#spartacus meta

[sforzesco]

Cardinal, you might want to check Plutarch's Comparison of Nikias and Crassus section II. It's where he says that Crassus struck Lucius Annalius in the face!

oh OH I was flipping through like, the actual Biographies and Cicero's Letters in my mind, not the Comparisons

my opinion on it is that I wish it was in any of the Biographies because the parts of Crassus' personality that appear in the Biographies of other figures are extremely interesting to me, and the fact that this incident was left out of a Biography and instead inserted into the Comparison intrigues me, especially in a larger reading of how Plutarch tackles Crassus. like. hm.

A Life in Pieces: Plutarch, Crassus 12.1-16.8, James T. Chlup

something something the whole bacchae-parthia thing, getting pentheused, a life in pieces, a body in pieces etc etc

my updated opinion now that I know what we're talking about (thank you for the clarification anon): Hot, Sexy, Wish Plutarch Put It In The Bio Itself Because It Really Drives Home The Hay On His Horns Comment In The Crassus Bio

[fleshwerks]

You know, as a developer company who went out of its way to make the meta joke of calling the Viper 'Ashur', you'd expect them to be familiar with the 2010s Spartacus, and therefore at least cursorily familiar with the fact that the Dock Town would be full of slaves doing business there and arranging for seedier liaisons with the parts of town that was full of such opportunities. Slaves were exactly the people you'd send there to do arrangements on your part when your noble magister ass

a) either couldn't go because it's too dangerous, and if go, then only with bodyguards and

b) couldn't be seen in such low company

c) couldn't be not-lazy

Instead I'm seeing excuses like "there are no slaves in Dock Town because it's poor.

YES. And if the poors of Dock Town have goods and services that are uniquely available in abundance, then you'd also see plenty of trusted slaves scurrying about, doing business on their master's behalf there.

Especially the lesser magisters, because while the top dogs would have the means and the standing to never have to set foot in Dock Town, not even their slaves, they'd still go through the lesser magisters and their slaves. It's the docks. Even if it's one of the smaller and more insignificant docks of Minrathous, it'd still be teeming with commerce, especially the more clandestine kind, which would absolutely interest some of the magisters in the upper town.

We should also really be seeing magisters with bodyguards there, because there's also power projection in waltzing into the Dock Town with your shiny bodyguards and retinue of accountant slaves like 'I'm entering this dangerous part of the town. I don't give a shit. Fucking witness me, you lot wish you were me!'

Bioware once again projecting that it's financed and written by people who've grown up in comfortable modern Western cities and have no real interest in cracking open history books on warfare, politics, commerce and society in general.

And it leaves Dock Town looking very sterile. You see the squalor, but in the midst of the squalor, it'd still be bustling, even in times of trouble. Especially in times of trouble as it'd be increasingly flooded with people losing their fortune uptown and being cut off from the fancy ports and the fancy goods. And if you don't save Minrathous, the Venatori presence should rightfully see a complete seizure of the commerce in the Dock Town. It should be an actual hellscape, but a bustling one, even with curfews. Instead it looks like no money flows through docktown. Where are the slaves buying shit for their masters from the equally raggedy-looking vendors because it's not 'socially appropriate' for a magister or even a Venatori fancy-guy to talk to the plebs in person.

Not to mention, mid level magisters still wouldn't be rich enough to daily dine on the fanciest most expensive goods. Sure, for big parties some fancier stuff would be procured, but slaves need food too, and you'd bet the slaves as well as the 'merchant class soporati' would all be flocking to docktown to get their daily goods and to make and project power in the only part of the town that's within their reach. The society can be heavily stratified, but the only two strata that wouldn't intersect daily in their regular business would be the toppest of top dogs, and the lowest of the low. Everybody else would be doing business.

But then I guess they'd have to tackle the uncomfortable truth of slavery in 2024 tyool, and I genuinely don't think our lead writer has the knowledge or the derring-do to go there and do it with frankness, knowledge and sobriety.

IT'S THE DOCKS. THE VERY REASON WHY THERE ARE SO MANY BEGGARS ON THE STREETS IS BECAUSE THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH COMMERCE FLOWING THROUGH THE DOCKS THAT THE BEGGARS COULD SOMEWHAT SUSTAIN THEMSELVES ON ALMS AND FOOD SCRAPS BEING GIVEN TO THEM. They're there because money changes hands every day everywhere in there, and some of them would inevitably end up in their begging bowls!

[raisinchallah]

person who mostly knows about these films from the celluloid closet voice anyways i think there should have been a later season xena episode when they started getting really meta where like it opens on classic old hollywood title screens and its like TALES OF XENA and its like shot as a like sword and sandal epic with all the required homoeroticism spartacus eating of snails and oysters scenes and whatever with like various jokes and coy nods to like hays code era gay coding as a complex reflexive loop of winks and nods to the homoeroticism of these films the fact it was censored and the fact that xena also is utilizing such modes for its own storytelling but is telling you that its doing that anyways watch this space for whenever i decide to watch spartacus and ben hur and whatever else to make a longer post about fake xena movie episode anyways the episode would end with like the lights coming up in a movie theater and the xena fan club filing out and are like idk if i really get old movies that was so long and boring or whatever

[tinglingfuckingsensation]

Fic & Posts Masterlist

After ten years on this hellsite, I've been a lot more active this year than ever before, and I'm starting to lose track of my posts because my tagging is all over the place. So here's a masterlist to make navigating my blog a little easier.

Hi, I'm tingling(fucking)sensation, and I've been writing fanfiction since 2008! I've written for different fandoms over the years, so here's a masterlist of all my fics, as well as fanart and other media I've been dabbling in. I like writing (smutty) hurt/comfort fics.

I am happy to take fic requests, working on them might take a while though. I won't write mpreg or major character death.

Find me on Ao3. Tag for my writing

Band of Brothers

Eugene Roe Gifset Baberoe Gifset & Video In the bleak midwinter || Baberoe Christmas Music Video Bastogne Christmas Meta Winnix going my way shitpost Ask about my fics Some random memes I made: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Fanfictions: Baberoe, complete, canon era if not otherwise specified.

Hungry Work: (9 Chapters, 27,362 Words, Rated E for heavy topics and explicit sexual content)

Gene Roe deals with a crisis of faith, internalized homophobia, being a medic in ww2 and falling in love for the first time.

@cirr0stratus made wonderful art for this fic, you can find it here!

Take Me to Church Music Video Meta post about the last chapter thinking about religion and mental health

Tag for this fic

Not Okay: (1 Chapter, 2,205 Words, Rated T for heavy topics, Gen or Pre-Slash)

Gene comforts Babe after Julien dies. Set during Hungry Work Ch.1 but can be read as a standalone. Inspired by this beautiful fanart, also by @cirr0stratus

Shelter: (1 Chapter, 859 Words, Rated G, Gen or Pre-Slash)

Inspired by this post by @danopdf - Babe washes Gene's hands in a foxhole in Bastogne.

Little Prayer: (1 Chapter, 3,030 Words, Rated E for explicit sexual content)

Fic about Gene calling Babe by his nickname throughout the war.

Just the tip: (2 Chapters, 6,463 Words, Rated E for explicit sexual content)

Gene and Babe share a room, and there's just one bed. Silly filthy porn without plot.

The Bargain: (1 Chapter, 8,131 Words, Medieval/Horror AU, Rated E for gore and explicit sexual content)

My beloved fucked up Halloween fic. Monster!Gene. Very bloody, please read the tags on Ao3.

Give and Take: (1 Chapter, 2,767 Words, Modern AU, Renee/Gene/Babe, Rated E for explicit sexual content)

Gene and Renee invite Babe to their shared bed. Porn without plot.

The Sandman Dreamling, complete if not otherwise specified.

Un Ami: (2 Chapters, 11,439, Rated E for explicit sexual content)

Hob frees Dream and offers him friendship and comfort in the aftermath.

Un peu d'amour: (1 chapter, 1,286 Words, Rated M)

Companion piece to Un Ami, some musings from Dream's perspective.

Le bien et le mal: (WIP on hiatus, 4 Chapters, 4,369 Words, Rated T)

Sequel to Un Ami. Desire stirs up some shit, and Dream spirals.

Should I know on my own what it is : (1 Chapter, 1,540 Words, Rated G, Gen)

Dream reflects on healing and being cared for.

Other Fandoms

BennyxBrady Flight School WIP Snippet (Masters of the Air) - this fic will get finished and posted one day....not sure when tho

Beautiful Undone: (Dragon Age Inquisition, Cullen/Dorian, 1 Chapter, 2,903 Words, Rated E for explicit sexual content)

Smutty oneshot dealing with erectile dysfunction.

Dorian Dragon Age Fanart

Forever at your side: (Spartacus, Tiberius/Sabinus, WIP on hiatus 6 Chapters, 18,353 Words, Rated E for explicit sexual content)

My forever WIP - how their lives could have gone if the decimation didn't happen.

Feather Light Touches: (Green Street Hooligans, Matt/Pete, 1 Chapter, 1,891 Words, Rated M)

One of the first fanfictions I've ever written. Matt and Pete friends to lovers.

Viktor Arcane Fanart

[enbymoomin]

Someday... I will type up my analysis on the meta-dialogue between The Hunger Games, Spartacus, and Black Sails... Someday....

[windmilltothestars]

15 Questions Meme!

Not really tagged by @magnetocerebro but it’s been a while and I’m in the mood, so why not?

1. Are you named after anyone?

Sort of?  I apparently had an ancestor named Malinda Minerva Spanigal!  Is that not the coolest name ever??  My parents also found ‘Malina’ in a name book or something and decided they liked the sound and meaning of it and it could also honor the ancestor but just knock of the ‘d’!

2. What was the last time you cried?

It’s actually not too recently, oddly enough!  I’ve been a little on edge for hormonal reasons the past few days, and the good ol’ dissatisfaction with my current place in the world, but I’ll cite the funniest example.  I watched an episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys where the people tried to put Herc on trial for inspiring people to endanger themselves by trying to be ‘heroes’ and how ‘heroes’ had no place in a civilized society.  But in the end he gave a passionate speech about what it means to be a hero and if that’s wrong in the modern world, he’ll gladly go to prison for it, and then all his friends stood up and did the “I am Spartacus” thing to stand by him, and I’m not gonna lie, I got a little choked up.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope!  This is unusual among my high school classmates, but normal among my college friends.  I do have two cats that I unload my motherly feelings on, though, along with some of my friends’ kids, to whom I am an honorary auntie.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

I’ve come around to being mostly irony-free and earnest!  However, I feel being around my brother brings out my sarcastic side.  And sometimes I will try to use sarcasm for good, ie. sarcastically complaining about my friends’ qualities that are clearly false and the opposite of their best qualities, to demonstrate how absurd their own self-criticism is to me.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

I mean, obviously just seeing them I’ll notice what they look like, but I feel I am also very attuned to the kind of energy people project, and shy away from certain kinds of energy and gravitate toward others.  I don’t mean anything weird and spiritual by this, I just mean the vibes and emotions I pick up from the way people talk, carry themselves, respond to others, etc.

6. What’s your eye color?

It’s a dull greyish shade of green or blue that looks greener or bluer or brighter depending on what I’m wearing.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I mean, for sure happy endings!  There’s certain brands of ‘horror’ that aren’t too rough for me and have elements I do enjoy, but often that milder horror will have a happy ending, too!

8. Any special talents?

Well, if I’m honest, I have no false modesty about my singing voice.  In fact, I have been known (to my shame) to get a little vain or show-offy about it.  But so many people tell me it’s nice, and I take great joy in singing, and I like the sound of it, too, and I have a special pride when I am able to lead people in song because my voice is on-pitch and strong and confident.

9. Where were you born?

Billings, Montana!

10. What are you hobbies?

At the moment?  I’m trying to get back into drawing and writing fanfics.  But I have not achieved massive success so far!  I’ve had more success reading through my third biography of Lafayette, and writing weird meta-essays comparing fandom stuff . . . When I’m with like-minded friends, we always sing folk-songs or hymns together, and that’s always a wonderful time!  Occasionally I enjoy playing my guitar alone or cross-stitching as well . . .  To simplify, my hobbies are everything and nothing!!

11. Do you have any pets?

Cats!  My two girls I adopted in Korea, Kartoshka (Toshka for short) and Dulcinea (Dulcie for short) have now joined their venerable old uncle Phoenix, whom I got in high school and who stayed with my parents while I was in Korea.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

I used to play softball in middle school, and I took a summer course in Mixed Martial Arts once.  When I was a little girl, I took ballet.  But I’m not super-athletic by nature, so I haven’t played in quite a while.

13. How tall are you?

5′3′‘-5′4′‘ I think.

14. Favorite subject in school?

English, Choir, Art (specifically loved my sculpture class; my teacher was amazing!) and Acting in high school.  Really loved my Philosophy class and Classical Mythology class when I got to college, but my FAVORITE class of my college career was Screenwriting!

15. Dream job?

Well, as you can see by my favorite subjects and favorite hobbies, my interests are very wide across the spectrum of the arts!  Do I wanna be a musical theatre actress?  A folk/filk singer?  A stage or film director, or actress?  A screenwriter?  An author of fiction or an author of comparative literature criticism?  A comic book writer/illustrator?  A sculptor?  An English teacher or college lecturer who just gets to monologue about my favorite books and themes as a living?  A youtuber who does the same?  All of the above and more? 

But also, my career experience so far has been in International ESL Education, and I do love working with kids!  I specifically loved working closer with individual kids in a tutoring capacity, while also experiencing new cultures!  So I was looking into au pair/governess stuff . . .

Following in the footsteps of my esteemed forebear, I won’t tag anyone specifically, but welcome anyone who sees this (especially if we know each other!) to participate, if they feel so inclined! :)

[calispirit]

DOSSIER.

FULL NAME.   alessia alvarez-zeppeli.

SPECIES.   human.

BIRTHDAY.   november 13th

GENDER AND PRONOUNS.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. she/they.

ORIENTATION.   bisexual

OCCUPATION.   unemployed.

HEIGHT.   5'7

WEIGHT.   150lbs

BODY TYPE.   strong and well built, lean musculature noticeable around the arms and legs.

HAIR.   inky black, smooth and shiny, falling past her shoulders in soft waves.

EYES.   the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes, framed by thick lashes.

NOTABLE TRAITS.   golden skin, heavily freckled. slightly crooked teeth. strong and angular facial features.

VOICE.   aj michalka.

FAMILY / RELATIONSHIPS.

PARENTS.   hercules and evita alvarez-zeppeli.

SIBLINGS.   tiberius alvarez-zeppeli, spartacus alvarez-zeppeli, cicero alvarez-zeppeli, scipio alvarez-zeppeli, effie alvarez-zeppeli, maureen alvarez-zeppeli, johanna alvarez-zeppeli, cosette alvarez-zeppeli.

PETS.   family dog, neopolitan mastiff named bruno.

EXTENDED.   caesar zeppeli, distant ancestor.

OTHER.   

BACKGROUND.

EDUCATION.   homeschooled.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION.   roman catholic.

MENTAL PROFILE.  shows some signs of adhd, but is not diagnosed.

ALIGNMENT.   chaotic neutral   /   good.

TV TROPES.   .

STAND. california love.

STAND APPEARANCE.

STAND ABILITY. california love can produce small clouds of condensed oxygen. while these can be used to assist others by providing oxygen, they can also be used to induce oxygen intoxication - or even be lit aflame and used as a projectile weapon.

NAMESAKE. california love by tupac ft. dr. dre.

HAMON. to be elaborated on.

ETC.

TRAITS. outgoing, excitable. curious, impatient, confident, compassionate, energetic, confrontational, assertive, honest, messy, witty, charismatic.

LIKES.   cowboy movies, food, hiking, fancy cigars, beaches, parades, festivals.

DISLIKES.   being bored, cold weather, being alone for too long, enclosed spaces, wasps.

HOBBIES.   cooking, shopping, skateboarding, horse riding, guitar, dancing, cycling, surfing.

SMOKING   /   DRINKING   /   DRUG USE.   yes   /   socially   /   no.

FUN FACTS.   

IMPORTANT METAS, w.i.p.

[lovendured]

DOSSIER.

FULL NAME.   alessia cruz-zeppeli.

SPECIES.   human.

BIRTHDAY.   november 13th

GENDER AND PRONOUNS.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. she/they.

ORIENTATION.   bisexual

OCCUPATION.   unemployed.

HEIGHT.   5'7

WEIGHT.   150lbs

BODY TYPE.   strong and well built, lean musculature noticeable around the arms and legs.

HAIR.   inky black, smooth and shiny, falling past her shoulders in soft waves.

EYES.   the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes, framed by thick lashes.

NOTABLE TRAITS.   golden skin, heavily freckled. slightly crooked teeth. strong and angular facial features.

VOICE.   aj michalka.

FAMILY / RELATIONSHIPS.

PARENTS.   hercules and evita cruz-zeppeli.

SIBLINGS.   tiberius cruz-zeppeli, spartacus cruz-zeppeli, cicero cruz-zeppeli, scipio cruz-zeppeli, effie cruz-zeppeli, maureen cruz-zeppeli, johanna cruz-zeppeli, cosette cruz-zeppeli.

PETS.   family dog, neopolitan mastiff named bruno.

EXTENDED.   caesar zeppeli, great - uncle.

OTHER.   

BACKGROUND.

EDUCATION.   homeschooled.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION.   roman catholic.

MENTAL PROFILE.  shows some signs of adhd, but is not diagnosed.

ALIGNMENT.   chaotic neutral   /   good.

TV TROPES.   .

STAND. california love.

STAND APPEARANCE.

STAND ABILITY. california love can produce small clouds of condensed oxygen. while these can be used to assist others by providing oxygen, they can also be used to induce oxygen intoxication - or even be lit aflame and used as a projectile weapon.

NAMESAKE. california love by tupac ft. dr. dre.

HAMON. to be elaborated on.

ETC.

TRAITS. outgoing, excitable. curious, impatient, confident, compassionate, energetic, confrontational, assertive, honest, messy, witty, charismatic.

LIKES.   cowboy movies, food, hiking, fancy cigars, beaches, parades, festivals.

DISLIKES.   being bored, cold weather, being alone for too long, enclosed spaces, wasps.

HOBBIES.   cooking, shopping, skateboarding, horse riding, guitar, dancing, cycling.

SMOKING   /   DRINKING   /   DRUG USE.   yes   /   socially   /   no.

FUN FACTS.   

IMPORTANT METAS, w.i.p.

[ailtrahq]

A mysterious project, known as “Project Spartacus,” has emerged, presumably with the intent to support Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. What Happened: The project seeks to commemorate the classified information that the U.S. government has accused Assange of illegally providing to journalists in the renowned Afghan War Diary by inscribing it onto the Bitcoin BTC/USD  blockchain.Established in 2006, WikiLeaks is a non-profit media organization. The organization was founded by Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who is presently fighting against extradition to the US due to his involvement with WikiLeaks. Despite being an Australian citizen and having allegedly not committed any offenses on U.S. soil, Assange’s extradition remains a looming possibility.Bitcoin Magazine revealed the existence of Project Spartacus, which aims to immortalize the tens of thousands of logs from the Afghan War published by Assange’s WikiLeaks in July 2010. To accomplish this, Project Spartacus utilizes the Ordinals protocol, a meta protocol for Bitcoin that allows for the addition of arbitrary data to the blockchain. This approach aligns with the project’s aim to combat information censorship. Will The SEC Finally Approve Long-Awaited Bitcoin Spot ETF? secure early bird discounted tickets now!A Stay At The Floating Palace From James Bond's ‘OctopussyWhy It Matters: By inscribing the Afghan War logs onto the blockchain, Project Spartacus seeks to protect the data that Assange risked his life to make public. Project Spartacus takes a unique approach by utilizing Ordinals’ successful use case of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain to emphasize the importance of decentralized information accuracy. With tens of thousands of nodes in different jurisdictions worldwide, the Bitcoin blockchain, powered by Ordinals, may serve as the ultimate publishing tool to combat information censorship and tampering.According to a report by Galaxy Digital, text files represent the vast majority of Bitcoin inscriptions, accounting for approximately 95% of all inscriptions. Image-based inscriptions account for approximately 3.5% of all inscriptions, with the remaining 1.5% consisting of other types of digital artifacts.Last week. Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed his clear stance on Assange. "Yeah, I will pardon Julian Assange on day one, and probably Snowden as well. And I will look at other cases," he said.Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $0.058, down 1.06% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro. Here’s How Much You Should Invest In Shiba Inu Today For A $1M Payday If SHIB Hits 1 Cent?

[blondelucretia]

In "Reckoning," a promising gladiator named Dagan became blind in his right eye. [...] Oenomaus, in speaking with the dominus about Dagan's gladiatorial future, doubted his ability to survive in the arena, saying, "Dagan is now blind to attack from the right." This appraisal foreshadowed Dagan's death in the following episode, but it also provided insight into Oenomaus' mindset in Spartacus: Vengeance heading into the battle in which he was killed.

In the penultimate episode of Spartacus: Vengeance, Oenomaus was also blinded, albeit in his left eye, when the Romans attacked the rebels' stronghold and forced them to retreat to Mount Vesuvius. Spartacus devised an ingenious plan to escape from the mountaintop and rout Glaber's army in a surprise attack, and Oenomaus without hesitation helped lead it. He inspired the rebels in saying, "A man is never too weak or too wounded to fight if the cause is greater than his own life." A sword tore through his midsection during the fight, undoubtedly because he was blind to attack from the left.

Oenomaus therefore marched down Vesuvius likely aware that he had a small chance of survival, as evidenced by his appraisal of Dagan in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Although Oenomaus' death was objectively likely given his injury even without the Dagan/Oenomaus connection, an audience member aware of it realized that Oenomaus himself knew his death was forthcoming, which made his end all the more heroic. Killing him in an early battle between the rebels and Romans satisfied any expectations the audience had about seeing a historically accurate depiction of his demise. His death was foreshadowed, and consequently given meaning, by linking one point in the story space to another.

—"It is for history to decide": The Story Space of the Spartacus Series, by James Klima. (Spartacus in the Television Arena)

[blondelucretia]

How heartbreaking is it, that the first thing Naevia says upon being reunited with Crixus is “Forgive me for what I have done”?

Of course survivors often feel guilt & shame. Did she feel guilty about Ashur (and the countless terrible men who followed)? She had no choice in sleeping with him, but she saw how it hurt Crixus just the same. And she knew that pain well: she often had had to stand around the corner & listen to him having sex with Lucretia.

Perhaps she also carried guilt about speaking the truth to Lucretia at last: “Crixus never loved you. He did only as commanded.” Maybe if she hadn’t been so defiant she wouldn’t have been sent to the mines; maybe Crixus wouldn’t have been lashed so severely.

Then pair Naevia’s plea for forgiveness with Crixus’ parting words to her: “I have ruined us.”

The tragedy here is not only that they were pulled apart, but that they both turned their blame inwards instead of at the system that separated & repeatedly traumatized them. As slaves, they were brainwashed into believing that they were at fault for breaking the rules; that it was foolish for them to love in the first place, rather than unconscionable that they were forbidden to do so. And remember that Crixus was determined to earn his freedom as a gladiator & find Naevia—it wasn’t until he discovered that Lucretia had drugged him in his match against Spartacus that he realized how fundamentally unjust the situation was: the house always wins.

You are safe, you are safe now. I’m here, I’m here. Crixus? Forgive me, forgive me for what I have done.

[brunnismemorybank]

I might be the only fan who didn’t consider Spartacus’s final season a letdown. 

That said, by treating Crassus and his family as the relatively-staid alternative to a wild-child Julius Caesar, the producers missed a golden (heh heh) opportunity to out-tacky all previous villains in conspicuous consumption.

[littlehollyleaf]

Tagged by the dear @castiel-saved-me-from-myself <3

Rules: name your top 10 favorite female characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people

Charlie Bradbury (spn)

Tabitha Galavan (Gotham)

Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Eve Baird (The Librarians)

Entrapta (She Ra)

Shotgun Mary (Warrior Nun)

Naevia (Spartacus)

Lily/Brona (Penny Dreadful)

Tilly (Star Trek Discovery)

Lumen (Dexter)

Dang, choosing only one from each fandom was HARD! These aren't necessarily my absolute hard and fast favs from each fandom, but they are the ones that first sprang to mind.

(is my Dexter one too left field? I adore Deb, ofc I do, but Lumen's season is my fav! ...doesn't mean it's the best, however :p)

Ten people is too many to tag *whines* Play if you want and say I tagged you ;P

[crushcandles]

I cannot wait to hear your thoughts on Nasir!! -Spartacus anon

Spoiler alert! I am already super into him! I am very excited to see a character explore freedom from a different lens than the characters who came from the ludus together (and especially the gladiators who are trained and powerful and more ready for this), and it’s interesting to see him struggle with it because it’s so new and scary. I want to see where he goes! I assume after trying to stab the leader of the rebels and then almost losing his trust in a gambit to bait Roman scouts to their deaths you can only go up from there.

(I won’t lie to you though: even though I know a bunch of the cast is from AUS/NZ I literally went “WHAT” when he started speaking. I wasn’t expecting the accent at all!)

Other random thoughts:

After the prequel, I am much warmer toward Crixus. He’s still the kind of person who would fart in a crowded room and then shrug when everyone looked at him, but I understand him and his Batman voice better now.

I want Naevia back. I hope they find her!

I am very, very interested to see what Lucretia gets up to. Her surviving was a total surprise to me.

I’m still getting used to the new Spartacus. I’m guessing that it would be easier to handle if I had the traditional 8-12 months between TV seasons, instead of finishing S1 on Friday and starting S2 yesterday.

I...love...Agron. I love him. In these first two episodes he’s so, so bitchy. He has excellent reason, but I cannot get enough of his snippiness. Him giving Nasir a drink, talking to him about brothers, and then getting all passive-aggressive about GUESS YOU’D BETTER JOIN US HUH is everything to me.

Speaking of them together, Agron eying Nasir speculatively and calling him “this wild little dog”? You know I’m here for it!! It’s one step removed from pup/puppy. GIVE.

[awed-frog]

Hi! So I might be a bit dummy but I still didn't understand the oyster subtext :3 (& I am not the previous anon) I love your blog too much :D

Hi and thank you! And don’t worry - not a dummy, it’s a complex subject! I had the great luck of following a semester on ‘cinema and the ancient world’ back in uni, so I have vivid memories of this Spartacus thing but not many online sources. Sorry for that.

Basically what happens is: one big problem we have with Hollywood vs Classics is that people want movies to be about Christianity and Christian values, which eliminates about 99% of Antiquity and leads to a huge misunderstanding of the other 1%. In the case of Spartacus, that’s a great movie (it’s Kubrick, ffs) and I’d rec the hell out of it, but from a historical perspective - academically speaking, I think one might define it as ‘one giant sucky mess’. 

(Which is mostly Kirk Douglas’ fault, by the way, because he got really zealoty and weird over how Christian the whole thing should be and people kept telling him ‘You do know this is set a full century before Jesus was even born, right?’ to absolutely no avail.)

So anyway Spartacus is about the most significant slave revolt in the ancient world (that we know of), and it’s a story that always fascinates people because a) all the what ifs, b) slavery is awful and c) a lot of guys we know were around at the time, including Caesar, Cicero and Crassus. As for Spartacus himself and what his plans were, unfortunately that remains unclear. After much effort and trouble and panic on the Roman side of things, Spartacus’ army was finally defeated in 71 BC and the survivors were crucified and left to die (note that crucifixion was a common - and humiliating - torture method, so there’s no Christian subtext in this at all).

[only slightly Jesus-y: Kirk Douglas prettily tied to a cross]

On top of the Christian propaganda -

(Which, i can’t stress this enough, wasn’t subtle. I mean, look at the absurd voiceover at the beginning of the movie: “In the last century before the birth of the new faith called Christianity which was destined to overthrow the pagan tyranny of Rome and bring about a new society, the Roman Republic stood at the very center of the civilized world…Yet even at the zenith of her pride and power, the Republic lay fatally stricken with the disease called human slavery.”)

- the movie, which is from 1960, is also very much concerned with the American civil rights movement and the Cold War-related purges in the entertainment industry. In fact, the book which inspired it was written in prison by Howard Fast, a Communist and political activist who’d refused to name the contributors of a fund for orphans of the Spanish Civil War (a fund! for orphans!). The screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, was also blacklisted because he’d refused to name people ‘spreading Communist influence’ in Hollywood, and Kirk Douglas fought personally (and bravely) to hire him and include his name in the credits. 

(At some point there’s this scene, now famous, where everybody claims to be Spartacus so they don’t betray their leader; it was most probably inspired by the anti-Communist trials of the 1950s.)

Anyway - coming back to your question, in 1960 the Hays Code was still enforced, which means no ‘sexual perversions’ could be shown on screen - and that included homosexuality, which was - not exactly in today’s form, because cultural norms and stuff - normal and widespread in the Roman world. Despite this, someone decided to film a scene of the movie’s main villain, general Crassus, attempting a seduction of his (male) slave and - problematically - chose to frame that seduction as acceptable. The dialogue goes as follows:

This went too far in that a) it established Crassus as bisexual (oysters being a euphemism for vaginas and snails for penises) and b) it didn’t condemn bisexuality or homosexuality as a perversion, or a moral issue. The scene was thus cut, and only reappears in the restored version in 1991 (the Hays Code was abolished in 1968). Fun fact: because the audio couldn’t be recovered, Spielberg, who supervised the restoration, had to fly in Tony Curtis (who played Antoninus) to re-record it. Sadly, Laurence Olivier (Crassus) had since died, and his widow chose Anthony Hopkins as a voice double.

[platonic bonding: Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier share a bath]

Now, as I said, I don’t know if that oyster reference in Good Omens was a nod to all of this (we should ask @neil-gaiman about it!), but on the whole it seems likely? Both Spartacus and that scene loom large in movie history, and Good Omens was peppered with careful historical and cultural references. For instance, the Petronius mentioned in that same scene has been confirmed to be Nero’s chief fashionista and famous gourmet - and possibly the author of tongue-in-cheek, outrageously funny novel Satyricon.

So there you go. It should be noted that despite the (cautious) steps forward we’re taking to normalize queer relationships on screen, movies set in Antiquity continue to be ridiculously straight. Here’s to hoping that changes soon.