5rzefona - Untitled

shakarian roleplaying

based on this vine

i completely understand what you’re saying but as a person with a low self-esteem issue and imposter syndrome, as someone who always feels she’s lacking, i cannot express to you how incredibly satisfying it is to watch or read a well-written “chosen one” trope , specially if it’s a female protagonist 

there are so many movies and books which use the chosen one trope and i can’t get enough of it.

Moana? Hit me with that puro. Princess diaries? Slap me one of those. Harry freaking Potter? not a female protag but damn what a series. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett? Yes please! Kung Fu Panda? uh? HELL YEAH

Like, as a writer, I get why writers think it may not be the best way to tell a story, but as an audience member and a reader, I straight up love that shit. I love seeing someone who is seemingly extremely bad for the job be the only one who can actually do the job, I LOVE to see them struggle with their self-doubt, fumble through all the things they have to go through despite being massively underprepared, question their abilities and be all like “But you’ve got the wrong person” and all the while their destiny is telling them “You stuck up bitch, you ARE THE ONE.” 

It is simply gratifying to feel that no matter how unequipped and incapable i think i am, there’s something bigger than the material world, who thinks i am fucking meant to get this job done

Viktor and Yuuri before the Halloween Ice Gala 🎃😆

She was not fragile like a flower; She was fragile like a bomb.

Poetry At Most

-While it is disheartening to see that this quote has been misattributed to so many other authors by companies only looking to gain profit, I am humbled to see how many lives it has touched. Though it’s meaning is individual to each of us, it was originally written to remind us all of the fire that burns inside of us and the immensity that we are capable of. I am forever grateful to all of you for your kind words over the years, and I hope you continue to recognize your ability to spark change, in a world that still needs so much of it.

(via poetryatmost)

Cleopatra

I saw this meme today: 

It’s of course a play on another meme (which is literally the meaning of “meme”): 

I found that meme on Instagram and broke the cardinal rule of social media: never read the comments section. I was rather surprised at how many people not only bought into this, but didn’t know that Cleopatra was:

-Macedonian (not Egyptian, not Greek, not Roman, not Persian) -not beautiful

I wanted to make a post about this to explain these misconceptions and where they (likely) came from.

Cleopatra VII the Macedonian

Cleopatra VII was part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt, and the Ptolemys were Macedonian. They had taken power in Egypt after the death of the famous Macedonian, Alexander the Great (who likely died from alcoholism and/or malaria at age 34, just a fun fact). Many people mistook Alexander the Great for a Greek, but there’s a reason for that: Alexander the Great was a Greek fanboy. He started something called a “Hellenistic Period”…you know “period” is “length of time” and “Hellenistic” means “Greek-like” or “inspired by Greece”. It would be like if famous otaku Baron Trump married one of Japan’s princesses, then went into Mongolia to take over and implemented a bunch of Japanese culture…then, a couple thousand years later, some people might think that Baron Trump was actually Japanese because why on Earth would he implement Japanese rule? It’s not really common to assume that a leader is a mega fanboy, but that’s what happened here. I cannot confirm whether he had a Greek goddess body pillow, but can confirm I made this sweet meme in Paint for my PPT: 

The Ptolemy rule came to an end shortly after Cleopatra VII’s rule ended, and it was Rome that had ended said rule. This might be why Cleopatra VII was thought to be Roman by some people in the comments section. 

Cleopatra VII was Not Classically Beautiful

We may not know exactly how Cleopatra VII looked, but we can say she wasn’t a beauty queen (and there’s nothing wrong with that unless you’re in a job being judged on how well you fit in with that standard). How can we be sure? Here is how she’s depicted on her coins and in stone reliefs from the time:

Some sculptures have been made based on these:

I wouldn’t go as far as to say she looked like someone we would consider “ugly”, but she’s definitely not someone I’d be captivated by based on her looks alone. If that’s the case, then how did “She was so beautiful!” start as a rumor? It had to do with the fact that she was able to impress two other leaders. Some of the people in the comments section mentioned her “several affairs”, but we do know that she was involved with two other leaders: Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. The tales of her seduction, as told at the time they happened, involve her wit. Accounts of Cleopatra VII describe her well-educated (including that she spoke seven languages) and very charismatic. Combine this with her being the leader of a kingdom, and she suddenly becomes a very attractive prospect for sex, both in terms of sexual interest and reproductive interest. It appeared to be a mutual attraction for her, as she sought to expand her own power and interact with men who were intellectually, militarily, and politically on her level. In other words, she did was literally every other royal has done in history: had sexual encounters with other royalty for the purposes of strengthening political power. 

So if everyone who knew her knew she wasn’t gorgeous, then why did this myth start? 

After the death of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, a rumor had been started by this guy with a long birth name we eventually came to call Caesar Augustus. He and Antony, along with another Mark, were part of this three-part ruling structure called a Triumvirate. The other Mark (Marcus Lepidus),  was exiled, leaving just Antony and Augustus to lead the Roman Empire. Augustus’ great-uncle was Julius Caesar, and his co-regent was Antony, and both of these dudes had been with Cleopatra VII, producing children that could potentially try to claim/take power from him…especially relevant since both of these dudes were dead. He basically had launched a smear campaign against her after her death that talked about her as if she’s a gorgeous, deadly, conspiring woman who seduces powerful men with both her charm and her beauty. 

Writers of the time jumped in on this, and some called her a lot of really crappy things. One Roman historian referred to her as “a woman of surpassing beauty…with the power to subjugate everyone.” 

Kind of reminds me of Rasputin, who was creepy and smelled weird but utterly captivated women. Women explained that it was his intense gaze and what he had to say that kept them interested, but upon his death what did the murderers do? Pulled down his pants, cut off his dick, and preserved it, studied why it could be so appealing to women (they claim the girth and wart near the head are a factor). It’s like “He’s interesting” wasn’t good enough…must be dick power! In the same way, “She’s utterly fascinating, charming, and educated” wasn’t good enough…must be a sexy pout and perfect tits!

As I tell my students: history isn’t just some old collection of names and dates, it’s human drama that still happens today. 

okay so I got super inspired by this really beautiful ethereal remix of claire de lune and I’m on the hunt to find similar songs to put on a playlist.

So, does anyone have any song suggestions that embody the feeling of “I just dissociated so hard I astral projected into the tenth dimension to float amongst the stars on the outskirts of the galaxy, but I feel curiously warm and whole and I know I don’t have to feel afraid or alone”?

Like an embodiment of this picture

LET’S GROOVE! an ode to unsettling dance scenes

one of my favorite (read: least favorite) things about how people treat cleopatra is she’s so often called a slut or is only ever portrayed as being this incredibly sexy, often scantily-clad seductress, when in actuality 1. while some ancient sources describe her as somewhat pretty, it generally seems that what was attractive about her was her intellect, charm, and voice, and the sources that refer to her as extremely sexy/slutty are specifically out to condem her, 2. she was a brilliant politician who chose her affairs as a way of securing power for her country and not just so she could have a bunch of sex (which shouldn’t be an issue anyway), and 3. one of the men she had an affair with was mark antony, ancient roman super slut supreme, a man known for his love of sex and tendency to wear extremely short tunics for the sake of showing off his sexy legs/probably also his dick

i’m not saying there’s anything wrong with portraying cleopatra as beautiful or even sexy, because she clearly had allure. all i’m saying is that, if your cleopatra is wearing less clothing than your mark antony, there’s probably a problem in your depiction of them

There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it.

insp.