#tarquinus

[horizon-verizon]

The Targaryens are also similar to the semi-legendary Tarquinius family, the ancient kings of early Rome, down to similar-sounding names. Both were overthrown in reaction to a tyrannical king’s son’s actions with a married noblewoman (in the case of Sextus Tarquinus he raped Lucretia, in Rhaegar’s case, he officially abducted and raped Lyanna). The Tarquins were, like the Targaryens, not native to the place they ruled, being Etruscans.

I would say then that their similarities end at Rhaegar and Lyanna. but that's an interesting catch. I see what you're saying about the shared narrative. I admit I have to read more about Tarquin and Lucrece.

[catoswound]

lucius tarquinus SUPERBASS (by nicki minaj). maybe if he shaked ass rome would have remained a kingdom. tarquin the PROUD ❤️

[goneahead]

so **shuffles feet** @cowandcalf and @stephmcx tagged me way back when Tarquinus was still king. In my defense, it was summer and I was summering. (estivation really should be a hobby. just saying)

Five fic recs of my own personal fics (under the cut ‘cuz I got long-winded)

note 1: All of my fic is on Dreamwidth, some of it has been cross-posted to A03.

Click for lists-> Masterpost of A03 fics Masterpost of all my fic

note 2: My dreamwidth account is friend-locked, but you can drop me a DM if you need an invite.

note 3: fic titles are clickable links. The USDA recommends consuming a minimum three fanfics a day in order to stay properly hydrated.

O-Ate-Four

Addams Family and Avengers 530 words

pairing: none, gen

Why I wrote It: Because my muse is a seductive temptress. And also because I’m convinced the Addams family has to exist in the same world where **checks notes** people fight aliens with pointy sticks.

Why you should read it: Natasha, Wednesday, French cemetery. Come on, what else do you need for a perfect Halloween fic?

Talking about pointy sticks, I may have written an entire fic where Hawkeye renovates a cabin. My ability to write truly riveting plots is… questionable😜

Operation: Cupcakes 1,427 words

pairing: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams but gen

Why I wrote it: Because the only thing better than writing about cupcakes is writing about red velvet cupcakes. No really, thats the plot. Did I mention my riveting plots?😆

Why you should read it: Because there is a serious dearth of McDanno baking fics. And because there are red velvet cupcakes.

Beam Me Up, Danno

Hawaii Five-0 42,995 (including sequel)

Why I wrote it: Either this was a whumptober fic that got out of hand—or my muse tied me up and threatened to put a Ceti eel in my ear if I didn’t write it. Take your pick.

Why you should read it: Because the world needs a Hawaii Five-0 Star Trek AU? Also, there is Cardassian poetry, diplomatic javelining, and aliens that love butter pecan ice cream.

Yes, this is my second ‘Hawaii Five-0 in space’ AU, and I’m totally done writing about aliens. **hides my Hawaii Five-0 MIB wip behind my back**

Care and Feeding of a Super Seal

Hawaii Five-0 59,934 words

pairing: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams

Why I wrote it: This is my coda for the Hawaii Five 0 finale and all @cowandcalf’s fault. My muse agreed with all her points in this meta she wrote and… stuff happened. Also, I was obsessing thinking in a very normal fashion about how the ohana deserved better, too.

Why you should read it: I did my best to explain the ending, various plot holes the size of an spider crab, and a few other things that have bugged fans over the years. There’s also Steve!whump, some badass!Danny, and a generous sprinkling of ohana. Most importantly, the boys talk about diving, and get their happy ever after.

Beasts and Outlaws note: this fic is only on dreamwidth

Supernatural 145, 622 words

pairing: Dean Winchester/OMC

Why I wrote it: I’ve always wanted a paranormal fic that felt like it was set in the southwest, so I decided to write one cleverly disguised as a Supernatural AU.

Why you should read it: Where else are you going to get a fic with nagueles, rain gods, and the FBI? Also, Old Man Coyote makes a random appearance and Dean’s in love with a were-cougar.

And yes, I wrote a Hawaii Five-0 AU where I turned Chin into a were-leopard but its totally not the same thing😂

tagging: @itwoodbeprefect @simplyn2deep and @herveiwfromthefloor

[imperium-wealth-management]

Watch "THADDEUS AND TARQUINUS - THE GATHERING" on YouTube

[imperiumallaboveall]

Watch "THADDEUS AND TARQUINUS - THE MEASURING" on YouTube

[ghostfriendly5]

The most significant event in the Goblin Slayer fandom of the last three years has begun.

The second season? I've been telling you for the past three years what can be done with that.

Fighter, Warrior and Wizard, the only heroes ever produced by a world they abandoned long ago, have come to Shasta Dam, California, on 28th May 2053. To lead a rag-tag and diverse militia against the invasion of Tir Tairngire's fascist elves. Against the racism, chauvinism and ignorant aggression represented by Goblin Slayer, whom Warrior stabbed through the head last year.

As adventurers, superheroes, mecha pilots, and through endless adventures worthy of their heroic hearts, the dauntless three have taken the lead in many actions of equal moment. This one, however, I have mapped out from start to near-finish in close to 300,000 words (link) over three years, with valued assistance from H2SO4Marauder and Cirion, to take Susan Shuang Lei, Harry 'Hotspur' Fawkes and Ilsa Tresckow from darkness and unmerited disgrace to hard-earned glory.

To give some idea of their heroics, and what acceptably decent literature looks like, I intend to post an abridgment of Horatius at the Bridge by Lord Macaulay. How can man do better?

The time is the 6th century BC. Following the rape of Lucretia by the Roman prince Sextus Tarquinus, the whole royal family was banished from Rome and a republic instituted. The Tarquins, however, urged Rome's enemies to attack and restore them; the north Italian city states of Clusium, Luna, Arretium, Umbro etc, of which less is heard in subsequent history, are now on their way to duff up the little city on the Tiber before they are all duffed up themselves...

Horatius at the Bridge pt1

LARS PORSENA of Clusium,

By the Nine Gods he swore

That the great house of Tarquin

Should suffer wrong no more.

By the Nine Gods he swore it,

And named a trysting-day,

And bade his messengers ride forth,

East and west and south and north,

To summon his array.

East and west and south and north

The messengers ride fast,

And tower and town and cottage

Have heard the trumpet’s blast.

Shame on the false Etruscan

Who lingers in his home,

When Porsena of Clusium

Is on the march for Rome!

The horsemen and the footmen

Are pouring in amain

From many a stately market-place,

From many a fruitful plain,

From many a lonely hamlet,

Which, hid by beech and pine,

Like an eagle’s nest hangs on the crest

Of purple Apennine:

The harvests of Arretium,

This year, old men shall reap;

This year, young boys in Umbro

Shall plunge the struggling sheep;

And in the vats of Luna,

This year, the must shall foam

Round the white feet of laughing girls

Whose sires have marched to Rome.

[the-mustache-guy-la]

P.1. The History of Rome (Podcast İncelemesİ)

Bu hafta ilk podcast incelememi, beni de bu “belaya” bulaştırmayı başarmış olan seriyi tanıtarak yapmak istedim. The History of Rome (Roma Tarihi), 2007 ve 2013 yılları arasında Mike Duncan tarafından hazırlanıp sunulan ve tarih konusundaki hemen her podcastçiye ilham kaynaklığı yapmış efsane podcast serisidir desem pek de abartmış olmam. Mike Duncan’ın 179 bölüm süren bu seri boyunca yaptığı çalışma gerek sürekliliği, gerekse kalitesiyle gerçekten nefes kesici.

Podcast Remus ve Romulus’ün doğumları, dişi bir kurt tarafından beslenilmeleri efsanesiyle başlıyor. Müteakiben, Remus’un Romulus tarafından öldürülmesi ile devam eder. Roma Krallığının kurulma sürecini ve Sabinler ve Etrüsklerle askerî ve politik  mücadelelerin yanında Roma Krallığı’nın 7 kralı hakkında da detaylı bilgiler verir. Roma tarihinin çalışılması en sıkıntılı dönemi, kısıtlı kaynaklardan dolayı krallık dönemidir. Bu dönemle ilgili bilgiler çoğunlukla Cumhuriyet, İmparatorluk veya daha da geç dönemlerde kaleme alınan belgelerden toplanıyor. Bu 7 kral içinde özellikle son kral olan Lucius Tarquinus Superbus’un yönetiminden şikayetçi olan Romalılar, kralı devirip yerine Roma Cumhuriyetini kuruyorlar. Ve bu rejim değişikliğinin Roma hukukuna, sosyal yapısına ve siyasi gücüne olan etkilerine değiniyor.  Mike Duncan pek çok kaynağı tarayarak metinlerini hazırladığı podcastlerinde cumhuriyete geçişin etkilerini çok detaylı anlatıyor ve etkilerinin analizlerini yapıyor. Mike Duncan’ın Roma Cumhuriyeti’ni anlatırken sık sık vurguladığı ve aklımda kalan en önemli olaylardan birisi, Tarquinus Superbus’un krallığı ve devrilmesi sonrası Romalı vatandaşlarda, senatörlerde ve devlet yapısında oluşan, ‘tekrar diktatörlüğe dönülür mü?’ korkusu ve buna karşı gelişen refleks. Nitekim, Roma tarihindeki  en bilinen suikastin arkasında da, ‘diktatörlük korkusu refleksi’ vardır. Gaius Iulius Caesar da Roma Senatosu tarafından orduları yönetmek üzere süreli olarak diktatör ilan edilmişti, ve bu Cumhuriyet tarihinde ilk değildi. Süreli diktatörlük olduğu için süre dolunca kontrolündeki birlikler Cumhuriyetin kontrolüne geçiyordu. Fakat, kendinden önce ki diktatörlerin aksine halk ve asker tarafından çok sevilen bir komutandı Caesar. O sebeple öncekilerin aksine halk desteği de arkasında olduğu için diktatörlüğünü ömür boyu yapmaya çalışır imaj çizmesi, senatoya işin kontrollerinden çıkmaya başladığı hissini verdi ve ‘Ides of March’ diye adlandırılan suikast ile M.Ö. 15 Mart 44′te öldürüldü. 

Mike Duncan bu olayın Mısır’daki Marcus Aurelius ve 7.Kleopatra’ya yansımalarını, Roma’ya yayılan kargaşa ve iç savaşın yansımalarını ve Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus’un halk ve lejyonların desteğini alıp olayları bastırmasını, kargaşadan ve arkasındaki destekten emin olarak Cumhuriyeti İmparatorluğa çevirmesini detaylıca anlatır. İmparatorluğa geçişin sosyal, kültürel, ve politik etkilerine de değinir. Bu noktadan sonra podcastin son bölümüne kadar İmparatorluk tarihi işlenir. Ve 395 yılında Romanın Doğu ve Batı Roma olarak ikiye ayrılması ve 476 yılında Batı Roma’nın çökmesini de işler ve seri biter. Mike ‘The History of Rome’ podcastini yaparken olayları kronolojik sırasında takip etmekle birlikte arada aralara sürpriz bölümlerde koymuştu. Örneğin eşi Brandi’yle evlenmeden önce kaydettiği ve Roma döneminde düğün geleneklerini incelediği ‘A History of Rome Wedding’ bölümü gibi.  

Mike Duncan’ın bu podcasta başlarken Roma Tarihini sevdiği ve amacının bu işi hobi olarak yapmak olduğunu söylemesine karşın, bu zamanla yarı zamanlı işi  ve en nihayetinde tam zamanlı işi haline geldi. Aslında bu gelişme başlı başına yaptığı işin kitleler arasında ne kadar popüler ve takdir gören bir iş olduğunun kanıtıdır. Onca podcast bölümünün yanında bir de ‘Storm Before The Storm’ adında bir kitap da çıkardı. Duncan podcastler için araştırma yaparken Roma dönemi yazarlarından Livy, Juvenal, Tacitus gibi isimlerin bıraktıkları metinlerden yararlandığı gibi, yapılan yeni yayınlardan da faydalandı. Bu sebeple de aslında güncel ve güvenilir bir kaynak olarak görülebilir. 

Mike Duncan, ‘The History of Rome’ serisi bittikten sonra podcast işini bırakmadı, ve ‘Revolutions’ adında her sezonunda bir erken modern dönemde Avrupa, Kuzey, veya Güney Amerika’da gerçekleşen devrimleri anlattığı ve halen devam eden yeni bir podcaste başladı. Podcastçiliğin yanında, yaptığı çalışmanın hassasiyeti ve kitabı ile de tarihçi olarak anılıyor. Netflix’te yayınlanan ‘Roman Empire’ dizisinde de başından beri bilir kişi olarak karşımıza çıkıyor. Bu podcast ve ileride de inceleyeceğim podcastlerle ilgili tek sorun ise hepsinin İngilizce olması.

Haftaya yeni bir Youtube kanalı tanıtımı ile karşınızda olacağım.

Esenlikler ve keyif sizlerle olsun.

tmg

[kass-dale]

Day 18 of the Zephyr, 1330 

Introduction 

To my children and my children’s children, this is a log of this world, its current state, and what you need to know of it. More than likely when you obtain this I will be long gone, so I will do everything in my power to pass onto you what knowledge that I have onto you. 

Upon writing this two of six elder dragons have been killed with rumors of all the other ones stirring. The world is currently in a mess, politically or otherwise. Relations are stressed as is. I will do everything in my power to chronicle previous history as well as current developments. 

My Dwayna bless your lives, Balthazaar strengthen your bodies, and Grenth shield your minds. 

[sugaroto]

It was my Latin exam today and the passage we had to translate was about a woman who got raped by some important dude and then killed herself 👍🙂 how nice

And then like her... I don't remember whether it was her brother or father, punished the guy and he and her husband became presidents or something and now there was democracy in Rome 🎉

What a way to start your day

Also apparently the rest of the kids didn't even realized that she was raped bc the translation was "Sextus Tarquinus' son insults Lucretia's honor" and they thought he had just insulted her by swearing at her or something but my teacher had told me the full story

[italianartsociety]

By Jean Marie Carey

The Roman god Saturn's feast began being celebrated in Rome on 17 December 497 BCE. The seven-day celebration in December called the Saturnalia has come to be associated with any revel-based celebration marked by licentiousness and the temporarily allowed breaking of taboos.

Roman festivals (feriae) were both holy days and holidays. At public feasts the specified magistrates and priests performed religious rites in honor of the gods. These might include sacrifices, prayers, banquets, and games. Individual citizens were free to attend the rituals at temples, the processions through the streets, and the spectacles in the theater and the circus, and on occasion citizens may have been able to receive a part of the sacrificial meat, but they were under no obligation to participate in the public festivities.

The Romans spoke of three classifications of public feast days. Most common were fixed festivals (stativae), those celebrated on the same day each year — the Terminalia (for Terminus, god of boundaries) on 23 February, Liberalia (for Liber) on 17 March, Vinalia (festival of wine) on 23 April and 19 August, Fontinalia (in honor of Fons, deity of springs) on 13 October, and so forth. Those of greatest antiquity were marked in capital letters on the calendars set up in public places, but as a matter of practice each month on the nones (the fifth or seventh day, according to the month) a state priest called the rex sacrorum formally established by proclamation that month's sacral agenda. Such feasts usually occurred on odd-numbered days and had names ending in -ia in the neuter plural form.

The Romans saw the history of their city embedded in their festivals, even if a historical explanation does not always reflect actual origins. The habit of thought can be seen in the differing ancient interpretations of the Poplifugia (flight of the people) on 5 July — supposedly recalling either the frightful popular reaction to Romulus’ mysterious apotheosis or the citizens’ attempt to escape centuries later when neighboring Latins threatened Rome after the disastrous defeat by the Gauls. The priestly brotherhood called Luperci who celebrated the Lupercalia was traced back to young Romulus and Remus. The Regifugium (flight of the king) on 24 February was taken to memorialize the expulsion of King Tarquin the Proud (Tarquinus Superbus) and the consequent inauguration of the Roman Republic.

Saturnalia was one of the most popular Roman festivals, initially taking place only on 17 December but then extending for seven days in the late Republic, trimmed to five or three under the Empire. Here coincide the annual worship of an ancient deity and the general merrymaking found in many cultures at the time of the winter solstice — compare the similar celebratory confluence at the same time of year in Christmas. Public events consisted of sacrifice to Saturn at his temple in the Forum and a senatorial banquet. Throughout the city people exchanged gifts and exuberantly reveled in a carnivalesque manner that pointedly inverted societal norms—public gambling was allowed, masters waited upon their slaves at meals, parties continued day and night. The spirit of release thus merrily expressed among the population found its counterpart in the rituals at the divinity's national shrine: the woolen bonds normally wrapped around the feet of Saturn's cult statue were removed during the Saturnalia.

Reference: David Leeming. "Saturnalia." In The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2005. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-1398.

Scene VII from the Frescoes of the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, First Century. Women flogged each other during the Dionysiac festival, and at the Roman Lupercalia women were lashed by the celebrants so as to expel from them the demon of sterility.

Statue of a Woman Dressed for Saturnalia, c. 50. The woman wears a thin elegant dress, thong sandals, and a crown of Dionysiac ivy leaves. The birds and basket of fruit she carries are festival offerings. Her garment has slipped off her shoulder, a detail often seen in representations of old women that hints at the liberation of the elderly from the restrictions imposed on women of childbearing years. The figure seems to have been deliberately damaged, probably in the late antiquity, when such a pagan image would have provoked hostility. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nr. 09.39.

Cybele, with mural crown on head, c. 200 BCE, Sardinia. Cybele is a goddess of fertility, but also cures (and sends) disease, gives oracles, and, as her mural crown indicates, protects the Anatolians in war. Cybele is also mistress of wild nature, symbolized by her attendant lions. Ecstatic states inducing prophetic rapture and insensibility to pain were characteristic of her worship. When Cybele became associated with the Roman Ceres, the excesses of her festival worship were removed. Considering that worship of Cybele in Anatolia went back to the earliest times, this was an outstanding example of Roman ability to absorb and reshape other religions. By 204 BCE Cybele was installed in Rome in a temple on the Palatine. For the remainder of the Republican Period save for the public games, the Megalesia and processions, she was limited to her temple and served only by priests. Romans were not to join the priesthood. Finally under Claudius (50-54) the cult was accepted, and Romans flocked to join. Photo: The Archive for Research on Archetypal Symbolism, Nr. 23378.

Attributed to Titian and his apprentices. Allegory of Prudence, c. 1565. The human heads represent Prudence, in the terms of scholastic moral theology, composed of three faculties - Memoria, Intelligencia and Praevidentia - with the respective functions of conserving the past, knowing the present and foreseeing the future, presented in opposition to the Saturnalian statue of Serapis. The National Gallery, London, Nr. 5Gb.080.

Head of the Diadoumenos, c. 150, Roman copy of an original attributed to Polykleitos. The original statue commemorated an athlete's victory in the games, expressed by tying a ribbon (diadem) around his head. The calm introspection of the victor at the otherwise decadent festival games implies his humble though self-confident awareness of the divine. Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Nr. 1991.003.

Further Reading: J. Rasmus Brandt and Jon W. Iddeng. Greek and Roman Festivals Content, Meaning, and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. 

Michael Lipka. Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach. Boston: BRILL, 2009. 

[rehanmullantulane]

In the last post for rise of Rome i want to talk about rulers and forms of ruling. So what i see from the whole course is that Rome went through a plethora of people who wanted power and wanted to control/ guide the people so that everyone could live under one type of social contract and therefore live as harmoniously together as they could. Another thing that i learnt was that governing a place by yourself is not easy as you will have people even though you have your best i tent ions like the Grachii brothers. That people will disobey you and not agree with what you want to do. So hence the presence of a senate and tribune which is groups of people who are able to discuss amongst themselves the plan of action and from there on go forward with the decisions or goals that need be met .

As Rome appropriated the democracy of Greece at first and now many places still use the system of ruling known as democracy. We see now that even having a group to coordinate is not enough. As the government now at least what i feel is very disjointed. And the several sub groups don't all communicate effectively. Very well. Due to it's huge size. And as we see the government is practically just the biggest monopoly that is present and they get to set the various rules on the state. So her comes my question. Back in rome power was established in a few different ways. One was a show of force. Which was very prominently used. Second was inheritance like the tarquinus and Octavian. But mainly instill feel that brute force and someone who managed to conquer the most was the person who became the ruler. Therefore the myth that Romulus was the son of Mars. As we see that brute was what was aimed at the most. Now in present times. I feel it is that person who controls the wealth/ who has the most wealth.

Let me explain myself. I'm sure trade existed during Rome but I'm not sure how valued it was. As i established the main goal was to conquer land and he who had the most land was the ruler. So back in the time of Rome we know for a fact that humans had not completely expanded or been able to travel huge distances and still we're not at the stage to have inhabitated a huge amount of land. So the main goal at that point was who managed to make a civilization over the biggest amount of land. But now that our popular is reaching a peak by 2050 as projected. We are spread out everywhere. So land for a population is not that big of a problem. And specially now that we are finally starting to realize the artificial borders that were created for us in our minds just so that we could fight for someone else's gain. We realize that we are all the same. So.. coming to the point. Land is not a concern anymore. We spend our days all working and slogging. So that we can contribute to society. For various reasons. Business is by population in assuming is the biggest major across universities. I'm not sure my sample size is only Tulane so. I am assuming here. Well basically the point being that we either want to create a profit generating business or join one. And the government being the biggest corporation up until now. And the tech companies now with the amount of money that have can easily buy a huge amount of land and create their own rules. For the people who live there that if they don't abide by they will be prosecuted just like a dictatorship or authoritarian government during Rome.

[tyrian-tattler]

Please more. Vivian Tarquinus, Dezigrar Hotah, Balestiri, anyone; just more.

“They’re coming darling, don’t worry. “

[zozo-amused]

Rollin' on by, askin' 11, 14 and 60. Hit me with them darlin'.

So I assume this is for this meme.  Let me know if I grabbed the wrong one!  I’m going to answer it OOC.

11: How did your character meet their best friend?

Selena doesn’t have a best friend, really.  There are plenty of people that probably think of her as a friend, but her ability to form relationships has been damaged, and she is continuously trusting people only to have them do something she considers a betrayal.  While she forgives pretty quickly, she doesn’t forget, and it’s hard to trust after that.

That said, she would say that she trusts Luxelen Larkspur, Rachel Wong, Kassandra Tarquinus, and Daegal Donawitt the most, though they all serve very different roles in her life.  Kass would be the closest to the standard concept of a friend.

14: What is the cutest thing your character has ever done?

This is sort of a hard one, because Selena really doesn’t do “cute” things. I imagine there have been plenty of things she’s done that looked cute from an outside perspective, but since I know what’s really going on “behind the scenes”, they’re usually not all that cute to me.

Recently, though, she made dinner for her current “boyfriend”, Howard.  In fact, she snuck into an adjacent building, made dinner, and then stuck the whole thing into his bedroom.  She also lit candles, but on a cute dress, and then allowed herself to be caught by him when she was ready to serve dinner.

And I’m not sure if that qualifies, but it seemed sweet.

60: If you could title your character’s life, what would you title it?

“Sunny Days”

@luxelen @kass-dale @commanderwong

[privatetrashqueen]

As the moon   a  s  c  e  n  d  s The wolves come out to see the end;; They hide from view and wait To watch the ghost inside you come awake.

          Paint your face as much as you desire -- there is no hiding the beast under the porcelain mask. The words are painted across the forefront of Alex’s mind as she stares at herself. Khol lined eyes, scars meticulously brushed over with agonizingly still grip. She only needs to take a wet cloth and wipe off the excess. To reveal the creature of war under her carefully detailed lie. Brutish, crass. She is more at home with blade in hand and the gut-wrenching smell of iron in the air over perfumes and powders. This is a new field, a new plane to traverse. She reminds herself - it is just another battle. She will learn. She will adapt.

          And what if she does not? Her self-doubt trickled in with menacing slithers in the form of angled blue eyes and level baritone. A lecture, her guide in the misty void. No excuse - he recites. She has no quarter lent for her lack of preparation back into the modern society. Were everyone simply able to take hammers to one another, life could be far more simple. That, however, was Xavier and Siphyon’s view of social order. Not one she purposefully backed on her own. It is her exact opposition to such a basic answer to complex principle that she is here now. Seeking aid at the hand of a merciless tutor.

          Aguillard. Acquitaine. Nezam. Tarquinus. Volundir. Larkspur. Names, names, names. Know their positions. Know your place. Find your cards, hold them close. Abstain from attachments. Isolation - he breeds in her mind. Influenced to further her worst habits. The wide, soft brush is set down as she grabbed the metal tin case to the side, upturning those glimmering, gleaming, illegal red cold-casted .45′s. Bloodstone bullets. She sets them in a little line.

          “Aguillard.” One. “Acquitaine.” Two. “Lord Commander Nezam.” Three. “Lady Kassandra Tarquinus. Lady Vivian Tarquinus.” Four. Five. “Elanor Volundir. Braxis Volundir. Elessar Volundir.” Six. Seven. Eight. “Luxelen Larkspur.” Nine.

          Not unlike little bloodied soldiers, catching and casting light in sinister manner, and still she is missing a few. Lips soundlessly repeat what she can remember. Finger up and flicking over one bullet, letting it clatter backwards, the only sound in her quiet room. It echoes. Then another. And another. Another. She stares at her remaining named bullets, scooting them closer together.

          “What, oh what do we get you.” She remarked, picking one red, gleaming bullet up, turning about in her hand. Eye fell half-lidded, dazed expression mired in faint annoyance as the hairs on the back of her neck stood, remembering a light brush of fingers across her back. Breath in her ear. The ringing alarms of danger in her head. His oath sworn before her, renewed once more. Pledged. She only heard the beginnings of poison sinking to the surface of unsuspecting flesh.

          She set his assigned bullet down, next to the others, shoving from her dressing table, tall, nude form striding for the dresser in the corner with leggy gait. Drawer pulled open, hands digging out the thin sheet of paper, not clothes. A flick of wrist and it unfurled before her eyes, brushing it flat out atop said dresser with a sweep of hands.

          “What, oh what do we get a man with it all.”

[ofshadowandsoul]

!! Kassandra Tarquinus

[plethomacademia]

When Aglaeca stepped into the manor she shared with her husband, she felt an immense sense of relief. The place was quiet, meaning most of the staff were still in Maguuma. Exactly as she had hoped. 

She shed the cloak she was wearing, holding it out to a servant she didn’t even bother looking at. “I need someone to draft a note,” she said, walking toward her study.

Footsteps followed her, the small retinue she had knowing to follow. “What should it say?” said one of them. 

Aglaeca walked to one of her bookcases. “‘Adon,’” she recited as she looked over the titles, “‘I’m going to visit Vivian at her estate in Garenhoff. My doctor believes the sea will do me some good. I’ll be available by bird.’” She pulled down two titles, then turned around.

Looking back at her were two servants. One held their hands out for the books, which she gave them, the other was busily scribbling the note. Aglaeca watched the one writing, glancing over the pad of paper to make sure it was accurate. 

The servant looked up at her, offering her a pen. “Did you want to sign it, Madam?”

Aglaeca considered this for a moment. “No,” she said flatly, then walked past the two servants to another bookcase. She wasn’t looking at them again, but continued to give instructions. “I want two trunks brought to Vivian Mara-Tarquinus’ estate in Garenhoff. I’ll have them packed by the time I retire for the evening. I expect them there before lunch tomorrow, understand?”

She received the nods that she had wanted, so she nodded in return. “Sign the note for me, leave it on his desk in Maguuma. I’m sure someone will notice at some point. And put those books up in my room.” And with that, she waved them out, closing the door behind them.

Aglaeca leaned against the door, looking at her study. Books and vials covered the space, papers with sketches and notes. She felt her proud shoulders begin to fall as she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She slid down the door, settled onto the floor, her dark green skirt pooling like a puddle underneath her. A tear fell down her cheek and, finally, Aglaeca allowed herself to mourn. (@pragmatichedonism​)