#being a gladiator

[uncanny-tranny]

Good news! You aren't required to make your hobbies and passions "marketable." In fact, your crafts, hobbies, and passions don't even need to be public if you so choose. You don't have to spend all of your energy becoming perfect if you aren't enjoying the process. You are not a product, you are a person, a creative, and your work also does not need to be a product.

#positivity #yet another post that's like... thinnly-veiled as being for myself #i find myself freezing with anxiety when i think about the things i used to do (writing especially) because... #...i had felt this force to make it ~content~ and ~marketable to an audience~ and it was so fucking daunting... #...it felt like being a gladiator in a coliseum #even now i fight the urge to equate being marketable to being acceptable and worthy of admiration and praise #i wish i hadn't burnt myself out of writing by doing this because i'm simultaneously grieving my writing and hating it #and it sucks the life out of what makes you feel like a person and it takes the art out of art #so be free! pist your art or don't! you are beholden to nobody!!! #(obviously this is not the case for professional artists who rely on their art to keep them alive) #(and i criticize heavily the idea that audiences are entitled to an artists labour) #(i understand that this isn't universal and if it doesn't apply to you then you don't have to take me seriously) #(if you are a professional artist or what have you i hope you are able to feed and house yourself off of that career!) #(i hope you are able to live a happy life and be able to keep loving what you're doing)

[blairpfaff]

#gotta love how this is basically paul saying he wanted to keep promoting aous rather than go back to filming gladiator #don't like how the guy was being weird about andrew calling him paulie tho like can ppl let these men live 😒 #andrew scott #paul mescal #edits

[brother-emperors]

spartacus and crassus :)

this is actually a rejected panel from a much longer comic I’ve been fucking around with on and off for awhile- I had plans to do a long form spartacus comic for a long time, I just keep missing the last book on my research list in second hand stores 😔 I always have money when the last copy sells out aughhh

anyway! I might call crassus my girl in the group chat, but I’ve actually spent more years wishing that spartacus got to run crassus through on his sword and then read the fate of rome out of his entrails. ALAS. on that note, isn’t it kind of interesting how spartacus’ funeral games for crixus turn roman order upside down and feel like both a foundational sacrifice and a curse? isn’t it kind of fun how crassus will not die in rome, and neither will pompey, who came in like a vulture to take credit for crassus’ work? (it’s VERY fun)

Plutarch, Crassus

#Spartacus and Crassus have a very specific kind of narrative foil dynamic with each other that I find extremely compelling #Team spartacus bc I love to see rome eat itself like the horrible machine of violence that it is #and then cower in the face of what it created #That one doc that dramatized the starting spark was spartacus not being able to turn away from a Roman soldier #raping another gladiator. That’s what it all comes down to. Christ #Team crassus when the cast is just Romans because oh you are weird. Crassus you are so fucking weird. What is happening there. #BLAH anyway. panel rejected bc the scene needed to be bigger. grander. more bodies on the ground #Spartacus still get to call him a dog tho. Tahol Crassus! Tahol!!! #usually I have more to cite. Like. Most of my gladiator stuff is backed up on a flash drive! but guess what is not compatible with #An iPad. My flash drives. Bc I literally only use this for drawing work 🥲 also reading/researching on a screen like this is hell #spartacus #marcus licinius crassus #spartacus tag

[mando-abs]

Guys, I’ve read the Wild Robot

And let me tell you, if I hadn’t recently taken a Children’s Literature class in college, I would’ve said this was the best middle-grade book I’ve read since elementary/middle school. I almost read this book in one night (I was sleepy 😴) like I couldn’t put it down.

The heart behind this book is astounding and it never shies away from showing complex and difficult concepts. You will fall in love with Roz and her gosling son along with all of the other animal on the island.

If you’ve got younger ones, I highly recommend reading this to them or having a little book club moment with them. However, be prepared for whatever hard questions may come your way (i.e. circle of life and climate issues). You know your child and how much they can handle/understand. If you’re like me and much older, it’s a quick read and a great way to finish off a long day. It’s a part of a trilogy and you bet I’m patiently waiting for my hold on a copy at the library.

If the movie is anything like the book (which, given a rewatch of the trailer, it’s looking like so), we are in for a special treat.

#the wild robot #children’s literature #pedro pascal #did I get the book on the off chance pedro might have been casted - yes #but from what I learned in my kid lit class is that middle grade fiction in much more nuanced than ya lit today #ya lit has better potential of being good bc it has more room to work with #however ya tends to lean on tropes more heavily than middle grade #middle grade is much more focused on learning topics and issues than playing with them #making them more tightly knit #also with the decline of media literacy I think this book is a wonderful counterattack #it’s not shattering by any means but def a big step in the right direction #especially for those who have a harder time getting interested in books #and once again I’m so pleased with how carefully curated Pedro’s projects are amidst his growing stardom #he truly cares about the message and thought provoking-ness of his work #and it makes this writer/literature nerd so proud #(yes I know there’s no true messages behind his recent gladiator and marvel roles other than it sounded like fun to him but I support that #- too… the man must have his fun purely for fun’s sake)

[bucketwingthoughts]

hc and fic idea time! a lot of people make megatron feel bad for his past as a gladiator or shame him for his strength, making him seem like an inherently violent person for it, post lost light. it's something he has to keep quiet about when he integrates back into society.

he isn't really allowed to talk about how he misses the gladiatorial rings sometimes or how sparring with his opponents was one way he'd let off steam and cope. he also doesn't get to really talk about how he used to train younger gladiators in the pits, and how he grew bonds with them and stuff because again, most of his friends equate him missing his gladiatorial days to him wanting to be violent again. he is by nature a peaceful person, especially post lost light but there are still some times he wishes he could talk about that part of him. the part where he feels that fighting and his strength liberated him.

but he starts to understand that among even his autobot friends he doesn't really have the ability to be open about how he misses the rings.

cue one day he is just writing another poem or something and he hears something playing in his sitting room and it happens to be a re-run of his old gladiator fights or what have you. and he goes to the couch to see who is watching it and it is none other than starscream who is just rewatching and falling in love (again) with old vids of megatrons gladiatorial fights. Starscream has popcorn, eyes glued to the TV, etc. And no one told him to do it, he just does it because that's how he first met Megatron. He admired megatron for his eloquence in speaking and persuasion, but he also knew him first as a gladiator.

and megatron felt so bad for missing that part of him, he felt so bad for sometimes reminiscing about the past because everyone tells him he's supposed to hate that part of him, the part that liberated him, the part that made him feel strong. and he does shut up about it around autobots...

...and then there's just starcream drooling over and old film of him ripping someone in two.

megatron just casually sits next to him and starts like "do you have the video of the time i had to fight that weird construction-con wrecker combo"

and starscream scurries and gets his box and is like "WHICH ONE I HAVE ALL OF THEM" like yes, starscream has a box of megatron's old gladitor fights and tons of merchandise. he was kinda an obsessed fan,

and they watch the old gladiatorial fights for hours and megatron is just happy that he is with someone who loves all parts of him.

#megatron #transformers #megastar #because starscream loves the soft megatron but he also loves all parts of megatron too #even the ones people make megatron feel bad for #megtaron is by nature a peaceful person #but he does miss being a gladiator sometimes #he misses feeling that rush and that strength #but everyone else kinda shames him for it #and then there's starscream who would sneak into his fights anyway

[yimra]

Idc if it’s historically accurate or not but this fucking helmet and mask was sick as fick

#duality of a man is me being deeply deppressed but rembered how cool gladiator is as a movie

[witchofthesouls]

Just a cute lil headcanon idea since we are talking about Dad! Megatron, how about Uncle! Soundwave?

TFP Megatron would never allow his human child to have a pet, at least in the earthen animal verity. So to combat this, her and Soundwave go to animal shelter and fawn and gush over their favorite animal; cats.

The closest thing to a pet Megatron would allow in his child's vicinity would be some strange (and possibly unholy) science experiment whipped up by Shockwave's years of forced isolation and Starscream's nightmares.

The kid took one look at its development in the growth chamber tubes and immediately barricaded herself under her bed. Poor thing just wanted something to cuddle with her when Megatron is too busy or can hide her backpack during school. Not see their "pet's" manifestation of their internal mechanisms and organs...

Soundwave is the one that managed to fully coax her out with a stroll to a cat cafe and owl cafe. The spymaster utilizes a holomatter to properly blend in (and interact) with the settings. Soundwave will never say it, but the kid can pick up the mech's wistfulness with the creatures.

Eventually, it graduates to them have "outings" where they spend a day volunteering inside a no-kill animal shelter.

Soundwave thinks it's appropriate for the kid to understand the full undertaking of an animal that's fully dependent on a carer. Plus, it's good stress relief for him. Not only he gets to be around animals and do some mindful physical exercise with the simple goal of caring for the creatures, but he gets to clown on assholes that shouldn't be in charge of the place. Depending on his mood, he does it in full public to destroy their entire reputation or does it on the sly to destroy their personal lives. The sweet Energon wine of it all, it's all their own actions! Soundwave didn't have to dig hard or generate false evidence. In fact, he does a few exercises with the kid to get her feet wet in his line of work.

#ask #transformers #transformer prime #tfp #megatron #soundwave #parental relationship #maccadam #my writing #Fun times with Uncle Soundwave #don't mind me with my tf headcanon of Soundwave being trained as a beast tamer in the Pits before getting slotted as a gladiator #laserbeak likes the owls as well. screechy and creepy-cute bastards

[princesslegolas]

My toxic trait is commenting 🔥 under any AU that causes Crowley immediate suffering....

#oh no roman emperor aziraphale and gladiator crowley #sounds gay I'm in #because smut without angst feels like nothing #my parents didn't hug me #be not afraid pretty boy #oh no unethical power dynamic in angst smut #the ineffable virtues of suffering whilst being pretty #good omens #crowley and aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands

[sherifftillman]

with the strikes hopefully coming to an end soon, we can finally get back to the REAL "girl" version of constantly thinking about the roman empire:

#thinkin bout amelia dimoldenberg asking paul mescal about the roman empire and him being like 'lol i HAD been thinking about it a lot' #bc HE'S PLAYINGGGGG AN ANCIENT ROMAN #gladiator 2 #paul mescal #barry keoghan #pedro pascal #joseph quinn

[mila-bee]

They literally walked off into sunset together 🥺😫😭

I’m going to need 3-5 business days to recover 🥺

#‘they’ll walk it together’ #my fucking heart 😫😫😫 #I need a special episode or something of their adventures or them being all sweet and domestic together #romance club #rc gladiator chronicles #RC gc #rc hotch #RC rix

[deanmarywinchester]

i love the mountain goats songs that are about how something bad is about to happen but it’s not happening yet, or maybe it’s already happening and you’re just riding out the joy you’ve found in a place where bad things can’t touch you. that’s just life innit

#hostages heretic pride waylon jennings live! cry for judas amy aka spent gladiator one. mwah #I’ve also made this exact post before but it’s so life affirming to watch jd bounce around stage beaming with his dad friends singing a song #about surviving soemthing that could’ve killed him at 17. it was years between him being 17 and writing the sunset tree #and almost 20 years since the sunset tree. and the song stays the same but we all get older and it becomes longer and longer since he #survived and started thriving. idk I understand why music saves people #tmg #my posts

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #32: Sokka and Azula's first time

This month's prompt was 'intimacy', and my Patrons picked a pretty important scene for that purpose :') I, of course, went slightly out of control and, uh, well... with a prompt like that, it's hard to hold back a weirdo like me, sorry not sorry x'D

In short: the full version of this month's reward is in fact 8 pieces rather than this one. This is basically the only one I dare use here for obvious reasons :'D Unfortunately, my attempt to post this on a separate Tumblr post, under its "mature" guidelines, resulted in a flagged post regardless. The guidelines of this site about art of this nature are REALLY something else, huh? :')

Honestly... this prompt ended up meaning a lot to me because of how many times I tried and failed to portray this scene properly. Especially the bits I drew for it this time :'D It's no exaggeration to say that this was one of the very first scenes I plotted, and also one of the first I tried to make proper art of. Still, I wasn't good enough to pull it off before... and somehow, I managed to do it this time!

Hope you guys liked it! If you'd like to be part of the creative process behind these pieces, a $1 Patreon pledge is enough to make you eligible for joining the prompt suggestion process, as well as reading Gladiator snippets 6 days before each update!

#sokkla #sokka #azula #gladiator #fic-to-art project #gladiator chapter 97 #the legendary chapter number #never really thought I'd pull this off so I'm really glad I could #didn't really expect to make so many pieces but I did #I need these two IV so much lately #this was a good fix for the time being #so much going on lately so little time to breathe feels like #but at least I could finish on time for this month <3 #I love them and miss them and need them damn

[brother-emperors]

So would you say that mark Antony and Cassius are foils to each other?

oh, 100%. a good chunk of what makes them interesting to write them in scenes together is because of how they both have gladiator comparisons coupled with an interesting™ personal dynamic (hostile) with each other

this

Cassius and Brutus: The Memory of the Liberators, Elizabeth Rawson

lives in my head rent free

+ some other stuff I think about sometimes

Appian BC 4.17.133

Becoming Mark Antony: A Metabiographical Study of Characterization and Reception, Alexander James Lessie

Val. Pat. 2.72

Cassius and Antony in the East, Fabian E. Udoh

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Death of Caesar, Voltaire (trans. Frank J. Morlock)

#its cassius wanting antony killed with caesar and then antony being the catalyst for cassius' suicide that does it for me #delicious tragedy. however as a full time cassius apologist i wish he got his way #RIP to brutus but i would've killed antony for you if you asked 😔 #blatant favoritism aside my core characterization note for antony is that he's a decayed archetype of a gladiator #in the same way that octavian is a. facade. of a Type of politician but underneath there's a particular kind of rot going on #ask tag

[agbpaints]

I got the support lance on impulse without many plans and decided that my 1st Sword of Light gladiator needed some friends, so here's a whole lance of the Combine's finest! Hope you like learning Japanese

#hobby #battletech #miniatures #mini painting #battlemech #mech #mecha #mechwarrior #draconis combine #light mech #medium mech #heavy mech #assault mech #dragon #spider #gladiator #thug #the support lance is funny cuz its about as close as we got to a themed box in the CI releases #the thug dragon and spider are all very kurita designs #putting this together i discovered that despite being A) a good design B) the Combine's first indigenous mech #no version of the Gladiator is on the DCMS's MUL list

[losersimonriley]

I’m choking

#john soap mactavish #soap cod #this is so foul I love it #and as for the Hector skin name there seems to be a mythology theme with the skin names there’s one named keres and ghosts is venator #which isn’t mythology based but a type of Roman gladiator but that’s as close a relation I could find #hector. of course. being the beloved Trojan dying at the hand of Achilles #mwiii #mine.png

[searchingforatrail]

pre war Sparkling!AU where Megatronus and Orion both have sparklings together. The gladiatros never met the sire, and all assumed it was another equally powerful gladiator, because who else would be worthy to sire Megatronus’s sparklings. 

Color everyone surprised when they actually meet Orion who comes to pick up the sparklings before Megatronus’s fight, and so he can “take them to t-ball practice” (or the cybertronian equivalent). No one expected him to be a small data droid who never fought a day in his life, and who looks like he’s never left the hall of records. And no one expected he and Megatronus to get along so well and parent their sparklings excellently. 

#megop #orion pax being an unassuming sire to a gladiators children is my favorite hc #megatronus #optimus prime #megatron