Same

The I Claudius fandom has like a total of three people, without counting me, and I love imagining what it would look like if suddenly this old book/series would get the popularity of GOT/HOTD or something like that.

So here are my theories:

Tiberius would have a fanbase and would be considered a “poor little meow meow”

People would make girlboss fancams for Livia

Messalina apologists

Herod would be the fandom bicycle

Herod/Castor would be one of the top 10 ships on AO3

Herod/Claudius would also be up there on the top 10 ships.

Some people would also ship Agripina/Tiberius and they would be deemed as problematic

Agripina/Germanicus Girlboss/Malewife

Edits of Antonia and her children to “I bet on losing dogs” and other Mitski songs

Fan casts for all book characters that didn't make it to the show.

YouTube compilations of “Caligula being a mood”, “Caligula being Caligula”, “Caligula being a menace”, etc.

the next time you think you’re lonely, just remember you have about 25 billion white blood cells in your body protecting your sorry little ass with their life. you have 25 billion friends who would die for you. no need for tears.

Me at all times

“My dog tried to stay up too late because we were marinading steak and he wanted some’ 

(via)

😔

Remus: How do you cope with your trauma?

Sirius: The trick is to play the music louder than your thoughts

Remus: I asked seriously, Sirius

Sirius: Did I stutter?

If you ever need cheering up, just think about immortal Merlin taking all his newly resurrected friends on a road trip around the world to show them all the culture and technology they've missed while they were dead, taking them to each of the places he used to live and all the major historical sites he's been.

Think about Leon insisting on driving whenever possible, and no one except maybe Gwaine having the heart to tell him that he is a terrible driver.

Think about Arthur invoking his status in order to get shotgun rights, and always grumbling because everyone else takes turns stealing the spot from him.

Think about Gwen packing a big DVD binder full of movies for them to watch during the long hours, but accidentally spills her lemonade on it and then cries a little while Merlin awkwardly comforts her.

Think about Percival and Elyan constantly bickering in the back of the van because Percival keeps stretching his legs into Elyan's side and Elyan keeps elbowing Percy in the ribs, meanwhile Lancelot is just awkwardly pressed against the window with everyone else's luggage piled on his lap.

Think about them all getting pulled over because their van shouldn't be able to fit that many people, and Merlin is most definitely sitting on Gwaine's lap, but Merlin uses magic to Jedi-hand-wave the cop into letting them pass.

Think about Lance quietly doing sudoku in the back seat, until Gwaine gets a hold of it and writes "69" in all the squares with permanent sharpie.

Think about the car breaking down, but they don't wanna wake up Merlin and ask him to use magic to fix it because he hardly ever sleeps anymore and the poor guy could really use a few winks, so instead they spend the next four hours scratching their heads over how the hell to fix a radiator.

Think about them going to the beach and going to art museums and eating at crusty roadside diners, throwing french fries at each others' heads and watching Percy get sad because the napkins won't hold shape very well when he tries to fold them into origami dogs.

Just...think about the Round Table going on a road trip.

Currently feeling feelings over Peter’s Denial

We now shift outside the high priest's house to an apostle in trouble. This is "Peter's Denial."

I've grown less self-conscious about repeating myself with recordings, so here again is the live Australian cast from 1973 with an interesting, string-laden, fast-paced take on this little scene.

You know the drill...

The Lyrics

MAID BY THE FIRE I THINK I'VE SEEN YOU SOMEWHERE I REMEMBER YOU WERE WITH THAT MAN THEY TOOK AWAY I RECOGNISE YOUR FACE

PETER YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN LADY I DON'T KNOW HIM AND I WASN'T WHERE HE WAS TONIGHT NEVER NEAR THE PLACE

SOLDIER THAT'S STRANGE FOR I AM SURE I SAW YOU WITH HIM YOU WERE RIGHT BY HIS SIDE AND YET YOU DENIED

PETER I TELL YOU I WAS NEVER EVER WITH HIM

OLD MAN BUT I SAW YOU TOO IT LOOKED JUST LIKE YOU

PETER

(ad lib shout)

I DON'T KNOW HIM

MARY MAGDALENE PETER DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE SAID YOU'VE GONE AND CUT HIM DEAD

PETER I HAD TO DO IT DON'T YOU SEE OR ELSE THEY'D GO FOR ME

MARY MAGDALENE IT'S WHAT HE TOLD US YOU WOULD DO I WONDER HOW HE KNEW

The Plot

He ran away from the scene of the arrest, but he couldn't bear not knowing what was happening to his teacher. Small surprise, then, that Peter followed the arresting party to the house of Caiaphas. Unable to enter himself, he warmed up by a campfire outside.

Not the world's smartest decision. Three onlookers (a maid, a soldier, and an old man) all recognize Peter as one of the men who were with Jesus earlier. Each time he vehemently denies his association, just as Jesus said he would, to the dismay of Mary, who wonders how Jesus knew that would happen...

The Analysis

Aside from the soldier becoming a generic "Solo from the Mob" in the currently licensed score, everything has stayed the same in this scene, lyrically and dramatically, since 1970, so time to once again chart the recurring motifs musically.

We've got:

Peter denying Jesus three times (as predicted), to the main theme from "Strange Thing, Mystifying," which originally accompanied Judas' criticism of Jesus' relationship with Mary -- thereby connecting Peter musically with Judas, both of them now betrayers of Jesus, and...

...when Mary points out that Peter did as Jesus said he would, she sings this to the betrayal motif from the Last Supper, even further underscoring Peter's betrayal.

Let it never be said Andrew Lloyd Webber didn't have a purpose in choosing a cyclical nature for these melodies!

Mildly Unrelated Op.-Ed.

In marked contrast to how he's described in the Bible, Peter kind of gets the short end of the stick in JCS. He doesn't have a lot to do as a solo vocalist, aside from "Peter's Denial" and "Could We Start Again Please?" He's pretty much just "one of the boys" in any staging; it's usually hard to even identify who Peter is unless he's singled out from the start, until his big moments in the second act.

Audition notices, no doubt building on what scripture makes him out to be, tend to describe him in terms like "gentle" or phrases along the lines of "slow to find his strength, but when he does, he becomes a stabilizing force among the apostles." But I gotta tell ya... I don't see it. There's not enough material there on paper to cover that ground.

When I've contemplated directing the show over the years, I've begun to pay special attention to the roles of Simon Zealotes and Peter. Simon's sole major appearance is in Act I, and Peter's couple of big scenes are in Act II, both without set-up or real follow-through. Can you see where I'm going with this?

Taking my cue from the recent European tour featuring Ted Neeley, I've thought of casting one performer to play both parts, billed separately due to contractual obligation but essentially a single role. It cuts costs (remember, I'm a producer first and foremost), creates a useful character arc out of two thankless ones without changing a word or note, and as long as there are twelve bodies (and one Jesus) around the table in Act II, those in the audience versed in the source can simply infer that Simon became Peter over the show's course, just like the notoriously temperamental Peter was originally called Simon in the Bible.

Let me go back to that second thing for a moment: "creates a useful character arc out of two thankless ones without changing a word or note." I want to unpack that to further sell my point.

What is Simon, really? He's exuberant, he's militant, someone who clearly jumps in before he really understands what's going on. He calls on his master to overthrow the Romans, only to be told he doesn't get the picture. Maybe, like Judas in The Last Temptation of Christ ("...only you understand it? Well, you'd better make me understand it too!"), he decides to wrestle with that, but he's not quite there yet. When the cops break up the scene, he reverts to form, only to be told, "Dude, not only are you wrong, it is way past the time what you're offering would be helpful. Don't quit your day job." How do you react to that? Maybe you discover you're not the Zealot you thought you were, and when the chips are down, out of both frustration and self-preservation, you deny you even know the guy when cornered by the opposition. And you still cling to the faint hope that this will change: "Alright, you've made your point. Time to unleash the fury, right? ...RIGHT???" Very powerful, fully-realized character there.

It's worth a thought, anyway...

Coming Up Next:

They said "take him to Pilate," and that's where he's headed for a showdown: "Pilate and Christ."

Hadestown may have stolen my heart and crushed it, but at least I also had fun

eurydice: h

orpheus:

you can always tell who has 0 critical reading skills/has never known or known anyone that’s experienced trauma when they complain that the ages for the characters in SOC are unbelievable. like, the entire point of them being so dark and so mature at such young ages is because all of them have gone through things that have forced them to mature. in some way or another the adults in their lives have failed them.

wylan’s dad abused him, jarl brum used matthias’ pre-existing trauma from having his family die against him, kaz was failed by both pekka rollins (scamming 2 lost kids in a city, what a piece of shit) and to an extent jordie due to his naivete & irresponsibility (kaz even admits this). in a sense zoya failed nina by being so harsh on her nina had little qualms about running off from her, colm forced jesper to hide an important part of himself for so long it basically irreversibly changed him for the worse, and inej was absolutely failed by tante heleen, who stole her innocence at a painfully young age. all these factors forced the main characters to grow up fast even when they didn’t want to.

and as someone who has experienced trauma at the hands of people who were never supposed to hurt them, who were supposed to do the opposite and be there for them let me tell you: that shit forces you to mature. because you realize then that the people who look after you aren’t doing that, so you need to look after yourself. you become your own parent, but something is always off with how you raise yourself because it was never supposed to be that way in the 1st place. you adapt to whatever circumstances you need to, its hardly even living. kaz became ruthless because he knew you had to be to survive, nina knew that her beauty and powers were considered her strongest assets in the barrel so she made them seem like they were who she was, etc etc.

(also, and this is small but still important imo: you can see the main characters really act their age once they all interact with colm fahey. nina giggling that jesper is in trouble, jesper tattling on nina to matthias, the kaz/jesper fight being broken up by colm, etc.)

TL;DR if you think the SOC kids are too young to be acting how they do you need to: gain some critical complex reading skills and also read further in the book to understand why these characters are the way they are, and see them act their age.

Happy Halloween!!! Love spooky month <3

holy shit i just took a look at the wikipedia page for “Jack-o’-lantern”

this is literally the first picture