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#servilia of the junii
naranjapetrificada · 2 months
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Good morning, crew mates.
Last night when I should have been asleep, I read about the rumored behind the scenes bullshit that tried to take our pirates away from us. This morning, I'm thinking about Batgirl and that Scooby-Doo film that both got canceled despite being almost complete. I'm thinking about Coyote vs. Acme. I'm thinking about Turner Classic Movies.
But also, because of my current WIP set in a similar (but OFMDified) world, I'm thinking about another IP owned by Warner Brothers now. One that even before Zaslav the Destroyer arrived, was canceled earlier than it was meant to be. One that was also groundbreaking in its own ways. One that's offering me a type of consolation in these trying times.
I'm thinking about HBO's Rome.
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It was absolutely not perfect, especially around certain things to do with in-world consent and sexual assault. I'm not making this post to litigate that, though I will say that it was made in 2005, when we as a society certainly weren't having mature conversations about consent.
[Also that it was set in a society so patriarchal that daughters didn't receive their own given names, just names that said who their fathers were and designations that told you where they fell in the birth order (i.e. the daughters of Lucius Vorenus are named Vorena the Elder and Vorena the Younger).]
But it did pave the way for the sort of gritty, trope-inverting, epic series we saw different networks take a stab at in its wake. Many people say, correctly, that Rome walked so Game of Thrones could run. And yeah, GoT eventually ran right off a cliff, but the fact remains that networks, including HBO again, became willing to make large initial investments in shows with lavishly and lovingly detailed sets and costumes, top-notch casts, and beautiful but expensive effects in part because of the prestige and lasting praise for Rome.
So what does this have to do with OFMD? Besides being canceled after two seasons when there were plans for more, the way it redefined a setting and genre that previously felt stale, and the way people will probably talk about its unanticipated influence for years? I'm thinking about scenes that I'll never forget, and how both shows have those indelible moments, and how emotionally cathartic certain moments from Rome feel in the context of the cancelation of Our Flag Means Death.
I'm thinking about the rivalry between two characters in particular, Atia of the Julii and Servilia of the Junii, and the way the show depicted their conflict during their bitterest, most desperate, and most devastating moments. Obvious spoiler warnings for the second season below, including the death of a character, but also TW for a brief mention of rape, and for canon-typical (but not especially graphic?) attitudes toward and depiction of suicide. Because Rome was ugly, and if the show had one guiding principle it was to remind viewers that Rome was ugly.
But also: a character reading another for absolute and utter filth, and two truly terrifying curses, in case there are any studio executives you're feeling angry towards.
Firstly, there's the moment when Servilia curses Atia, inspired by IRL lead curse tablets found in Roman Egypt iirc.
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"Gods of the inferno, I offer to you his limbs, his head, his mouth, his breath, his speech, his hands, his liver, his heart, his stomach..." indeed.
The second, which I won't embed because it is quite dark, features some things that I'd guess lots of folks have increasingly wished on Zaslav, especially "let [him] taste nothing but ashes and iron" for me.
And last but not least, some hope. Even if our efforts for a reversal of the decision or a move to another network don't come to pass, we will still be here. Artists will keep creating and figuring out new ways to share their work with the world.
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Zaslav is not the first executive to destroy an industry but the fundamental human impulse of art is eternal. Remembering that makes it feel much more possible to look at this whole fucked up situation and these fucked up capitalist ghouls who aren't unique at all and point to their predecessors and say "go and look for them now."
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spockvarietyhour · 4 months
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Atia: I won’t have my honor questioned by you.
Servilla: I’m not questioning your honor. I’m denying its existence.
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lesbianalicent · 5 months
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hey moiraine? your sister? kind of a gilf.
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myfanfictiongarden · 11 days
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You ever start to watch something that is advertised and praised as being “historically accurate”, even is so in many parts, but then one thing is just so insanely wrong that you sit there blank faced thinking WTH?
Well, I started watching Rome (because I’m a sucker for history and because Bruno Heller worked on it) and seven episodes in I’m mostly enjoying it, a lot of things are great, the actors, characters, sets, costumes, historic context,… but then I go check out on Wikipedia what is known about Octavian’s mother Atia- a character thats delightful to hate so far- and guess my shock when discovering she was the absolute opposite of what is presented in the show. 
Freaking why? Why change a historic character to be the complete opposite of how it was? Next you gonna tell me Mussolini had nothing to do with the Fascist movement and wanted actually to be a classical painter in Verona. Yes, this may be an extreme example, but if HBO is allowed the spread bs why shouldn’t I be too?
Wanna know what the official reasoning was? They wanted to “draw significant influences from other Roman women from the same time period, such as the infamous Clodia, and Marc Antony’s wife, Fulvia.”
Came me crazy, but why not just feature Fulvia then? She was alive and married to Marc Antony at the time the show takes place, why not have her involved? Watching the show you really wonder how Octavian and his sister achieved such noble greatness with a mother like that and then you read some facts and realise that the actual Atia would have brought up such great characters.
Here’s what they should have done:
Instead of having Servilia of the Junii (mother of the famous Brutus) as a recurring character, have Fulvia take that role more prominently and switch her “villainous” role with Atia, who now would become the quiet, well educated & mannered woman she was. Fulvia, as wife of Marc Antony, would often spend her days in Atia´s house- given that Atia is a niece of Caesar and the whole family is in favour of him. Caesar and Marc Antony may be best-buddies right now, but given that Antony is not always the brightest and the fact that Atia is also in good favour with supporters of the Republic makes it important for Fulvia to be on good terms with her. Fulvia would then be the one who would comment that Octavian reads too much and is getting too much of an “feminine aura” because of it, she would volunteer to hire Titus as a tutor for Octavian to teach what makes a “real man”. Because she would play her cards as much as she could she would try to catch Caesar’s eye on the party Atia was throwing in his hour, only to be ignored for Servillia (with whom we would see him spend the night with) and angered about that it would be Fulvia who would give in work those tasteless graffiti, wishing to cut away all outside influents from the most powerful man in Rome. In this case it would also have been Fulvia´s personal slave who would have witnessed Caesar’s seasure and seeing Octavian and Caesar “together” brought those news right back to her mistress who immediately would have tried to use that to her advantage only to be disappointed that it wasn’t like that, but suddenly inspired that- if she can’t seduce Caesar- she’ll seduce young Octavian- Caesar’s favourite & adopted son.
Meanwhile we would have still seen Marc Antony enjoy his time with other women, yet always come back to his wife because she was so cunning and ambitious- it would have played perfectly into the fact that he later fell in love with Cleopatra, for while Fulvia knew how to play the game Cleopatra knew it better. 
Fulvia would also have been the one to pursue Atia to make Octavia divorce her husband because with the politic situation it wouldn’t have been “good for the family” to be associated with him- and to that extend for her.
See? We could have gotten an ambitious, cunning, strong female character and still have it historically accurate!
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atomicparadisefire · 8 months
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Don't even get me started on servilia of the junii, absolute legend
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hurremshiv · 2 years
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Livia in I Claudius walked so that Atia and Servilia in Rome and the Sultanas in Magnificent Century could run. I said what I said.
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slashonmydash · 3 years
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“Sweet mother, I cannot weave –
slender Aphrodite has overcome me
with longing for a girl.”
― Sappho, Sappho
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cowperviolet · 3 years
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I’ve realized
that, if I am to actually write that ‘end of the Roman Republic from the female PoVs’ thing, I am going to be the first female author to write about Servilia. And, therefore, hopefully, to avoid making her ahistorically sexualized or a Woman Scorned (*side-eyes Conn Iggulden and HBO Rome*) 
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ateneanike · 3 years
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Y al fin, tras una pandemia y la incertidumbre de cuándo sería posible verla publicada, empieza a venderse online y en librerías mi novela:
"Servilia, la mujer que cambió el destino de Roma"
Aún se está distribuyendo, pero ya puede adquirirse a través de dos enlaces que os pongo a continuación:
https://www.delibrumtremens.com/product-page/servilia-la-mujer-que-cambi%C3%B3-el-destino-de-roma
https://www.agapea.com/libros/SERVILIA-9788412204735-i.htm
Si queréis saber un poco más sobre la novela, sobre mí o sobre el proyecto tenéis a vuestra disposición la web sobre el libro:
https://www.servilianovela.com/
Espero que la disfrutéis tanto como yo escribiéndola y que Servilia os traslade a la tardorepública romana con Cicerón, Craso, Terencia, Catón, Bruto, Casio pero sobre todo con César.
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cinemaisfemale · 3 years
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Rome (Season 1, Episode 7)
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daffenger · 4 years
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Des proches viennent de glisser à l'oreille [de Lépide] qu'il y aurait sûrement moyen d'arriver à un accord familial ; Cassius et Brutus, ses beaux-frères, s'ils étaient rétablis dans leurs charges et leurs prérogatives, le soutiendraient de tout leur pouvoir dans l'élection au pontificat suprême laissé vacant par le décès de César... Il ne faut pas chercher loin la personne qui a suggéré cet arrangement et qui connait si parfaitement les rêves secrets de Marcus Aemilius : c'est Servilia. D'abord épouvantée par le geste de son fils, la mère de Brutus réagit comme elle a réagi seize ans plus tôt, à l'époque de l'affaire Vetius. On a beaucoup calomnié Servilia, lui prêtant une tête froide, un cœur sec et un amour délirant de l'argent. Pourtant, cette femme n'a jamais eu qu'une passion dans la vie, dévorante : son fils. L'instinct maternel a submergé sa tendresse passée pour César. Servilia n'a pas une larme, pas une pensée pour son amant assassiné. Seul Marcus lui importe. Elle a jeté dans la bataille tout son réseau d'ami, d'obligés, tous ses appuis politiques et familiaux. Parce qu'il fait lui-même partie du clan, Lépide en connait la puissance et ne la mésestime pas.
Brutus, assassin par idéal, Anne Bernet
Friends whisper in [Lepidus’] ear that a familial agreement could certainly be reached; Cassius and Brutus, his brothers-in-law, were they to be reinstated, would support him fully as a candidate for the role of Pontifex Maximus, which Caesar left vacant with his death...
No need to look far for the person who suggested the arrangement, who knows Lepidus’ secret dreams so well: it is Servilia. Apalled at first by what her son did, Brutus’ mother now reacts as she did sixteen years ago during the Vetius affair. Servilia has been much slandered. It has been said she had a cold head, a dry heart and an inordinate love for money. And yet, this woman has only ever had one passion in her life, all-consuming: her son. Maternal instinct stiffled her old affection for Caesar. Servilia does not shed a tear, does not have a thought for her murdered lover. Only Marcus matters. She has deployed her whole network of friends for the battle, all her political and familial backing.
Himself a member of the clan, Lepidus knows and does not underestimate its power.
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theoldgods · 6 years
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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Rome (TV 2005) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Atia of the Julii/Servilia of the Junii, Minor or Background Relationship(s) Characters: Atia of the Julii, Servilia of the Junii, Background & Cameo Characters Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Friends to Enemies, Casual Sex, Explicit Sexual Content, Period Typical Attitudes, Cunnilingus, Power Dynamics, Hate Sex, Historical References, Unreliable Narrator, Older Woman/Younger Woman, Yuletide Summary: As Caesar leaves for Gaul, a newly widowed Atia, at loose ends in the city, finds herself drawn to the company of her uncle’s very proper mistress.
My Yuletide assignment! I added this fandom on a sort-of whim not really expecting to be matched...and ended up being able to write the type of Atia/Servilia fic I haven’t really seen anywhere (at least not on AO3 and FFN--and huge ups to my recip, kangeiko, for being willing to entertain a half-baked query through the mods about whether they were willing to receive shipfic that was mostly hatesex and also for, you know, being willing to receive shipfic that’s mostly hatesex). Doing research to make sure my historical and cultural background wasn’t completely out of whack seemed a bit daunting at first, but it ended up being a good experience (I actually finished writing the first draft before Halloween!). It was super fun rewatching all the Atia/Servilia scenes, exploring a younger Atia and her many various issues with being self-aware, and also doing research (”roman attitude cunnilingus,” “roman cunnilingus,” “roman oral sex,” and more are forever embalmed in my search history, though I did find some hilarious pieces of discussion I linked in the endnotes). Between this and the treat I wrote (Liaisons dubcon femslash), Yuletide was very f/f May-December for me. *fingerguns* (Also very strong on the Lindsay Duncan-adjacent content production, but that’s less surprising given my 2017 proclivities in general...Really, none of this is surprising.)
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katarinawerner · 7 years
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Show her what she's done.
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catilinas · 4 years
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how BAD is rome hbo exactly? i keep seeing gifsets going around but i’m not sure if i should subject myself to the mortifying ordeal of historical inaccuracy just cause i like both tobias menzies and james purefoy
if you don’t like the mortifying ordeal of historical inaccuracy you probably won’t like it. things that are Good are the casting and the visual aesthetic of it all and some of the conspiracy stuff. things that are Bad are like. wow imagine if these people knew how to write female characters! weird incest subplot? you can’t make me care about lucius vorenus (and his children who never seem to age???). where is FULVIA? i am. not a fan
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ducavalentinos · 6 years
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tagged by @billydinahs to choose any three fandoms (in a random order) and answer the questions, then tag some friends. thanks lovely!💜💜💜
I’m choosing:
rome hbo
bates motel
vikings
the first character you loved:
atia of the julii
norma bates
lagertha (she was really something in S1/ S2 but then you know...😭😭😭)
the character you never expected to love so much:
mark antony
norman bates (lol he’s my son)
ivar the boneless (also my son)
the character you relate to the most:
hmm, probably octavia of the julii.
norma bates
no one? they are all super hard to relate to, idk lol
the character you’d slap:
brutus
caleb (i’d do more than just slap him actually ughh)
rn? ubbe
three favourite characters (in order of preference):
oh so hard?! ok: atia, octavian, octavia and mark antony ( I can’t do 3 sorry not sorry)
norma, norman and chick hogan
queen aslaug, ivar the boneless and that’s it...? heh.
a character you liked at first but don’t anymore:
servilia of the junii. I used to like her, but then she started getting on my nerves.
emma decody
lagertha
a character you did not like at first but now do:
I don’t think there is one.
dylan massett, like we all thought he was the asshole/bad boy at first, but then he got such an amazing character development.
ivar the boneless. I did not liked him at first, like at all. and now, well...👀👀
three otps:
octvian/octavia, antony/cleopatra, antony/atia
norma/norman and that’s it? that’s the only otp really.
wow...otps and vikings just don’t go well I guess, but ok: ragnar/athelstan and roland x therese.
tagging: @lucreceborgia @snnsastark @allmyfuckingobsessions @margarettudor @demonicallyperfect and anyone else who wants to do it! :))
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