man.

[quigonejinn]

NO DOUBT I HAVE MISSED SOME DOZEN OF THESE.

- Scenes of complete and utter pain: Vorenus dressing Antony's body, every single time Cleopatra freaked out, every time the court clapped when Antony was trying to be a soldier again, every time Antony and Cleopatra talked to each other THIS IS A MIRACLE, OKAY, BEING AS THAT I TEND NOT TO BE AN ANTONY/CLEOPATRA GIRL, every time we saw Antony in the middle of that long, extended breakdown, Atia crippled with grief, Antony dying, Vorenus with his children gathered around, Vorenus looking at his picture of Niobe when he thought that his children weren't going to come and see him, ANTONY GETTING NEWS OF CLEOPATRA'S DEATH, Caesarion getting the news of his mother dying. Cleopatra curling up in Antony's arms.

- Persons of screeching hatred: LIVIA. DIE. DIE. DIE. (and to a lesser extent, Octavian, although this is blunted by the fact that I have always loved his batshit crazy, and he is the Kind of Character I Always Write. I got shivers down my back at his triumph when he comes down out of the chariot. That's the face of the Roman Empire, and it wears jack boots)

- Persons of misery: Antony. And Cleopatra, with her squeaky voice and flaws and stupidity and oh, oh, oh, Cleopatra.

- Scenes of complete joy: Octavia, growing a spine and <3. Octavia and Agrippa, the darling hobbitses. Vorenus and Antony's drunken dialogues. Caesarion. <3 Antony's babies. <3 And Atia's pwnage of Liva. Cleopatra's dying words to Octavian. Gay Poet Boyfriend explaining that sweetness and charm are Octavian's most frightening moods, and also, OCTAVIAN TALKING ABOUT HOW CLEOPATRA WOULD LOOK IN CHAINS CREEPY OMG

In short, I love Atia. And Octavia. And even Cleopatra, bless her crazy little desperate heart. What she did was retarded and stupid, but it didn't make much of a difference anyways. Octavian would have killed Antony anyways, and oh. *BAWLS SOME MORE*

Also, ahahaha. As babel first pointed out to me. CLEOPATRA ~ SERVILIA. ANTONY ~ BRUTUS. Atia as Servilia, but not, because she has the will to live, because she is a survivor. Antony as the reverse of Brutus -- tough, soldier, earthy -- but as another example of the kind of man that must be destroyed to make way for Empire. Agrippa as Antony in military prowess, but domesticated, lacking in the personal virtues of war, and with administrative ability. Maceanas as Brutus would become in the Empire, where there is no room for men of honor and family, as Tacitus might put it.

In short: AWESOME. I'm writing this as the prequel to I, Claudius in my head. What I'd give to see the power struggles between Livia and Atia in the future, though. OMG.

Comments

[iansmomesq.livejournal.com]

I know it was Rome for the win. And the very end. "let me tell you about your father." And you know? How many tears did I shed when Vorenus died? And Antony's grief over Cleopatra!

*I can say no more*

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

For sheer volume of tears, I actually bawled more over Cleopatra. This surprised me immensely, in a way, because I hadn't really liked her at all. But OMG. T___T

[babel.livejournal.com]

I don't know that Atia has more of a will to survive than Servilia did. I don't think we could know that unless Atia lost everything she had.

;_; dilly disagrees with me ;_;

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

It's true that Atia didn't get, uh, dragged into a cellar and tortured. She still has Octavia; she also still has her dignity in a way that Servilia didn't. Nevertheless, the crux of it, for me, is that both Atia and Servilia lost everything that they each thought was important in their lives. Servilia lost more of course, but in the end, Atia managed to find value in things that she hand't valued before (Octavia, survivorship).

I guess what I'm trying to is that yeah, you're right that Servilia lost more. But I disagree, as a hypothetical matter, on the threshold inquiry.

[izzardwizzard.livejournal.com]

*cries* My sister had to tell me about the end since I lost my illegal HBO. But DAMN what a series. Atia was such a marvellous firecracker. Octavian was uber fun to watch, but Vorenus always tore me up the most.

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

If you've got broadband, I've got every single last episode up there under the login scally, password wag.

Vorenus. :|

[phantomsangel.livejournal.com]

LIKE TWO OTHER HOBBITSES SAY "I'M GLAD YOU WERE HERE WITH ME, QUIGONEJINN, HERE AT THE END OF ALL THINGS."

Seriously, omg. I don't know if I could have survived without knowing someone else was bawling on the other IM line.

Because I think my heart just broke in fucking two when my dear Vorenus died. And I love Octavian so. And Livia's the cool bitch I like. And I actually felt bad for Cleo who I usually think of as some kind of skank and OH.

VORENUS. <333




PS. I STILL HOPE HIS BITCH SLUT DAUGHTER DIES A HORRIBLE PAINFUL DEATH AND CRIES OUT FOR HER DADDY WITH HER LAST BREATH.

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHAHA. BRING THE HATE; BRING THE PAIN. DIE SCREAMING, PIG TROLLOP, ETC, RIGHT?

Octavian is the super extra-special sauce crazy. And man. I'm glad he found a wife to match. *___* She kind of freaks me out, in fact, because she looks like the even more scary version of Christina Ricci.

Vorenus. <333. HANGING ON FOR A MONTH SO HE CAN BE WITH HIS BABIES ONE MORE TIME.

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

This show. Oh, my heart. Vorenus dressing Antony's body just KILLED me. As did the rest of it, really.

I think I need to get I, Claudius now, cause I need more more more.

[quigonejinn.livejournal.com]

When they started to show that, there was this long, insane second when I actually stopped bawling. I was amazed at how much SOMETHING COULD HURT, in fact.

I, Claudius is kind of awesome. And if you want more that's near the Rome spot in time, I've heard very good things about Harris's Imperium.

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

Oooh, thanks. *adds Imperium to amazon wishlist*