#marc antony the cleopatra experience

[girl4music]

Just a further note to how gay XWP actually was but why it matters not to take this so seriously with Xena.

Someone smart once said that the experience of watching ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ is that they felt that all the homosexuality is authentic and all heterosexuality is performative. I mean, I don’t think they quite said it like that but… it’s accurate. The only thing is… where does that leave bisexuality? Because I would say at least Xena’s relationships with both men and women felt very much authentic to me. And that it was neither one or the other that made more sense.

I agree that all the played up homoeroticness between Xena and Gabrielle was much more authentic than the written in contrived heteroeroticness. But at the very least, I would still say Xena’s experiences with all her lovers besides Gabrielle were authentic. Were also very much an important part of her character arc. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I would not change the fact and the detail that Xena was just as much into men as she was into women. See… most people hate the episode ‘Antony And Cleopatra’ but I watched that scene where Xena was seducing Marc Antony in front of Gabrielle… and I thought it was so damn powerful and validating. So while it cannot be denied that Gabrielle had her heart and the romantic attraction was strong, it also cannot be denied that Xena had a very strong sexual attraction to Ares. So I would rather put it as Xena was bisexual but she was aromantic with men and arosexual with women. I would say that it simply is that she has a stronger romantic bond with women over men and a stronger sexual bond with men over women. If we’re explaining it from an in-show perspective anyway. Out-of-show, obviously it was because they could show sexual intimacy between men and women and not so much with women and women on TV in the 90’s/early 2000’s. But to me, Xena’s bisexuality or bisexual tendencies were unquestioned. They were valid for her character. But I think the opposite is true with Gabrielle. I 100% think the lesbianism was authentic and the straightism was performative with her character. But not with Xena’s. And it’s one of the main factors as to why I did not want the rumoured TV show reboot where they would go full out Xena-and-Gabrielle-is-canon to go ahead. I would not want to erase Xena’s bisexuality just to have something that I felt the show already gave us and gave us to 1000x the power than any TV show has given us to this day. I know it wasn’t canon textually…. But how on Earth do you see it as not canon visually?

Like I said. I wouldn’t change a thing. Not even AFIN.

#xena warrior princess #xena and gabrielle #xena #lucy lawless #gabrielle #renee o'connor #canon soulmates but bisexual representation was still important #I wouldn’t change a thing

[lightdancer1]

It is a characteristic irony of history and misogyny that it pervades everything about Cleopatra VII

Her career as the last pf the Pharaohs and the last of the Hellenistic monarchs to rule unrivaled over the old kingdoms that lasted from the death of Alexander the Great onward is full of dramatic events. Her experiences in getting her throne, and in trying to pick sides in Rome's civil wars, choosing the winning side the first time and the losing one the second, likewise figure into how her life works beyond the controversies focused on in modern times.

Instead the discussion hinges on whether or not she'd be Black or white by modern standards, which has a lot to do with how the past is presented but little to do with what made her reputation and her bones in her own time.

As it was, she chose Marc Antony after Julius Caesar, and the reality of Antony's ties to the last of the Hellenistic God-Queens and his potentially basing his power on the Greek East (that in the end would outlast the Latin West and would remain a unified state until 1204) was the rationale behind Caesar Augustus's excuse for the war that gave Rome its second Emperor and the first dynasty. Nor is it fully appreciated that in Roman eyes what's now France and the UK meant far less to them than what's now Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya, as well as beyond all else, Egypt.

#lightdancer comments on history #the rise of the roman empire #cleopatra vii #the woman who sought vainly to keep Egypt Greek #and instead finally backed the wrong side in the war

[josephethansblog]

Places To Visit When Hiring A Yacht in Greece

Are you planning a luxury trip with your loved ones and would like to spend some quality time on a luxury yacht? Here is a list of some amazing and gorgeous places to visit when you’re in Greece.

Cleopatra Beach – If you’re on a romantic trip and would like to add some spice to your trip while on a Greece sailing charter, make sure to add Cleopatra Beach to your itinerary as this is the place where Cleopatra and Marc Antony swam together. You can have a feeling of being a part of the timeless love story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Make sure to know everything before you visit here on a luxury charter.

Corfu – Another great place where you can visit on a trip to Greece is Corfu, one of the greenest islands of Greece. Corfu is famous for its flora and its countless olive trees. Yacht charter in Corfu offers you access to the unmatched beauty of nature, which is the reason that hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the cosmopolitan island of Corfu. But yes you can add some class and luxury to your travel by opting for a yacht charter in Corfu. It will help make the travel much more fun and exciting.

Yalikavak, turkish st. Tropez – As you sail on the Greece sailing charter, you can also have a chance to experience one of the most charming towns with a world-class marina i.e. Yalikavak, Turkish St. Tropez. This place is home to top restaurants and shopping centres so you can enjoy your time on the land too. This place is located on the Bodrum Peninsula, which also offers easy access to the Dodecanese islands of Greece where you can explore two countries.

So when you are planning to visit Greece with your loved ones and would like to hire a yacht charter in Corfu, make sure to not skip visiting these places as they can add a lot more fun and excitement to your overall vacation experience.

Read More:- https://bfg-yachting.com/yacht-charter-corfu

#Greece Sailing Charter

[dybdahltravels2022]

Heading to the Islands

August 28 - 29, 2022

After our experience of Tory we spent the night at a beautiful hotel on the Dardanelles Straits. Early the next day we headed out for a long day of travel. One of my favorite events of our trip is always our Home-Hosted meal. We get divided into small groups and have a meal with a family in their homes. They often do not speak English and yet we are always able to communicate.

We learned that our hostess, Aisha, lived in the house of her husband's parents and has 2 children. We thought she told us she had 2 daughters ages 10 and 12 - but when her 12 years old appeared and we asked about her other daughter - she indicated that she was married. WHAT!?!? We were sure we had made a understanding mistake and when the second daughter arrived with her 4 year old son we realized we had.

I was able to "tell" them that Mark and I had been married 50 years (pointed to ring figure and held up 10 fingers - five times.). I was able to "tell" them that I had 3 children - 1 daughter and 2 sons and they understand and praised Allah. I was able to "tell" them I had 7 grandchildren and Aisha and "mama" hugged me. i was also able to "tell" them I was a teacher. Aisha's daughter and granddaughter hugged me and the granddaughter was able to "tell" me that she was in 7th grade and LOVED school. They smiled so hard about this news it made me cry. So Sweet!!

Mark, Kepler, Daphne and Joe had a similar experience and while they did not feel like they were able to give much information, they were able to understand that the host had recently angioplasty and that he had recently grafted a chestnut tree on to another tree. All of that is quite amazing when you realize they did not speak each others language.

The purpose of this activity is ambassadorship. It is very hard to hate anyone with whom you have shared a meal. When these people think of people of the US - they will think of us. When we think about people of Turkey, we will think of them.

After this we drove several hours to a sleepy little farming town of Bergama and parked in the lot of a cable car station. From there we boarded the cable car and discovered this: Pergamum.

This amazing city was built in 301 BCE by the followers of Alexander The Great. An extraordinary place with a massive Temple to Athena and a library that contained 200,000 volumes - most of them were part of the gift to Cleopatra from Marc Antony. It also had the steepest amphitheater in the world. I loved this place!

The photo above is of the infrastructure of this city that provided a perfectly level surface on which the Temple of Athena was built. INCREDIBLE.

After a couple of hours - we took the cable car to the parking lot and left of Diwili where we would board our ship for the next 7 days.

Life of the ship was simply amazing.  We had a small crew, wonderful facilities and a small group of tourists - only 38.  So, since I am writing this much later I can say that we became a family.  The chef has a son the same age as Kepler and he greeted him warmly by name for every meal.  Actually the entire staff, that was pretty small, knew all our names in by day two.  And Philipe, the hotel manager, made a name for himself with his announcements that always began with “Ding-ga Dong-ga” Our cabin stewards knew us by name and would quickly race to our door to open it so we didn’t have to bother getting our keys out.  I was treated like a princess and everyone working there knew I was gluten-free and if I walked into the lounge or the dining room, I suddenly had a plate of something that was gluten-free and a glass of white wine. (Not for breakfast - FYI - but my breakfast always included something special that was made just for me.  I am a spoiled brat - no doubt!)

Back to the trip:  our first stop was Lesbos - pronounced “les-vos.”  Also all people who live there or visit are called lesbians.  I like it!

We visited The Church of the Virgin Mary, Greek Orthodox Church built in the 1700s.  I do not think I had ever been in a Greek Orthodox Church and it was stunning.

Kepler found a friend outside the church and if he could have figured out how to take him home, I'm sure he would be living in Chelsea at this moment.

This island is know for the work working and potter. Kepler bought his big gift to the himself from a wood worker.

Sweet!!

And with lots more to come - we heading back to the ship and headed to Hios. Stay tuned...

[evanems]

ALL TCE FANS REJOICE, THE SHOW IS COMING BACK THIS YEAR!

#sydney parra #the cleopatra experience #gay eygpt #eygpt gfs #cleopatra tce #marc antony #mc tce #we are the tigers

[blogdemocratesjr]

Dick Surgeon

Maison pour érotomane by Salvador Dalí

SIR TOBY BELCH That’s all one: has hurt me, and there’s the end on ’t. (to fool) Sot, didst see Dick Surgeon, sot? FOOL Oh, he’s drunk, Sir Toby, an hour agone. His eyes were set at eight i' the morning.   SIR TOBY BELCH Then he’s a rogue, and a passy-measures pavin. I hate a drunken rogue.

—Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

CLEOPATRA So it should be, that none but Antony Should conquer Antony, but woe ’tis so!

—Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra

Freely depicted in his own vocation, gentlemen, the Canaller would make a fine dramatic hero, so abundantly and picturesquely wicked is he. Like Mark Antony, for days and days along his green-turfed, flowery Nile, he indolently floats, openly toying with his red-cheeked Cleopatra, ripening his apricot thigh upon the sunny deck. But ashore, all this effeminacy is dashed. The brigandish guise which the Canaller so proudly sports; his slouched and gaily-ribboned hat betoken his grand features. A terror to the smiling innocence of the villages through which he floats; his swart visage and bold swagger are not unshunned in cities. Once a vagabond on his own canal, I have received good turns from one of these Canallers; I thank him heartily; would fain be not ungrateful; but it is often one of the prime redeeming qualities of your man of violence, that at times he has as stiff an arm to back a poor stranger in a strait, as to plunder a wealthy one. In sum, gentlemen, what the wildness of this canal life is, is emphatically evinced by this; that our wild whale-fishery contains so many of its most finished graduates, and that scarce any race of mankind, except Sydney men, are so much distrusted by our whaling captains. Nor does it at all diminish the curiousness of this matter, that to many thousands of our rural boys and young men born along its line, the probationary life of the Grand Canal furnishes the sole transition between quietly reaping in a Christian corn-field, and recklessly ploughing the waters of the most barbaric seas.      “'I see! I see!' impetuously exclaimed Don Pedro, spilling his chicha upon his silvery ruffles. 'No need to travel! The world's one Lima. I had thought, now, that at your temperate North the generations were cold and holy as the hills.—But the story.”

—Herman Melville, Moby Dick or The Whale

#Shakespeare #Twelfth Night #Antony and Cleopatra #Dick Surgeon #Herman Melville #Moby Dick #Marc Antony #Salvador Dalí #oil economies #climate change #global warming #Pisces #experience of the free soul nature

[vegalocity]

Theatre AU

I said I was gonna contribute to the Monkie Kid fandom so here it is; It was suggested the Theatre Au see the light of day first, so... *Will Smith Arms*

As expected this Theatre AU is mostly me projecting my love for Musical Theatre onto a proper AU, and since it's just me projecting it's gonna be using musicals I both know and like.

-

So Our boy MK is an actor for the Flower Fruit Theatre, a local theatre troupe that puts on, you guessed it, musical productions. MK is technically only a trained singer, but a lack of experienced actors means he tends to get a fair few named roles anyway. 

Oftentimes he's in the 'lead boy' position beside his best friend/Adoptive Sister Mei. Since they're super low on manpower most productions, usually taking in green actors from highschools and colleges who are looking for proper theatre experience, everyone kinda does what they can around the stage. Mei is a huge part of their Tech Crew for instance, and MK is brought on with the Theatre's owner Sun Wukong to work on sets in between rehearsals.

Basically everyone in support staff can take up a role too if they're needed, but some of the 'grownups' either would rather not or are needed more strenuously elsewhere.

Pigsy for instance apparently can be quite the actor, and has a running dibs on Max Bialystock in case anyone ever takes his damn suggestion for The Producers but rarely does roles otherwise granted he's directing the orchestra, so 90% of his time is spent in The Pit (that lower ground between the stage and the audience that the orchestra plays in, depending on how new the building is The Pit could be quite literally beneath the stage) yelling at the cello players.

Sandy works props and choreography and personally prefers to be allowed to focus on helping others with their performances without having to worry about his own. However he is fond of playing comedic side characters and in particular had a blast playing LeFou in their production of Beauty and the Beast some time ago. Apparently Pigsy was Gaston and it was hilarious on juxtaposition alone.

The two most Likely 'grownups' to actually be in the play itself are Wukong and Tang. Tang as head of Costuming and research (re: finding bootlegs for Sandy to study for choreography purposes) isn't exactly what you may think of as a powerhouse on first glance, but holy shit can this guy put some energy in his voice. He's a very weak dancer though which means when he IS involved he's usually a villain since villains don't often have dance parts, so much as they strut across stage with dancers around them. You would be surprised at the amount of menace this man can attain when he puts contacts on and the ominous music starts.

And Wukong as the owner of the whole damn theatre not only is the one running the numbers and doing the odds and ends like sets and vocal coaching and is usually the director of the productions, he's kind of their 'Shapeshifter' actor if you'll pardon the pun. Basically if a named character is left uncast for whatever reason He's most likely the one filling in. And it works every time because he's a fucking MASTER at it, he can be the Stuffy Dad in Bye Bye Birdie one moment and Nicky in Avenue Q the next and there's NO gap in quality. It's possibly because he's the only one here whose actually a fully classically trained Triple Threat, but it does mean he's easily the most stretched thin out of everyone, so of course, he takes their new kid, full to the brim with untapped talent, under his wing.

Flower Fruit Theatre is currently in the middle of a sort of rivalry with the Bull King's Theatre, a hoity Toity 'Musicals are for chumps' type theatre. You know the kind, the ones that only put on Shakespeare productions and are the most likely to say things like 'Musicals are an unsigtly tumor on the dignified body of acting' and 'It makes no sense why people would just be singing' that makes every musical theatre kid roll their eyes so far back into their skulls they can see their own brain. And by Rivalry I mean Flower Fruit Theatre is for the most part completely unconcerned over the Bull King's Theatre's 'Bitch Eating Crackers' complex (Wukong is the only one who cares and he only cares enough to laugh about how their own productions keep selling more tickets despite their considerably smaller budget and manpower)

Bull King's Theatre is run by, you guessed it, DBK and PIF, legend says that they first met during a highschool production of Antony and Cleopatra where they were, you guessed it, Marc Antony and Cleopatra, or at least that's the story Red Son tells about his Parents.

Speaking of Red Son though, he was just prepared to be Benvolio in their production of Romeo and Juliet (he'd WANTED to be Mercutio but his mother reminded him he doesn't have the skill for a meatier part like that) when his parents came up with 'the plan'.

Despite only being trained as an Actor, Red has a fair singing voice and was in choir for most of junior high and highschool, and their 'rival's were used to having people with little skill(ouch) So Red is tasked with auditioning for Flower Fruit Theatre's next production, to gather information and of course, sabotage the troupe whenever possible.

Their next production? One of the most well respected pieces of Musical Theatre, Les Miserables.

#Monkie Kid #Lego Monkie Kid #Spicynoodleshipping #Theatre AU #Vega Speaks #Red gets Marius as apparently Marius is a bit of a 'Hazing' role for the newcoming regulars #MK was Marius last time they did Les Mis too (He's very happy to be Enjolras bc being Marius was extremely nerve wracking) #Mei keeps getting cast as Cosette because she's the only one who can get her voice to Do That #she hates it she wants to be Eponine or Fontine so badly #''I dreamed a dream' blows 'a Heart full of love' out of the FUCKING WATER MK I'M SO MAD'

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Club Takamagahara (End) - Dating Game

Woo Doggy! This has been fun to write and I mean FUN. Having no real holds barred and getting really silly was a lot easier than I expected and I had a great time with this arc. 

One of the biggest complaints in the mobile game fandom is the Main Story offers no love interest for the MC and it trails off at this part as the MC is reduced to a go-fer for every NPC’s sidequest. Well I say NO MORE, you will be quite literally the center of everyone’s attention from here on out.

Cars lined up around the entire block of the street and women were lined up along the sidewalk for their tickets. From 8 to 10 p.m., the busiest time of the night was when the stage was filled with shows by the performers, from ancient erotic dramas like Cleopatra and Marc Antony to Chu Zihang's swordplay; off stage, the guests were already drunk. The guests who came late were often groups of girlfriends who had eaten dinner elsewhere and came to join the singing and dancing party in Takamagahara, the performers had to go over and greet them, there was a shortage of manpower everywhere. Both the escorts and waiters were running to work, Whale was roaring outside the dressing room backstage, like the circus troupe master. 

The message of the Romanceable MC Contest had caught fire and boosted to epic proportions. Princess Night was in full swing and featured all the top names in Male Escort business. Even before they got out of the cars, the women were screaming and taking pictures having lined up for hours.

The  white Cadillac Escalade stretch limousine rolled like an anaconda and reflected the millions of electric lights of the Tokyo night. It took up half the block, but there was space left for cars like this, reserved for the VIPs of the Takamagahara elite. No one could park there on pain of towing and a hefty fine.

A man in a hooded cloak pulled the lollipop out of his mouth. His bright green eyes scanned the crowd waiting outside. He crossed his legs one over the other and leaned back. “What percentage of the fans out there are mine?”

“From the ticket sales it seems that you are about 30% of the crowd today, Master Inoue.” The driver, a veteran and son of drivers, had been there for him since he first made it big hosting the Bliss Hall. This driver was so skilled at avoiding paparazzi that he put him under a lifetime contract. Now he was much older, but his driving was still as sharp as ever.

The man in the back seat was barely visible, dressed in all black and keeping the lights down so that it looked just like an empty limo. He huffed with a slight smirk. He crossed his arms and looked down. “Wow. And I’m supposed to have competition?” 

“You are the top male escort in Tokyo, Master Inoue,” rumbled the driver again.

That sharp green eye flicked up to the rear view mirror. “Second… to the top. If you would, sir. But apparently Ruri Kazama isn’t competing.”

Ruri Kazama. The name was so legendary among the escorts of Japan that they scarcely dared to utter it. Although he rarely appeared outside private showings, the man reigned supreme as the king of the male escort business.

“He’s unlikely he would have been able to respond on short notice, Master Inoue…”

“No one skips the Takamagahara…” He looked back outside, pushing back the thick velvet curtain slightly.

“You’ve skipped it by 3 hours sir.”

“I”m only here to see one woman. There’s no need to see any others or stay here too long. I come here, win her little heart, and leave with my prize money.”

“You’re really not going to entertain your fans, sir?”

He grinned, his radiant and white smile shining in the dark of the limo. “There’s value in scarcity. If I popped up in full all the time, there’d be no chase. And as you know very well, my most excellent driver… It's all about the chase! If you would, please?”

The driver put the truck in park and stepped out in his sharp suit and driver’s hat. He pulled the handle on the pearly side door and opened it.

Shining black cowboy boots covered in sparkling rhinestones stepped down from the limo. He moved as smooth and graceful as a dancer in skin tight leather pants. His black leather jacket was open to reveal his bare chest and sculpted abs. His hair, bleached white streamed from a black cowboy hat decorated with shark’s teeth.

His appearance sparked immediate mayhem, screams, and mad panting. Dozens of hands reached out desperately, stretching their fingers towards him as though they were pulled by an extremely powerful magnet. They were all screaming, “Diamond!”

Master Inoue - or to his fans, Diamond - stood still as a statue, hat tipped over his eyes, listening to their desperate pleas with his eyes closed.

It seemed arrogant, but for him, it was always like this. From the time he was a child, people couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. When they caught sight of his brilliant green eyes they were drawn to him before he even knew the difference between boys and girls. Sitting in the stroller, all he had to do was smile and the women would come and coo and smile and ask, please, can I hold him. Please!

“Please! Hold me, Diamond! Never let me go!”

Diamond lifted his head toward the voice. It was a woman in her thirties, tears in her eyes, begging with the desperation of a leper before Christ. If he just wanted to, he could heal her broken heart. He walked casually towards her and saw her eyes get bigger and bigger and then he took her delicate hand in his and gently kissed it.

The woman, struck with a Pentacostal frenzy, trembled and fell to her knees sobbing in desperation, clutching her hand and rocking back and forth. She would probably never wash that hand again.

The little favor revved the up crowd even more and the bouncers hurried to line up and make a barrier. That kiss was all he would grant. He turned and walked through the velvet rope staffed with burly workers with black masks over their eyes. They opened the doors to Takamagahara and he stepped inside. Immediately, two more workers turned to lead him to the VIP area.

“So who’s the lucky lady tonight?” Deep down, he was quite excited. His clients were usually 35 and older. For thousands of dollars, he would have dinner at a fancy restaurant, followed by drinks in some VIP Lounge. Or he would be asked to clean the house naked. Or pretend to be her boyfriend for the night. There was the common misconception that his clients were old or undateable. But that wasn’t his experience at all.

People who had $5,000 to spend on a naked butler could have anyone they wanted.

And they wanted him.

This challenge was new for him. The club picked his woman and they would be paying his escort fee. 

His only task would be to ‘Love her.’ If she felt that then she would give him tickets. Whoever got the most tickets was the winner. When she picked his ‘route’.

---------------------------

It wasn’t that you got a private party, MC. This was a show.  You were on the floor with everyone else. Rather than sticking to the edge of the crowd you got your table in the shape of a figure 8 in the middle of a raised platform filled with fish swimming about and surrounded by plush red couches in the shape of women’s lips. And already, the bottles were open. 

You’re wearing another dress, not a cheongsam this time. It was a light green satin tube dress that hugged your figure and barely covered anything. Your hair was long and down your shoulders and your make up again was light. For such a simple look, you had spent hours in the spa that day while they made sure your hair was softer than it ever had been. You smelled like lilac and roses. 

A man with short blond hair cropped above his ears, blue eyes and a black shirt so tight it conformed to every muscle in his body yelled above the music. “Where are you from?”

“Uh… Russia!”

“Russia! Woooow! Are you some sort of Oil Baron?”

“Yeah!” You yell figuring nothing you said mattered. They wouldn't remember anything anyway would they?

He flicks his wrist and produces an unopened rose stem, seemingly from thin air and offers it to you. “To me you’re worth more than all the oil in the world. I hope we get to know each other well, MC.”

Below the shirt, He wore pale form fitting jeans that hugged his considerable muscle just like Caesar’s outfit did. But his shoes were casual sneakers without ornamentation.

You accept the rose he offers you, feeling a bit shy.

Another man in a golden blouse that is made of fabric so sheer you could see the belly button piercing underneath, pulls out a cigarette and lights it up. He puffs out a perfect ring of smoke between his thin lips. “That would be Oil Baroness, Calypso…” He says. “She must have more pull than just money to bring us all to the same table.” His voice was deep and carried through the noise. He pulled another drag and sipped his liquor. But he was looking at you with calculating dark eyes.

A silver coin goes spinning on the table. A man in fiery red hair tied back in a ponytail, puffy red coat and a long chain over his bare chest lifts his chin at you. His eyes are as silver as that coin. “Heads or Tails, MC?”

“What am I betting on?” You ask.

His smile spreads further. “I just said heads or tails.”

“Hey, go easy, she’s new!” The man in the skintight black shirt returns with a bottle of vodka and pours it into a glass.

The redhead slaps his hand over the coin. It’s painted with an elaborate henna tattoo, elaborate, like stained glass. “You’re not going to win by going easy…”

The smell of the vodka is the mix of rubbing alcohol and gasoline. Light a match and it might produce a plume of flame! You lean away, repulsed, but the man next to you brazenly pours himself a glass and downs it. Sighing roughly like he might breathe fire, he grins. “That’s the good stuff! But you must drink it every day right?”

“Yeah!” You take cautious sips but the burn builds and builds until it overwhelms you and forces you to stop and cough into your arm.

Caesar, Mingfei and Chu Zihang were nowhere to be found. It was clear this club was over occupancy and over staffed so there was no rescuing you. All the waiters were running around. From somewhere in the hall, glass breaks.

A finger taps your shoulder. You’re met by a bright green gaze in a pale face.

You flinch as a crown is laid on your head.

“Your Majesty…” The man bows to you.

“Your Majesty!”  They all echo with bows and kittenish smiles. For years, you’d never considered trying to date anyone. You lived like you were preparing for war. Then the war came and never let up. Now, you’re surrounded by men who could honestly be called the handsomest in Tokyo who were placing their hands on their broad chests and bowing their heads in fealty.

Off stage, the women on the floor whooped with delight.

Cowboy hat tipped over one eye, shirtless in his jacket, with a bare hairless chest, the man who gave you the jeweled tiara leaned over the couch. Every muscle stood out in carefully carved relief and your eyes followed them down to where they disappeared below his waist. The elastic band of his boxers peek up from the pants. You’d seen naked people before. But they were all familiar, people you knew and were fine with. This is the first time encountering the bare chest of a complete stranger and he’s so close you can smell his sweat. “Wow…” He says quietly, in a low purr next to your ear.

“I’m sorry?”

“You are… beautiful.” His eyes roamed about your body with a lopsided smile, his eyebrows raising. “I have to say I am caught by surprise.”

If your face gets any hotter it might catch fire.

He vaults over the couch, plops next to you and leans in, filling your vision. He gives a quick wink. “I’m yours for the night.”

“Diamond is always this forward but the truth is, he’s the most inexperienced of all of us.”

Diamond shoots the yellow shirt a glare. “I’m experienced in everything she would possibly want, Armani.”

“Yes, but we must go gently, gently…” The black shirt lightly rustles your hair. “We don't want to scare her off.”

“I’m here to do what she wants me to do…” Diamond waves the other men away before addressing you again. “Well, what’s your name?”

You tell him.

“Beautiful… let me guess? Russian?” His hand crept over to envelope yours in a steady grip. His fingers were so much larger than yours and soft like they were bathed in milk every day. There were no calluses. When Mingfei or Caesar touched you, there were roughened, thick patches of skin from hours of practice at the shooting ranges. His nails were even, shining and unbroken.

He raises your hand to his lips and gives it a small kiss. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. You can call me, Diamond.”

“Okay, Diamond.” You glance up at his eyes. He follows your gaze down when it falls again, trying to hold it as much as possible to the point where he leans over and tilts his head to do so. Every time you look up, those eyes are there, to catch that glance, like a serpent hypnotizing his prey.

He holds your drink out to you and you accept it with thanks.

“Are you cold? I noticed you’re keeping your feet tucked under.”

“Yes, it’s… a little cold.”

He shrugged off his jacket and laid it over your shoulders. It was very warm and you realized that the smell of the cologne he was wearing surrounded you like a thick heavy fog.  You could now see his body in all its glory. You belatedly realize that the observation of your being cold was just an excuse for him to remove one of the few pieces of clothing he had!

His shoulders.. The way his neck curved into them and then down to his back. You’d seen shoulders like his before but for some reason, in seeing someone new, made your eye rest on it that much longer, on the way the muscle hugged his bone . The cold in the room made his nipples stand out and...

“Anything else I can do to make you more comfortable, Your Highness?” He stayed turned to you. The way his abs wrinkled. That little valley on his side that disappeared when it met the leather pants. You were naturally observant. Everything you saw was getting laser etched into your mind. In an effort to stop it, you return to his eyes but even that wasn’t safe. He was so close, you could notice small flecks of blue and gold that enhanced the color. 

“Your eyes are really pretty.” You say this, but it doesn’t sound right even in your own ears. It wasn’t really his eyes you wanted to say something about.

He gives an easy relaxed smile, his eyebrows lift once. “Your eyes are prettier.”

“No they’re not.”

“I think I’m gonna barf. Let a pro show you how it’s done.” The redhead plants one arm between you and Diamond and ignores his furious glare.

His lips were really pink, almost cherry red, but you don’t see any sign of gaudy lipstick that Caesar wore. Everything about this man was gorgeous, even the light smatter of freckles on his nose. And everything about him was natural, save his hair color. The breath from his nose tickles your lips. He’s not backing away, he only tilts his head a bit.

You start to imagine what it might be like to kiss him. He draws a bit closer… closer. You close your eyes and wait. Wait… nothing.

“Can I?” He asks, quietly pleading.

“Uh...huh?” You press the words out from a stomach that was already squeezed tight like a fist.

“Good. I’ll keep that in mind for later.” The redhead pulls back and sashays back to this spot on the couch, giving Diamond a sharp snap of his fingers, just inches on his face. “Get on my level.”

“Alright, Alright, point taken.” Diamond pours himself some vodka.

The man in the yellow blouse, Armani, tilts his glass a bit. “Popularity is just a sign of good marketing and ubiquity. None of us can doubt your social media prowess, Diamond, but this is much higher class.”

He’s then staring at you with a half-lidded gaze. “Perhaps the baroness should accustom herself to someone who has dined with high officials. The ones with real power.”

“Okay…” You whisper, you’re completely captivated, unable to move.

“But that’s boring.” The Redhead sighs. “She needs to have more anticipation and suspense!”

“Your name is Chance because whether or not you’re any good is a complete crapshoot.” Armani sips his whiskey.

“But you could hit the jackpot.” He winks at you. “I’m one in a million.”

A loud popping sound  made you suddenly duck but he held you close. Confetti and glitter rained from the ceiling and cascaded over your skin. You look at your arm and watch the play of the disco lights on the sparkle.

“It’s time to give out Star-Heart Tickets! Who is the Ikemen who’s won this round?!” Whale is still emceeing this event and apparently was watching you. A waiter comes by with a basket full of stars with hearts in the middle.

You look at face after glorious handsome face. They were all leaning forward, smiling, waiting. Off stage people were yelling. Bets were being taken. “Diamond! Diamond!”

“PIck Armani he’s the best!”

“You’ll love Calypso!”

“Go with Chance!!”

“I don’t know…” You say, your voice weak. You look at your glass but it seems like the level has hardly moved even though you already feel dizzy.

“No one!” Whale shouts loudly. 

There must be a microphone because you’re not sure how he’s hearing what you’re saying. A gasp ripples through the crowd surrounding you and they fall to a confused silence. All the men sitting around you sit up straight, their faces each registering different levels of surprise and consternation. Save Chance, who whooped loud. “Yeah! Now this is what I’ve been waiting for! Let the games begin!” He pumped his fist.

Chance makes a mighty leap on the table and stands in front of you, all six feet of masculine bravado. “Let me give it to you straight. It’s true, I’m not always everyone’s cup of tea, I go buck wild sometimes.” He sweeps his arms across the table at the other men. “But if girls just fall into your lap at the first sight, how do you know how to compete? Ya don’t!”

Armani stares up at Chance and slowly sets his whiskey down. The others also suddenly changed their demeanor, grave determination and desire in their eyes.

#Dragon Raja

[tenderlyrenjun]

[2020 A.D.]

“Hey, pay attention.”

Renjun smacks your inner thigh after he sees you staring at his eyes, more focused on him than the words he reads for your mutual art history class. 

He chose an art degree and you a medical degree, yet somehow you two share a course for his major, instead of something like chemistry or calculus, which would benefit your degree but also satisfy his general education (yeah, you had an assistant prep you on college requirements; this era is so different from the Song Dynasty). In his mind, since the course details go further than your lifespans, starting at pre-history, Renjun thought that the new material would be fun to learn. Well, more than the computer basics class he forced you to register for. You still need to get a little (a lot) better at technology - hence the study session. He only wanted to start with cave drawings to remind you that this should be an enjoyable experience.

But first you have to pay attention.

And he flicks you again, because you still just stare at him.

You scrunch your forehead at him, simultaneously pushing him off your chest in retaliation. Studying anatomy would have been a better decision, you think as Renjun falls back to you, grabbing your neck to draw you in a sweet, long kiss, another persuasion, you know. Exploring the body has to be more exciting than staring at your lives in a textbook. Although, the way he reads it like an epic, inflecting different parts of his melodious voice, is enough to make you watch.

“How can I [pay attention]?” you ask, breathless (to which he rolls his eyes - dramatic), blinking slowly at his lips - they are too far away now. “You make history sound so pretty.”

Renjun slides his hand on your cheek, a tender gesture that he made more habitual in the last 900 years. You lean off the pillows to grant him better access, and he leans on your shoulder in return, complimenting the romanticized Cleopatra and Marc Antony. He stares at you for another minute, until your fingers curl around his palm and you kiss it.

“You made history pretty.”

“Are you trying to get me to look through the text for some pictures of us?” you ask wryly. He shrugs innocently, taking his hand back. You sigh, pulling the textbook (and him) closer. Renjun nuzzles his head up your chest, resting gracefully on your collarbone as you recline against the padded headboard for support. You flip through the glossy pages, looking as forward as the Impressionist era - your time in France was ... passive-aggressive, so you close the book and hug your lover, combing the hairs over his eyes.

“Shall we study something else?” he whispers, tracing the velvet sheets below you. He gradually wakes up, lifting his chin toward you for a better look at your answer. “Hmm?” he asks again. You cup his face one-handedly, pressing another gently kiss on his perched lips, suggesting another typical young adult experience, one that you have done countless times outside the constraints of college. Upon another embrace, when he opens his mouths and you extend your tongue, he murmurs again: “How’s that whole getting to know mortals thing going?”

You put a hand on his chest, swallowing back your spit, relenting for a moment to play along with his college fantasy. “I made one friend.” With your eyes still closed, you go in for another kiss, failing to see him to look up at you - not that it stays, he equally returns your embrace.

“Tell me more,” he asks of you, actions becoming embolden as he crawls over you, planting his hands by your waist.

“His name is Nana,” you whisper, equally enamored as he takes the upper hand that you give him. “He wants to be a surgeon too.”

“Hmm, too?” Renjun smirks, his hands coming onto you now. For someone with many reservations against his ten-year plan, you sure as hell put a lot of work into it. He finds it incredibly sweet of you, and right now, he tells you how sexy it is when you indulge him.

You nod your head, eagerly anticipating more of his enthusiasm; perhaps giving him more details of your day will do the trick: “Pediatrics, not cardiothoracic.” You thought that studying the heart would be easy, considering all the centuries you spent ripping them out. “He somewhat reminds me of Jaemin.”

Renjun nods, understanding, then he kisses down your jaw, to your neck, using his tongue to gently tap at the very visible jugular (well, at least to his vampiric sight; he attributes it to a love tunnel vision though, slightly more romantic). You almost push him away, down, wanting less noticeable bite marks. He should give you another set of bites below the ones already on your rib cage. You can pass that off as a planetary convergence tattoo. Although, this is a little unfair. If he drains your body now,  you will have to feed again and so soon, likely incapable of stopping until you deplete a hospital’s reserve or slaughter an apartment complex. 

“I miss Jaemin,” you confess unexpectedly. Your friend is not gone, unlike Xiaojun, who you still think of here and there, but ever since the Na Clan (also known as the Elysian Coven, in more elite circles) assumed power in 1400, enforcing vampire law, Jaemin has been consumed by traditional politics. The only time you see him is when all coven leaders are required at meetings, otherwise Renjun sees him twice a year for updates. They only last three days, or else you join them, out of fear for another mistress situation or from sensing crises. 

Renjun hovers above you now, licking your lips rather than the column of your neck. He kisses you once, twice, three times, slipping his tongue on your mouth, feeling around for your fangs. When they grow in, matching his, he pulls away, sitting up.

“We can go see him this weekend, if you want.”

You prop yourself on your arms, glaring at him. “No, we have school and work to stay on top of.”

Renjun rolls his eyes, kissing you again. “Okay, then next month.”

“Why not the weekend after?”

“I got invited to a frat party.”

“What?!” 

You shove Renjun off you. That is not fair. “You wore a suit to class. How the hell did you get invited to a frat party?”

“Hey!” Renjun shoves you back, jokingly, his smile poorly restraining a laugh. “Because I’m nice.” He sits up, pulling you into his lap by your waist, close enough to ghost his breath over your lips, still smelling like AB negative. “And I actually know how to talk to people.”

“Oh bite me,” you jeer, rolling your eyes, hands squared over his shoulders. He opens his mouth to taunt you in return, but you pout at him, changing the mood. His endeared smile never changes though, always maintaining the same look in his eye as the first night he met you - which should tell him that ... “I know how to talk to people!” Renjun gives you a look, pulling your bottom lip to get you to tell him the truth. “Okay, fine. I haven’t, in awhile, but I still made a friend today.” You grab his shirt, thumbing the cotton material between your fists, while you pout at him. “Be proud of me.”

Renjun takes the initiative, takes your build up, coming closer. “Always,” he whispers, then kisses you, rolling you over in the sheets for a long night. Without the textbooks.

#nct #nct dream #renjun #renjun x reader #renjun imagines #nct college au #nct imagines #nct drabbles #nct blurbs #nct timestamps #renjun fluff #nct fluff #nct dream fluff #renjun drabbles #renjun blurbs #nct dream imagines #nct dream drabbles #nct dream timestamps

[maryanntorreson]

10 incredible women in history you should know

Shutterstock

A few years ago, I began to notice that the people I taught about in my World History classes were, more often than not, European men.

When women were included in the state curriculum, they felt like token inclusions who were often related to men and discussed in proximity to them; not as independent actors. They were often queens or empresses, and only a few women of “normal” status made our lessons. I began the work of analyzing my World History lessons to make them more inclusive and diverse. I found that by including women with different backgrounds, fields, and from different parts of the world, I could provide students with role models they could identify with, and remind male students that women are capable of greatness too.

Here’s some additional good news: we don’t need to carve out a single month, special lesson, or unit, to incorporate women into our lessons. First, when planning, I ensure that I include women next to their male colleagues in all my materials. Then, when executing the lessons, I tell these women’s stories in as well-rounded a way as possible because it’s not just who we teach about— it’s how we approach their story that can give it power.

For example, when I teach about Cleopatra, I don’t just talk about her in relation to Julius Caesar or Marc Antony— I spend time discussing how she was a linguist, and the first Greek of the Ptolemaic line ruling Egypt who learned to speak Egyptian; she was a scholar and a woman who understood her people. When I teach about women like the Empress Josephine or Marie Antoinette, I discuss their emotions, letters, relationships, and struggles in unhappy marriages.

In all narratives that we share, male and female alike, we have the opportunity to humanize history, to make people on pages relatable by talking about their emotions, their mental health, and their experiences. When we bring them to life for students, we draw students into history.

I polled my students, past and present, to ask them which figures they remember most, and I have included some of their favorites as well my own. Here are 10 amazing women you should know and share, from the 300s CE to the 1900s CE:

1. Hypatia (c. 370 CE – March 415 CE) – Ancient Rome

Hypatia of Alexandria was a philosopher, mathematician, and teacher, born in Alexandria, Egypt around 370 CE, just before Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. She was the daughter of a mathematician who taught her math and astronomy, and trained her in Neo-Platonic philosophy. She joined her father as a teacher at the University of Alexandria, and was a beloved teacher who fostered an open environment, teaching pagans, Jews, and Christians.

Both her presence as a female teacher and her insistence on an accepting classroom in an increasingly hostile religious atmosphere of early Christian Rome made her courses unusual and that much more coveted. She was widely known for her love of learning and expertise, but in 415 CE, due to her high profile and power as a non-Christian woman, she was targeted by a mob of Christian monks who killed her in the streets. They then also burned the University of Alexandria, forcing the artists, philosophers, and intellectuals to flee the city. Hypatia’s life models open-mindedness, generosity, and a love of learning, and her death is often discussed as a watershed turning point in the Classical world.

Topics you can connect her to in history include the connections between Roman and Greek philosophy, and the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Students have loved learning about a woman who taught in such an open-minded way, and learning she is one of my role models too.

 2. Empress Theodora (c. 497 – c. 548) – The Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empress Theodora was born into a circus family in Constantinople, just after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Her father likely worked as a bear trainer in the Hippodrome, and a young Theodora, it was said, took work as an actress and dancer. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian encountered her one day and, taken by her beauty, determined to marry her. However, because she was a commoner and had a bit of a reputation, special laws had to be passed in order for them to marry.

Though she never technically co-ruled the empire with Justinian, she had significant influence and power, and was a trusted advisor who promoted religious and social policies, many of which benefited women. Some of which included altering divorce laws and prohibiting the traffic of young women. Her name was listed in nearly all laws passed, she had regular communication with other foreign rulers, and received foreign envoys. Empress Theodora is credited with helping stabilize Justinian’s power after she urged him to stand his ground during the Nika revolt of 532 CE.

Topics you can connect her to in history include the Byzantine Empire, naturally, and students have told me they love her backstory and how she fought for women’s rights. They also enjoy how she pushed Justinian to make him a better ruler.

3. Sappho of Lesbos (c. 620 – c. 570 BCE) – Ancient Greece

Sappho of Lesbos was a lyric poet of Ancient Greece who was so famous during her life that statues were created in her honor. She was praised by Plato and other Greek writers, and her peers referred to her as the “Tenth Muse” and “The Poetess.” Very few fragments of her work survived because she wrote in a very specific dialect, Aeolic Greek, which was difficult for later Latin writers to translate.

Her poetry was lyric poetry – to be accompanied by the lyre – and was sung frequently at the parties of high-ranking Greeks. She wrote about passion, loss, and deep human emotions. Some of her surviving poems imply she may have had romantic relationships with women, and thus from her name we get the etymology of “lesbians” and “sapphic.”

Topics you can connect her to in history include the ancient Greeks and Greek philosophy and art. Every year, I have female students who have told me that they valued her inclusion because it was the first time they had heard about an LGBTQ+ person in their history class, and the representation meant so much to them.

4. Margery Kempe (c. 1373 – c. 1440 CE) – Middle Ages Europe

Margery Kempe was an English mystic and traveler, and is also the author of the first autobiography in the English language. She was the mother to 14 children. After her first child was born, Margery had a traumatic postpartum experience of a form of psychosis; for months she was catatonic, experiencing visions, and was tied to her bed for her own safety. For the rest of her life she would experience these visions, and later on she would leave her family and travel on pilgrimages to Spain, Jerusalem, Rome, and Germany.

Margery was known to weep loudly at various shrines and this behavior did not endear her to leaders in the church. She also insisted on wearing white like a nun, seeking specific permission to do so. She narrated her life and travels upon her return to two clerks who wrote it down on her behalf, so it is a unique book in that it shares her very specific life experiences in her own voice. Margery is a conflicting person to teach about because of her mysticism: do we discuss her experiences and travels through the lens of religion, or mental health? Historians often opt for both, as we seek to understand her contributions and life.

Topics you can connect her to in history include Christianity, the Middle Ages in Europe, and travel narratives like those of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta. My students remember Margery fondly, and she makes their list of favorites consistently. They like how we talk about her through the lens of mental health and that she pursued what she believed despite naysayers.

5. Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba (c. 1581 – c. 1663 CE) – Post-Classical Africa

Njinga Mbandi was a warrior queen of modern Angola. She was born to a concubine of the king of Ndongo and as a daughter, it was unlikely she would take the throne, so her father allowed her to attend many of his important meetings and negotiations, and also allowed her to be trained as a warrior and educated fully. When her half-brother took the throne after their father’s death, he had her infant son killed and Njinga fled to nearby Matamba, but returned when her brother begged her to negotiate on behalf of her people with the rapidly encroaching Portuguese. Njinga did so successfully, due to her notably diplomatic skills and her insistence on respect from the Portuguese, going so far as to refuse to sit lower than them during the negotiations. She won significant concessions from the Portuguese.

When her brother died, Njinga took the throne; at various points during her reign, Njinga was deposed, regained power, lost territory, and gained it. She struggled against the Portuguese to maintain her peoples’ independence. Ultimately, when Njinga died at the age of 81, she left behind a stable kingdom that would be led by women for the majority of the next 100 years. While Ndongo was eventually taken by the Portuguese, Matamba maintained its independence through the 1900s.

Topics you can connect her to in history include Africa and the age of European exploration, as well as African resistance to Europeans. I think it’s important that we show examples of successful resistance and a powerful legacy.

6. Artemisia Gentileschi (c. 1593 – c. 1654) – Renaissance Europe

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome to a gifted painter. Her father trained her to paint and even hired a tutor for her; ultimately this ended in tragedy, as the tutor raped Artemisia. There was a horrific trial and Artemisia was tortured with thumbscrews for “the truth.” Artemisia left for Florence, had a family, and was the first woman to gain membership to the Academy of the Arts of Drawing. She went back to paint in Rome for a time, as well as London where she painted in the court of Charles I, and then settled in Naples.

While in Florence, she painted for Michelangelo the Younger in the Casa Buonoratti, and was paid more than her male peers for her time and efforts. Artemisia’s work is profound, passionate, unabashed, and reclaims the space of women in the stories told about them. She makes women her focal points, her heroines, and paints them in positions of strength, and often revenge.

A topic you can connect her to in history is of course the Renaissance. Artemisia has stuck for many of my female students who have experienced sexual assault or harassment. They have expressed to me that they are inspired by her strength and find solace in her paintings. One of my students even went on to do her senior capstone all about Artemisia, two years after taking my class.

7. Malintzin/Malinche/Doña Marina (c. 1500 – c. 1550) – Colonial Americas

Born to a local chieftain in Central America and a mother whose family ruled a nearby village, Malintzin (or Malinali, or Malinche) was of high rank on both sides of her family. When her father died and her mother remarried, she was secretly sold into slavery so her brother would inherit the land that was her birthright. Malintzin was sold to several tribes, and over the course of her life would learn to speak Maya, Nahuatl, and later Spanish.

She was eventually given to Hernán Cortés and his men in 1519, and upon realizing her skill as a translator, Cortes came to rely on her. Malinztin was baptised as Doña Marina, and traveled with the Spanish for the next few years as they battled or negotiated with various Indigenous groups in the Aztec Empire. She provided cultural context and insight as well as communication skills. Without her, Spanish success in the region would have been difficult to achieve. By 1521, Cortes had conquered the Aztecs and needed her to help him govern. She was given several pieces of land around Mexico City as a reward.

Topics you can connect her to in history include Spanish conquest of the Americas and Indigenous peoples of the Americas. We talk about her complicated legacy as she is viewed by some as a traitor to her people, and to others as a woman who was enslaved and did the best she could to survive in difficult circumstances. My students typically find her a fascinating and sympathetic figure, a woman who did all she could to survive and thrive in adversity.

8. Olympe de Gouges (May 7, 1748 – November 3, 1793) – Enlightenment Europe

Olympe de Gouges, born Marie Gouze, was a political activist and writer during the French Revolution. Married off against her will at the young age of 16, she renamed herself Olympe de Gouges after her husband’s death and moved to Paris. She pursued her education there and rose to a high status in Parisian society. She would host salons for thinkers of the time and would write poetry, plays, and political pamphlets. De Gouges was a pacifist, an abolitionist, and wanted an end to the death penalty. She wanted a tax plan that allowed wealth to be spread more evenly, with welfare for the less fortunate and protections for women and children.

De Gouges was in favor of the French Revolution, but when the Revolution failed to provide the equality it claimed it would, she grew critical. The Revolution was in many ways built on the backs of women: women were some of the first to march against the king and take up arms and they served on the front lines of France’s battles against other European powers. Yet women were not being provided the true “egalite” promised in terms of rights as citizens.

De Gouges wrote her most famous work in response to this, “The Declaration of the Rights of Women” (1791). It was a direct play on The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen that was part of the first French Constitution. She became increasingly vocal, and in 1793 she was arrested by the revolutionary government and guillotined.

Topics you can connect with Olympe de Gouges, as well as Mary Wollstonecraft, include Enlightenment writers and the Age of Revolutions; it is unfair for Voltaire and Montesquieu to get all the limelight! Her ideas resonate for my students as being very modern, and they appreciate that she never backed down from her convictions and is a model of courage.

9. Manuela Sáenz (December 27, 1797–November 23, 1856) – Revolutionary Americas

Manuela Sáenz is the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish military officer and an Ecuadorian noblewoman. Her childhood included a traditional education in a convent, as well as learning how to ride and shoot. When she was 17,  her father arranged her marriage to an English doctor who was nearly twice her age, James Thorne. She moved with him to Lima, Peru, where she was connected with revolutionaries who were interested in overthrowing the Spanish in Latin America.

She returned to Quito, Ecuador in 1822, and met the revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar. They fell in love and would occasionally live together and go on campaign together. Manuela would go into battle with Bolívar in the cavalry, and was promoted from captain to colonel; she even saved Bolívar from assassination at least twice. She was also given the Order of the Sun, the highest military honor in the revolutionary government. Upon Bolívar’s exile and death in 1830, Manuela had no resources and lived the rest of her life in a small coastal village in Peru, making money by writing letters for sailors, including Herman Melville. She died in a diphtheria outbreak and was buried in a mass grave. Her role in Latin America’s independence has only recently been recognized, and she was granted an Honorary General title in Ecuador in 2007.

Topics you can connect her to in history include Latin American revolutions and the Enlightenment. My students find her time as a soldier and spy endlessly interesting! I enjoy including women, particularly in this period, who went into battle, such as the women of France who fought in the revolutionary wars. I have female JROTC students who like knowing they are part of a long tradition.

10. Lyudmila Pavlichenko (July 12, 1916 – October 27, 1974) – World War II

Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born in Ukraine and was one of the best snipers in history. She pursued sharp shooting when in school and  fought for the Red Army of the Soviet Union during World War II as a trained sniper. She soon began to rack up an impressive tally of kills, reaching 309 in just a few months on the frontline.

The German soldiers knew her by name, and she would engage in some of the most dangerous fighting, sniper seeking sniper. She was wounded four times in battle, and in 1942 she took shrapnel in her face.

She was sent to the United States to tour and drum up American support for the war effort, as the USSR and USA were allies at the time and the USSR depended on continued American engagement. She was often frustrated when asked by American journalists about issues around makeup, clothing, or hair. Finally, she spoke during a tour and said “Gentlemen. I am 25-years-old and I have killed 309 fascist occupants by now. Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?” This was greeted by a roar of applause.

She got to know Eleanor Roosevelt during this tour and they became good friends. Upon her return to the USSR, Pavlichenko was promoted to major, awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and received the Order of Lenin twice. She continued training other Soviet snipers, and then when the war ended, finished her education at Kiev University and became a historian and research assistant for the Soviet Navy.

Topics you can connect her to in history include World War II and the Cold War. Students adore her story: they find her sass, grit, and action movie skills endlessly fascinating.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caitlin Tripp is a teacher and curriculum writer for Atlanta Public Schools. Born and raised in West Africa and Latin America, she loves to travel and learn more about the places she visits. She is passionate about women’s history, and in her free time enjoys snuggling up to a history documentary with her husband and their two cats.

Caitlin Tripp originally shared how to incorporate women into history lessons in her Educator Talk submitted through the TED Masterclass for Education program. To learn more about how TED Masterclass for Education inspires educators to develop their ideas into TED-style Talks, visit https://masterclass.ted.com/educator

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[lockeforpresidentcirca1704]

Coriolanus

Many of the readings that we explored in class were ones that I was already familiar with. Homer’s Iliad and Odysseus were taught in middle school. Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates are famous philosophers. I also was familiar with the the better known roman works of Shakespeare, having read Marc Antony Oration, and read the tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra. Coriolanus however was new to me, and thus the most impactful. Some of this was personal.

With a deep interest in history, philosophy, and political theory, it sometimes becomes easy to doubt and judge the civic knowledge of the general human being. You may fall privy to polarization and think the “other side” are idiots, or, like myself, question the whole process. I recently have worked in an internship that has  left me to experience this firsthand. I had a 40 year old lady tell me the biggest threat to the US is the Soviet Union (apparently alive and well), and others tell me that Qanon is the answer to saving our country. 

In such encounters, its each to fall prey to hubris such as Coriolanus, of doubting the “masses”. While I hardly reached any extremes, reading Coriolanus was a good reminder, that we as humans can not fall prey to superiority complexes, or judging those with less knowledge of a topic. It will only divide us, lead to dehumanization, and anger both “sides” in an topic. This same hubris has helped contribute to our party polarization.

#pols383

[bgthomas99-blog]

Shakespeare and Roman History

In class today we were able to see a modern adaptation of a Shakespeare play. The play was adapted by the story of Marcius Coriolanus during the time of strife between the Plebs and the plebeians. It was very interesting to see how a modern movie and play come from a real life event in Roman history. The slide presented today in class of other Roman inspired works from Shakespeare gives a new perspective on where these stories came from. Two of the four stories mentioned in the slides to be inspired by Roman history are quite obvious. First the story of Julius Caesar well know leader of the Roman empire. The play is about Caesar life and rule as emperor. The play also has had modern adaptations in films. The other story of Marc Antony and Cleopatra is a story that has been replicated many times over. The tale of a forbidden love is a story and theme that has been seen many times over throughout literature. Again a story taken from the past and dramatized for entertainment for a lot of people to experience. These adaptations of Roman stories shows the cultural influence Rome has had on Western Culture. For stories like these to last for a few thousand years and still make prevalent storytelling, really shows how influential Rome was.             

#Shakespeare_Stole_my _content

[peremadeleine]

ride-the-bifrost reblogged your post and added:

She married her siblings???

Yep. So did all of her ancestors. Meet the Ptolemies, the royal dynasty that makes the Habsburgs look like rookies.

The difference, as you can see, is that “the” Cleopatra didn’t have any children with said brothers. For one thing, they were both much younger than her, probably prepubescent; she married them out of obligation, and at least one of them actively tried to get rid of her. (She doesn’t seem to have had any interest in co-ruling with them for longer than she had to, either.) There is only any proof that she ever had sexual relations with two men--Julius Caesar and, after his death, Marc Antony--the fathers of her children.

The Ptolemies adopted the old Egyptian royal tradition of brother-sister marriages mostly because they were extremely xenophobic and obsessed with keeping their Macedonian Greek bloodline “pure” (this is also why, with the exception of some potential Persian ancestry, Cleopatra’s ethnicity is known so definitively).

Cleopatra had been married for three years to a brother who was by all accounts “a mere boy” and who–even if he had by thirteen attained puberty, which by ancient standards was unlikely–had been trying for most of that time to dispose of her.  What [she] was unlikely to have had when she materialized before Caesar in October 48 [aged twenty-one] was any sexual experience whatever. | Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life

Also, this is just my speculation, but Cleopatra was born and raised as a princess who could (theoretically at least) trace her ancestry back to Alexander the Great. She also identified strongly with the goddesses Isis and Aphrodite. She was extremely proud, well-educated, and accomplished. And like any royal woman, she would have been aware that any sexual liaison could lead to children (as both of hers in fact did).

In short, she would not--for all those reasons--have been sleeping around freely. I’m sure she was as keenly aware, and as proud, of her children’s ancestry as she was of her own.

#ride-the-bifrost #incest cw

[evanems]

TCE Highschool AU headcanons

Iris is a tiktok e-girl and a dancer

She choreographs flashmobs frequently

Cleo bought Iris 3 sketch books and a 64 pack of prisma color pencils for her birthday

MC is non-binary and is in an on again off again relationship with Marc

Marc is a football player and frequently gets out of trouble because of athlete privilege

Iris sucks at math

Cleo is good at math and helps Iris with her homework during homeroom

Layla called Iris your majesty for an entire day because of a dare

Iris has Chinese take-out with her mom every tuesday

#sydney parra #the cleopatra experience #iris tce #musicals #cleopatra tce #mc tce #marc antony

[itztagninut]

lavandula angustifolia “garden lavender”

or: English lavender, narrow-leaved lavender, common lavender

physical properties

Lavender is a member of the Lamiaceae, the mint family, like many of the most well-known herbaceous herbs in western culture. It’s a medium-sized drought-tolerant shrub with lanceolate leaves. It’s covered with trichomes (fuzzy hairs), and this mat of trichomes (called an indumentum) contains the highest concentration of its essential oil. It is native to the Mediterranean but has been cultivated all over Europe since the Romans. 

In Modern Hebrew, people commonly call it לבנדר lavender, however it’s Talmudic name is אזוביון azovyon which comes from the root אזוב ezov, referring to a plant used for its cleansing properties in various rituals. Lavender grows wild all over the Mediterranean and is one of the European plants (along with rosemary) that grows remarkably well in Central Texas, but also in any hot, dry, transitional ecosystem.

magical properties

In folklore, lavender is often associated with sexuality, used especially as a means to an end. יהודית Judith perfumes herself with lavender before seducing and murdering Holofernes. Lavender was Cleopatra’s scent of choice to help “persuade” Marc Antony and Julius Caesar. The Queen of Sheba included lavender in her litany of spice gifts to King Solomon. (Lavender, Ellen Spector Platt).

Lavender has unique parallel qualities of cleansing and clarifying, which some people can find overwhelming. So while it is good for sleep, it’s also good for divination. It is both grounding, and up-lifting. Lavender flowers mixed with a dollop of honey and burnt over charcoal serve as an excellent spirit offering and seem to enhance the spirits’ abilities to communicate. (UPG)

Culpepper assigns lavender to Mercury and that is extremely consistent with my experiences. This means lavender is a great ally for any Mercury working, anything involving communication or commerce or healing. Because of its accessibility, I find myself using it any time my work needs to zing a little brighter, faster, or sooner.

[from Botanica Plant Nursery]

medicinal properties

L. angustifolia is called, in Hebrew, אזוביון רפואי azovyon refu’i, or healing lavender which highlights its use as a medicinal herb. Culpepper notes its use for a litany of afflictions from apoplexy to falling sickness. In general, one of its powers is its essential oil’s ability to arouse the mental faculties while also calming them.

Lavender water is a humectant which makes it great in general as a toner or essence after cleansing, but especially as a treatment after sun exposure or burns. Diluted lavender essential oil is also a great burn treatment and has saved my hide multiple times as an anti-itch remedy, especially for bug bites.

#lavender #magical properties #kitchen witch #green witch #herbal magic #herbalism #wmhp #oc #correspondences #occult botany

[gabrielsemidey]

TRAVEL LOG # 2 

After doing many unspeakable things that I regret to this day, I was able to leave the colosseum. Despite not being able to pick up on the language, I think I'm managing pretty okay here.  The next stop on my list is the world famous pantheon that I have been excited to visit for quite a while. I noticed that many Roman citizens still occupied the area, going about their daily lives. From what i recall, the original Roman Pantheon was originally once used to serve the Pagan gods of ancient Rome however it was burned to the ground twice many decades ago, which many Romans believed to be a bad omen. This new Pantheon that I'm visiting was actually built on the site of the original ruins of the first pantheon that served as a temple for all of the aforementioned pagan gods of ancient Rome. The first pantheon building was built by Marcus Agrippa, a Roman statesman around the year 27 AD to celebrate emperor Augustus, and his victory over Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Thankfully while walking around the Pantheon no one approached me. I haven't bathed in so many days, I was covered in dirt, I haven't shaved, and I was now wearing some tattered rags I found from my visit from the colosseum, because my original modern clothing was destroyed. I was finally able to fit in with ancient Roman society, without raising any potential flags for now. The pantheon, while beautiful, was surprisingly under some decay. There were some decorations dedicated to the Roman Gods from what I've noticed. I would say that so far my experience in ancient Rome, despite the many terrifying and traumatic experiences, has been a very enjoyable trip, in its very own cathartic and masochistic way. I didn't have any expectations of ancient Rome to be honest, but I didn't expect any of this to happen, that's for sure.