother, but Lyria is just as protective of him. Because she's a protector too. They are the same in that way.

[queen0funova]

I made a new lock screen for my phone!

[Image ID] A picture of a sunset over the ocean. There are clouds at the top stained crimson, a sky that fades from light blue to orange to red, and the sun sets in the horizon. The sun reflects off of water which appears black near the middle, but fades through various shades of red towards the bottom of the image. There is pink text in the middle that says "I will love you until the sun dies" and it has a white outline. [End ID]

[hyena-frog]

Currently working on a post that got a little unwieldy. I’ll clean it up tomorrow. In the meantime, have some Iron Gold quotes I cut out of the post because they were beside the point but I think they’re interesting when you put them together:

Dancer: "So many have trusted you. For so many years. But you're in love with your own myth. You think that the Reaper knows better than the People." (93)

Seraphina quoting Romulus: "A man who believes his own myth is like a drunk thinking he can dance barefoot on a razor's edge." (316)

Sevro: "Well, slag me sideways. You really are drunk on your own myth, aren't you? I didn't buy it when Clown said it. But you believe them all. You think you're a god. You can't die." (491)

Darrow: "People think that I believe my own myth, that I'm a singular whirlwind of nature. I know I am not. I was the concentrated force of the people around me, balanced, hardened, inspired by Ragnar, Fitchner, Lorn, Eo. Sevro." (596 literally the last page)

Anyway. 💅☕

[demigoddropout]

The Rising

Lets say Darrow didn’t do what he did...would the Rim, under Romolus Au Raa target the rising unprovoked?  

[shyanonimousunicorn]

The silent battle for honour. Raa versus Arcos.

In my last two previous posts on the RR houses I expressed my opinion on who’s better in regards of family and relationships in between family members by putting on the line the eternal enemies: Augustus and Bellona, and a post on the healthiest, most sincere and genuine family in the series - The Telemanus. In my first post I did a comparison between Raa and Bellona and what is very similar between them, however here I want to discuss the matter who is the more honorable between the titans Raa and Arcos. Both families are big and seem to stick together but what makes them alike is the fact honour  plays a huge part in their attitude and the way they educate their children. Lorn au Arcos, former Rage Knight and the best razormaster in the solar system ( at least for his time) instills honour and justice and duty in his grandchildren. Maybe because of that Lorn had his regrets - because keeping his duty for the Sovereigns ( after all he served both Octavia and her father as a knight) also meant doing things which went against his honour. Like participating in the coup for Mars, helping Nero obtain the power and slaughter the current archgovernor’s family, and seeing what the Sovereign did to Rhea.It speak a lot about Lorn’s characther that even the mighty dragons respected him despite his service and he even went on to live at the Rim after he retired. Lorn managed to teach his grandchildren these qualities. His greatest success is what became of Alexandar au Arcos, because he surpassed his grandfather. His honour, his duty weren’t negoatiable and he lived a life made of principles. Alas, we won’t get to see more of Alexandar’s characther and get expansion on it but we will always remember him as defender of the weak, a man who rose above his colour and showed everybody what a strenght of characther means. The Raa’s idea of honour, duty are as strong as well but they are held alongside immense discipline. The Rim abides by different rules, just as the moons they live on, they are harsh people, and their tradicions and law keep them firmly set on what is acceptable. The Raa are a perfect example of what rim people are. Their honour, their dignity is in their honesty, obedience towards law and given word and in not expressing their emotions much. They will dine with their greatest enemy and not lift a finger against them because they have promised. Romulus au Raa, the leader of house Raa is the epitomine of these Rim virtues. His charm would have never touched anybody if it wasn’t backed up with the severity of his self-control and reputation of honorable man, a man of his word. Ofcourse this doesn’t mean he like Lorn didn’t make compromise and that in the end he didn’t lie. Romulus’s weakness is not his desire to speak a lot as it may seem to some, his weakness is his family. We see Romulus brake his iron rules on honesty and given word only for his family - he murders people who believed in his word for safe passage, he lies to every rim gold as to whom destroyed the docks and in the end squanders his chances to get to the tomb of his ancestors because of his family, his children. He has seen war and refuses to loose more of his children, because of this he can’t surrender his daughter to justice, because of this he refuses to start a war with Darrow’s republic, and in his last attempt of teaching his children, of guiding them he picks the direst of moment, the moment they will forever remember: just before he dies, because in his heart Romulus doesnt care to reach the toomb and he isnt foolish as many would say in squaderin his breath, he wants to give his last moments to what mattered most for him in this world, the only thing that mattered more than his own honour: his family. And I believe Diomedes wouldn’t disappoint his father in becoming something even better, just as Alexandar became better than Lorn. It may sound foolish to have written so much and not pronounce a winner but I won’t lie and pronounce one just for the sake of it, i believe people here can pick whatever they fancy more or call it a even, just as I did.  This doesn’t mean they don’t have their problems, that they didn’t do wrong or that their believes are correct, or even that they weren’t hypocritical from time to time. However what matters is the fact they tried hard every day to lead a life where loyalty, duty, honour, discipline weren’t only words.

[thegorydamnreaper]

Some thoughts on Romulus au Raa:

This is slightly spoilery, but mostly just some thoughts I had reading back on some Romulus chapters.

Romulus is named after the semi-mythological figure of the founder of Rome. That Romulus was raised by a she-wolf and was (by some accounts) a demigod son of Mars and a vestal virgin. His twin brother, Remus, is killed when they dispute who should rule the new city they founded.

Romulus au Raa allies himself with wolves (the Howlers) and it allows him to establish his independent Rim Dominion. There’s a further connection to the myth with the god Mars being a starting point (as a “father”) paralleling how it is soldiers of Mars (the planet) that are the foundation for Raa’s new world. Both Mars are the source of a rough beginning, with the twins almost dying in the myth and with the destruction of the Docks. May be a stretch, but there’s still a connection there!

It’s also interesting to note that while Atlas and Romulus are not twins, Atlas is responsible for Romulus’s death as retribution for betraying the Society. It’s almost as if after thousands of years Remus is getting his piece of revenge, ironically using the veil of politics to justify it.

[circeauandromedus]

Shadowfall Red Rising Aesthetic Board 5/?

All images compiled are not my own and are sourced from Pinterest