The Empire of Lusitania
๐๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ธ๐ถ ๐๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Commonly called simply โLusitaniaโ
๐๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ ๐พ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท
โโโโโโโโโโ
Julius Titus Viriatus is the reigning Viriathus, currently in the forty-seventh year of his reign at the age of seventy-two; Livia Aelia-Viriatus was his wife of thirty-one years and died in 2002 at the age of forty-five.
๐๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ธ๐ถ ๐๐ธ๐ต๐ธ๐ป๐ผ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Tyrian purple and gold
๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ธ๐ถ ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐๐ท๐ธ๐๐ท ๐๐ธ๐ป
โโโโโโโโโโ
Lusitania, and famous? In the same sentence? Ha. At any rate, the only reason Lusitania is relevant is because itโs so old. They do some agricultural export, handled by Athenian shipping lines, but for the most part theyโre a sleepy (and stagnant) kingdom primarily fueled by a tourist industry โ again, they seem to be very much stuck in a prior time that foreigners love to experience (and canโt wait to leave.)
Lusitanian soldiers still fight with swords and shields and armor out of the classical era. In the 1800s there was a brief surge of gothic-plate style knightโs armor, but it was soon abandoned as being too expensive and intricate. (That said, many centurions and those of higher ranks own a suit worn for ceremony, and some prime decani can be seen wearing greaves and gauntlets in that style, in addition to their traditional uniforms.) It should be noted that their military serves in place of a police force; otherwise their role is solely ceremonial.
Overall, theyโve got a mishmash of basically 2000 years of aesthetics happening. Donโt even look at their coin system, where theyโve got several differently-named coins that have the same values.
Theyโve become a biiiit of a meme on the Internet, with their quite frankly backwards policies and their blatant lack of such notions as โequalityโ โ they have become โthe wet-dream of incelsโ to quote one scandalous Britannian tabloid, a statement which might have some truth when one considers the proposed changes to Lusitanian immigration law.
A radical feminist symbol has increasingly cropped up in social media even in other kingdoms โ a rust- or bronze-colored brazier, shaped as a horseshoe or perhaps a crescent moon, with twisting flames erupting from the top. Itโs the icon of Foeda Flammae, the League of the Flare (though with the dual meaning of โfoedaโ thereโs often less-favorable translations. Regardless, it plays well into the Aciran Nasty Women and other such rough-and-tumble feminist cries.)
Lusitanian soldiers still fight with swords and shields and armor out of the classical era. In the 1800s there was a brief surge of gothic-plate style knightโs armor, but it was soon abandoned as being too expensive and intricate. (That said, many centurions and those of higher ranks own a suit worn for ceremony, and some prime decani can be seen wearing greaves and gauntlets in that style, in addition to their traditional uniforms.) It should be noted that their military serves in place of a police force; otherwise their role is solely ceremonial.
Overall, theyโve got a mishmash of basically 2000 years of aesthetics happening. Donโt even look at their coin system, where theyโve got several differently-named coins that have the same values.
Theyโve become a biiiit of a meme on the Internet, with their quite frankly backwards policies and their blatant lack of such notions as โequalityโ โ they have become โthe wet-dream of incelsโ to quote one scandalous Britannian tabloid, a statement which might have some truth when one considers the proposed changes to Lusitanian immigration law.
A radical feminist symbol has increasingly cropped up in social media even in other kingdoms โ a rust- or bronze-colored brazier, shaped as a horseshoe or perhaps a crescent moon, with twisting flames erupting from the top. Itโs the icon of Foeda Flammae, the League of the Flare (though with the dual meaning of โfoedaโ thereโs often less-favorable translations. Regardless, it plays well into the Aciran Nasty Women and other such rough-and-tumble feminist cries.)
๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฝ/๐ก๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ช๐ท๐ฝ ๐๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ธ๐ถ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ป๐
โโโโโโโโโโ
Teenysmol ""empire"" with milennia of history, spanning a mere 800 square miles
Most recently in the world news about them have been the Ludiia Riots of 2016 โ after the murder of Domitius Titus Viriatus and revelation of his twin sisterโs deception, students at the school she had been attending rioted for her right to stay there rather than face discipline at home.
The empress died in 2003 while giving birth to Liviana Decima. The kingdom had the customary two years of mourning at that time.
Formally became an empire in 1466.
Last external military conflict was finished in 1815, a decisive loss.
Most recently in the world news about them have been the Ludiia Riots of 2016 โ after the murder of Domitius Titus Viriatus and revelation of his twin sisterโs deception, students at the school she had been attending rioted for her right to stay there rather than face discipline at home.
The empress died in 2003 while giving birth to Liviana Decima. The kingdom had the customary two years of mourning at that time.
Formally became an empire in 1466.
Last external military conflict was finished in 1815, a decisive loss.
The Romans would have had you believe that the Lusitanian War ended decisively with the assassination of Viriathus.
But such was merely misleading propaganda, spread by a cowardly, sniveling empire, in terror of the divine retribution they had wrought upon their own heads.
Viriathus. Viriathus! The rallying cry that united the tribes of the Lusitanii. A god-king amongst mortals; a hero of eras long gone past. The gods would not allow such a cowardly, conniving act to bring to heel their chosen people. No; Viriathus rose with the dawn, with blood still seeping from his wounds, and sent the Roman traitors fleeing back to their masters.
The year was 133 BC. The Romans reported that Viriathus was dead, that the uprising of the Lusitani had been quelled- meanwhile, they marched through Iberia, casting off the shackles of Roman oppression and leaving those perfumed senators, leagues away, quaking in their sandals at the news. The cry of Viriathus became their rally.
The gods recalled their hero in his old age, as they eventually do with even those divine; upon the dawn his graced grandson, in bearing and temperament a likeness to the hero in his prime, came before the assembled army. โI am Titus Viriathus; and with your blessing I shall lead you in our quest against the tyrant.โ
By 280 CE, the Lusitanii had found themselves against the Rhine, against Rome itself. Within four seasons, what had been left of Roman ideology and influence crumbled away; those who shared in its sentiments in some form were allowed to flee eastward, to Byzantium and the โEastern Roman Empireโ.
The Lusitanians did not want to conquer; they simply wanted to empower others to cast off their shackles. They remained as a loosely federated republic, and took up proper residence in Rome. However, as time went on, and the Roman threat faded into distant memory, they soon forgot their values.
The title of Viriathus had been an elected one, though especially dynastic; it seemed to be passed from father to son or grandson or nephew. Their dynasty has ruled, with the godsโ blessing, undisturbed for millennia. As time went on, the vote became increasingly a formality; the title handed down from father to son irrespective of the peoplesโ wishes.
Taxes and tariffs were levied on the member states, to fuel the growth of eternal Rome. The conscription of soldiers from the member states, to fight inroads into the territory by the Goths, was the last straw for many. The Iberians, where Castilya now stands, seceded not long after these reforms were formalized. How could Lusitani have so horrifically turned their back on โ the values that made them Lusitanian in the first place?
So began the end of Lusitaniaโs stretch across Europe. Other people and places followed Iberiaโs lead, despite Lusitania frantically tightening their grip, dispatching legions right and left to try to force their hand. In 1466, the first Julius Titus Viriathus declared himself emperor, to better circumvent the increasingly-bloated bureaucratic nonsense that was making it hard to dispatch their troops, convinced that it would fix everything.
They had lost almost all of their territory by the dawn of the seventeenth century.
Today, Lusitania is a shadow of its former self, no longer containing any part of its ancestral origin. It occupies the smallest fraction of its former glory, a mere eight hundred-odd square miles north and east of Rome proper.
But such was merely misleading propaganda, spread by a cowardly, sniveling empire, in terror of the divine retribution they had wrought upon their own heads.
Viriathus. Viriathus! The rallying cry that united the tribes of the Lusitanii. A god-king amongst mortals; a hero of eras long gone past. The gods would not allow such a cowardly, conniving act to bring to heel their chosen people. No; Viriathus rose with the dawn, with blood still seeping from his wounds, and sent the Roman traitors fleeing back to their masters.
The year was 133 BC. The Romans reported that Viriathus was dead, that the uprising of the Lusitani had been quelled- meanwhile, they marched through Iberia, casting off the shackles of Roman oppression and leaving those perfumed senators, leagues away, quaking in their sandals at the news. The cry of Viriathus became their rally.
The gods recalled their hero in his old age, as they eventually do with even those divine; upon the dawn his graced grandson, in bearing and temperament a likeness to the hero in his prime, came before the assembled army. โI am Titus Viriathus; and with your blessing I shall lead you in our quest against the tyrant.โ
By 280 CE, the Lusitanii had found themselves against the Rhine, against Rome itself. Within four seasons, what had been left of Roman ideology and influence crumbled away; those who shared in its sentiments in some form were allowed to flee eastward, to Byzantium and the โEastern Roman Empireโ.
The Lusitanians did not want to conquer; they simply wanted to empower others to cast off their shackles. They remained as a loosely federated republic, and took up proper residence in Rome. However, as time went on, and the Roman threat faded into distant memory, they soon forgot their values.
The title of Viriathus had been an elected one, though especially dynastic; it seemed to be passed from father to son or grandson or nephew. Their dynasty has ruled, with the godsโ blessing, undisturbed for millennia. As time went on, the vote became increasingly a formality; the title handed down from father to son irrespective of the peoplesโ wishes.
Taxes and tariffs were levied on the member states, to fuel the growth of eternal Rome. The conscription of soldiers from the member states, to fight inroads into the territory by the Goths, was the last straw for many. The Iberians, where Castilya now stands, seceded not long after these reforms were formalized. How could Lusitani have so horrifically turned their back on โ the values that made them Lusitanian in the first place?
So began the end of Lusitaniaโs stretch across Europe. Other people and places followed Iberiaโs lead, despite Lusitania frantically tightening their grip, dispatching legions right and left to try to force their hand. In 1466, the first Julius Titus Viriathus declared himself emperor, to better circumvent the increasingly-bloated bureaucratic nonsense that was making it hard to dispatch their troops, convinced that it would fix everything.
They had lost almost all of their territory by the dawn of the seventeenth century.
Today, Lusitania is a shadow of its former self, no longer containing any part of its ancestral origin. It occupies the smallest fraction of its former glory, a mere eight hundred-odd square miles north and east of Rome proper.
๐๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป
โโโโโโโโโโ
To be added as more comes up. Can present a family tree upon request; it is very big and confusing and inbreeding is kinda a thing. Oops.
Domitia Viriatus of Lusitania
"I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to take charge of me." -Simone de Beauvoir
๐๐๐ช๐ถ๐ฎ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Domitia โDomโ Annia Viriatus
๐๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฎ
โโโโโโโโโโ
N/A โ Lusitania does not use inherited titles at all, it is rather a cultural โ implication, of sorts, that oneโs family name be the indicator of their power. That said, in another kingdom they would be called a princess โ they (were) second in line to inherit after their father.
๐๐๐ฐ๐ฎ
โโโโโโโโโโ
19 (Birthday: October 15)
๐๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป
โโโโโโโโโโ
Nonbinary (prefers โtheyโ pronouns)
๐๐ข๐ฎ๐๐พ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฝ๐
โโโโโโโโโโ
Aaaaa?!
๐๐๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ท๐ฌ๐ฎ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Dom is a very stern looking young person, somehow intimidating despite their tiny stature. Though they are notably tall for an afab person born into the Viriatus bloodline, and even stand just above the Lusitanian average, they are dwarfed by most from the rest of the world โ they stand at five feet and zero point seven five inches, to be precise.
Their body was once that of an athlete or soldier, toned and wiry with muscle and padded with a healthy layer of fat, but in the last three years it has withered away and become emaciated and frail. Collarbones are starkly sharp against their sallow skin, joints comparatively knobby and bulbous. Once-broad shoulders now are loose and pointed and often bruised โ the running โjokeโ in their family is that a sparrowโs landing on their shoulder would leave a mark for weeks.
Despite their form, or perhaps because of it, everything else about them has a razor-like intensity. Dark green eyes peer out from under wisps of precisely jaw-length mousy-brown hair, over painfully-prominent cheekbones further emphasized by a long, thin scar that traces lengthwise across the right one. Dom refuses to conceal it with makeup, even considering the scar a point of pride โ the only injury they ever sustained during their years of military school.
Regarding attire, Dom clothes themself as a Lusitanian lady would โ only out of the insistence of their father and grandfather. Their attire is always closely fit to their body - at least, as closely as any Lusitanian fashions ever are โ and in the dullest colors they can get away with. They wear no jewelry or hair accessories, and minimal makeup, though their fingernails are immaculate and always have clear, glossy gel polish on them.
Their body was once that of an athlete or soldier, toned and wiry with muscle and padded with a healthy layer of fat, but in the last three years it has withered away and become emaciated and frail. Collarbones are starkly sharp against their sallow skin, joints comparatively knobby and bulbous. Once-broad shoulders now are loose and pointed and often bruised โ the running โjokeโ in their family is that a sparrowโs landing on their shoulder would leave a mark for weeks.
Despite their form, or perhaps because of it, everything else about them has a razor-like intensity. Dark green eyes peer out from under wisps of precisely jaw-length mousy-brown hair, over painfully-prominent cheekbones further emphasized by a long, thin scar that traces lengthwise across the right one. Dom refuses to conceal it with makeup, even considering the scar a point of pride โ the only injury they ever sustained during their years of military school.
Regarding attire, Dom clothes themself as a Lusitanian lady would โ only out of the insistence of their father and grandfather. Their attire is always closely fit to their body - at least, as closely as any Lusitanian fashions ever are โ and in the dullest colors they can get away with. They wear no jewelry or hair accessories, and minimal makeup, though their fingernails are immaculate and always have clear, glossy gel polish on them.
๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐ธ๐ท๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฝ๐
โโโโโโโโโโ
Dom is a master of self-control. Everything about them must be entirely, exactly in its place. They are obsessive - hands eternally fidgeting, picking at buttons or brooches or loose threads or, without anything else, their own skin; eyes flickering to every face and object in the room and back over them a hundred times. When something manages to capture their focus, however, it is absolutely laser-like. Dom has been taught to be utterly attentive to every last detail of a situation. At one point, their memory was impeccable as well; the ability to recall any face or name would come in immense use should they ever wind up as the kingdom's ruler - but in recent years that ability has faded. Nonetheless, Dom is a very unnerving person to be around- their eyes seem to linger on all of one's secrets.
In all other regards, however, they are the perfect royal of bygone times. Elegant, graceful, and (perhaps overly) formal, they're not the sort to embarrass or cause offense at a dinner party. That said, there's always something off about them - they do not do well at idle small talk, and have a bearing and posture that never fully settle to relaxed.
Internally, Dom is very introspective and honestly quite pessimistic. Their existence has, for the last several years, been a matter of keeping their head down and just surviving - and now these two months here in Aciras are to be their only chance at escaping Lusitania and finding somewhere to except them for who they are. Pressure mounts - but then, they've always been good under pressure. With that being said, they've never tried to make a personal connection with anyone, certainly not on the level required to get them to agree to a wedding. They just pray they can make it happen.
In all other regards, however, they are the perfect royal of bygone times. Elegant, graceful, and (perhaps overly) formal, they're not the sort to embarrass or cause offense at a dinner party. That said, there's always something off about them - they do not do well at idle small talk, and have a bearing and posture that never fully settle to relaxed.
Internally, Dom is very introspective and honestly quite pessimistic. Their existence has, for the last several years, been a matter of keeping their head down and just surviving - and now these two months here in Aciras are to be their only chance at escaping Lusitania and finding somewhere to except them for who they are. Pressure mounts - but then, they've always been good under pressure. With that being said, they've never tried to make a personal connection with anyone, certainly not on the level required to get them to agree to a wedding. They just pray they can make it happen.
๐๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ผ + ๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐ต๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ผ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Likes: Pretty, strong girls (!!!!!), gardening, rainstorms, swimming and running, vegetarian cuisine, โwonder foodโ smoothies, indie music and edm, cartography.
Dislikes: Meat, especially fatty Aciran cuisine; fuckboys from their year, idle time, milkshakes (they're lactose intolerant), penmanship lessons.
Dislikes: Meat, especially fatty Aciran cuisine; fuckboys from their year, idle time, milkshakes (they're lactose intolerant), penmanship lessons.
๐๐๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ป๐ช๐น๐ฑ๐
โโโโโโโโโโ
The kingdom rejoiced when Servius Titus Viriatusโs wife bore him twins. The heir to the throne had his own heirs, and the fate of Lusitania was secure!
To honor the twinsโ mother, they were both named for her father โ and the female twin was given her name, in place of the ancestral โTitusโ that had been traditionally bestowed to the eldest children for generations. Thus Domitia Annia and Domitius Titus Viriatus were welcomed into the world.
Growing up, the twins were utterly inseparable. They were fiercely doted upon, and guarded, and kept from playing with any of the lesser-born children, and so they became figuratively joined at the hip. They also bore an uncanny resemblance to each other, to the point where if their hair was obscured even their regular nurses couldnโt tell them apart.
As they grew older, they were separated โ the girl twin shut inside to learn to weave and spin and embroider and do pretty lady things, and the boy set out to explore and scuffle and run with the hounds and do stern soldier things.
Annia wouldnโt have minded such a docile life. But Titus- he aggressively, painfully, did not want to be a solider. And Annia had always looked out for her brother.
In their infinite wisdom, the twins hatched a foolproof plan to switch places. At the tender age of eight years old, Annia cut off her long hair, chopped it up all raggedy with scissors until the nurses had to shave it just like her brotherโs.
With that came the sad realization that even their parents could not tell them apart (at least when they were clothed) whatsoever, which made it almost painfully easy for them to trade places. On the fateful day when Titus was to be sent off to Lusitaniaโs most prestigious military academy, Annia took his place in the car.
So was born the identity with which Annia continues to use today โ โDomโ was hungry for knowledge and viciously eager to prove himself better than his classmates, which he did with much perseverance and effort. He soon became a favorite of many of the teachers, who admired his work ethic and discipline despite his lack of physical stature, and found his mental aptitude to be second to none.
As years passed, Dom and Titus were rarely given a chance to interact. But Titus was at least as clever as Dom; he continued his part of the ruse without revealing it, and under much more careful scrutiny than Dom ever was at the Academy.
The twins were approaching their thirteenth birthday. By this time, Dom had become the top of their class. Titus had done so well at convincing everyone that he was Annia that a proposal had been extended. Domโs heart nearly fell out of their chest.
There was no way they could make the change. The day of the ceremony, Dom tried to get Titus alone, to switch with him once more, but heโฆ either didnโt see, or refused to acknowledge them. Their terror grew as the ceremony progressed, as they were sent back to the school that very same night โ feasting was all well and good, but they had to get an education.
In the morning they were awoken to the most horrifying news they could have imagined.
Titus had been found dead in the marriage bed, his throat slit and body mutilated, and the noble heโd been wed to nowhere to be found.
All eyes turned to Dom. Forcibly revealed to be the fairer twin, their father ordered them brought home. It was a riot. Not even figuratively speaking- there were students taking up arms and rocks and standing against the legion with their shields and swords, and the fury was infectious, spilling over into the common people. The riots spread all through Rome, through the surrounding cities, and lasted in force for over two weeks. Dom themself was ordered to lay down their arms and surrender to their fatherโs guard; they very politely told the guards to fuck off and continued fighting.
The riots eventually settled. Many were wounded, including Dom โ they had been glanced across the cheek by the edge of a throwing spear, but refused medical treatment, for fear that they would be returned home โ but their father no longer required it. They were allowed to return to school.
Oh, and how things changed.
Teachers who used to dote on and fawn over them were cold, callous, and unfairly harsh in marking their papers. They would consistently โloseโ submitted work โ Dom began submitting it in hard copy, digitally, and in any other way they could think of, until eventually the teachers got so tired of the eternal spam that they dropped the pretense. The other students, who had previously been in varying shades of awe and envy, suddenly saw them as lesser. Hazing and bullying started at every turn, constantly calling them by their too-feminine name. More than their fair share of scuffles broke out- scuffles which they could not defend within at all, for fear of being expelled.
They grit their teeth and bore it, silently, and graduated with the highest possible honors. To spite them; to spite all of them. To be a stronger person than they would ever dream to be.
What had they learned at school?
Sure, sure. Tactics, history, the legends of the man who dared stand against a tide. How ironic that he who broke the tyrannical Romanโs back is idolized, yet the one who now tries to take more than their due be vilified.
Trying to re-integrate to palace life, having returned home with their medals and uniforms, wasโฆ decidedly not easy. There was no rigor, at least not compared to the planned-to-the-minute days they had grown so used to at the academy, and everyone else was altogether too relaxed.
It didnโt help that upon their return they were immediately forced back into the pretty, flowy dresses that they had escaped at the age of eight. Constantly followed by that name โ that nameand forced to be someone they were not โ until they burst from the halls in a fit of rage and ran, and ran, and did not stop until they twisted their ankle in a pothole and went skidding across ancient concrete.
Seven miles from the palace. How long had they been out there? The agonizing walk back gave them time to think, gave them time to let the pain of the situation ease along with the ache in their lungs.
Not Annia. Annia had died that day she had taken Titusโs place. Annia would have become the quiet wife of that nameless noble four years before. Annia would have worn dresses and curlers and braids and laurels and been content to know that someday she would have children.
Not Titus. Titus was dead. Murdered. Titus would have been an emperor, blessed by gods and revered by men. He would have been noble and just and kind and powerful.
No, Dom was neither the girl they had been born nor the man they tried to become. Ratherโฆ stuck in limbo. Incomplete.
The only person they dared reveal this revelation to was their younger aunt โ Livi. The sheltered and frail youngest sister of their father. If they expected her to be shocked or confused, they were instead met with a soft laugh and a quiet Internet search on Liviโs ever-present smartphone. Such words as โnonbinaryโ and neutral pronouns โ only ever used in conversation with Livi and a few other trusted friends, of course, the emperor was ill-prepared to deal with a nonconforming child, never mind a nonbinary one! - but gradually Dom became more confident in their personal identity. It was easier for them to don the sparkly gowns knowing that the way they dressed didnโt invalidate who they felt they were.
But with that comfort and confidence came in turn issues with their physical appearance. They were too small and lacking in form and muscle to ever be a masculine enough man, and too few people took them seriously with their increasingly feminine shape. Rome had always prized women with wide hips and generous busts.
Several months have passed. This trip to Aciras is going to beโฆ interesting, for certain. Betrothed to a man theyโve only met on official business, from a kingdom that might be progressive compared to Lusitania, but is still remarkably old-world fussy compared to the rest of the world... they can only hope that Stefanos wonโt immediately call it off upon getting to know them, or worse, force them into an identity they canโt fill.
Still, he's well-liked by his people and by his siblings. Everything will work out fine for them.
โฆright?
To honor the twinsโ mother, they were both named for her father โ and the female twin was given her name, in place of the ancestral โTitusโ that had been traditionally bestowed to the eldest children for generations. Thus Domitia Annia and Domitius Titus Viriatus were welcomed into the world.
Growing up, the twins were utterly inseparable. They were fiercely doted upon, and guarded, and kept from playing with any of the lesser-born children, and so they became figuratively joined at the hip. They also bore an uncanny resemblance to each other, to the point where if their hair was obscured even their regular nurses couldnโt tell them apart.
As they grew older, they were separated โ the girl twin shut inside to learn to weave and spin and embroider and do pretty lady things, and the boy set out to explore and scuffle and run with the hounds and do stern soldier things.
Annia wouldnโt have minded such a docile life. But Titus- he aggressively, painfully, did not want to be a solider. And Annia had always looked out for her brother.
In their infinite wisdom, the twins hatched a foolproof plan to switch places. At the tender age of eight years old, Annia cut off her long hair, chopped it up all raggedy with scissors until the nurses had to shave it just like her brotherโs.
With that came the sad realization that even their parents could not tell them apart (at least when they were clothed) whatsoever, which made it almost painfully easy for them to trade places. On the fateful day when Titus was to be sent off to Lusitaniaโs most prestigious military academy, Annia took his place in the car.
So was born the identity with which Annia continues to use today โ โDomโ was hungry for knowledge and viciously eager to prove himself better than his classmates, which he did with much perseverance and effort. He soon became a favorite of many of the teachers, who admired his work ethic and discipline despite his lack of physical stature, and found his mental aptitude to be second to none.
As years passed, Dom and Titus were rarely given a chance to interact. But Titus was at least as clever as Dom; he continued his part of the ruse without revealing it, and under much more careful scrutiny than Dom ever was at the Academy.
The twins were approaching their thirteenth birthday. By this time, Dom had become the top of their class. Titus had done so well at convincing everyone that he was Annia that a proposal had been extended. Domโs heart nearly fell out of their chest.
There was no way they could make the change. The day of the ceremony, Dom tried to get Titus alone, to switch with him once more, but heโฆ either didnโt see, or refused to acknowledge them. Their terror grew as the ceremony progressed, as they were sent back to the school that very same night โ feasting was all well and good, but they had to get an education.
In the morning they were awoken to the most horrifying news they could have imagined.
Titus had been found dead in the marriage bed, his throat slit and body mutilated, and the noble heโd been wed to nowhere to be found.
All eyes turned to Dom. Forcibly revealed to be the fairer twin, their father ordered them brought home. It was a riot. Not even figuratively speaking- there were students taking up arms and rocks and standing against the legion with their shields and swords, and the fury was infectious, spilling over into the common people. The riots spread all through Rome, through the surrounding cities, and lasted in force for over two weeks. Dom themself was ordered to lay down their arms and surrender to their fatherโs guard; they very politely told the guards to fuck off and continued fighting.
The riots eventually settled. Many were wounded, including Dom โ they had been glanced across the cheek by the edge of a throwing spear, but refused medical treatment, for fear that they would be returned home โ but their father no longer required it. They were allowed to return to school.
Oh, and how things changed.
Teachers who used to dote on and fawn over them were cold, callous, and unfairly harsh in marking their papers. They would consistently โloseโ submitted work โ Dom began submitting it in hard copy, digitally, and in any other way they could think of, until eventually the teachers got so tired of the eternal spam that they dropped the pretense. The other students, who had previously been in varying shades of awe and envy, suddenly saw them as lesser. Hazing and bullying started at every turn, constantly calling them by their too-feminine name. More than their fair share of scuffles broke out- scuffles which they could not defend within at all, for fear of being expelled.
(TW for implication of sexual violence)
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It was perhaps good that the secretโs revelation had been so sudden, rather than a gradual one of budding curves and bloody thighs. But they too soon grew into their femininity, and tenuous though it was it attracted the look of many โ and they soon realized what a vile part of the world they really lived in.
Classmates soon found excuses to be near their bed, in the yearโs communal bunkroom; found excuses to sneak beside them in the dead of night. Professors, during midterms, in the daylight and dubious seclusion of office hours โ โthereโs a price for passing marks, little girl.โ
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It was perhaps good that the secretโs revelation had been so sudden, rather than a gradual one of budding curves and bloody thighs. But they too soon grew into their femininity, and tenuous though it was it attracted the look of many โ and they soon realized what a vile part of the world they really lived in.
Classmates soon found excuses to be near their bed, in the yearโs communal bunkroom; found excuses to sneak beside them in the dead of night. Professors, during midterms, in the daylight and dubious seclusion of office hours โ โthereโs a price for passing marks, little girl.โ
They grit their teeth and bore it, silently, and graduated with the highest possible honors. To spite them; to spite all of them. To be a stronger person than they would ever dream to be.
What had they learned at school?
Sure, sure. Tactics, history, the legends of the man who dared stand against a tide. How ironic that he who broke the tyrannical Romanโs back is idolized, yet the one who now tries to take more than their due be vilified.
Trying to re-integrate to palace life, having returned home with their medals and uniforms, wasโฆ decidedly not easy. There was no rigor, at least not compared to the planned-to-the-minute days they had grown so used to at the academy, and everyone else was altogether too relaxed.
It didnโt help that upon their return they were immediately forced back into the pretty, flowy dresses that they had escaped at the age of eight. Constantly followed by that name โ that nameand forced to be someone they were not โ until they burst from the halls in a fit of rage and ran, and ran, and did not stop until they twisted their ankle in a pothole and went skidding across ancient concrete.
Seven miles from the palace. How long had they been out there? The agonizing walk back gave them time to think, gave them time to let the pain of the situation ease along with the ache in their lungs.
Not Annia. Annia had died that day she had taken Titusโs place. Annia would have become the quiet wife of that nameless noble four years before. Annia would have worn dresses and curlers and braids and laurels and been content to know that someday she would have children.
Not Titus. Titus was dead. Murdered. Titus would have been an emperor, blessed by gods and revered by men. He would have been noble and just and kind and powerful.
No, Dom was neither the girl they had been born nor the man they tried to become. Ratherโฆ stuck in limbo. Incomplete.
The only person they dared reveal this revelation to was their younger aunt โ Livi. The sheltered and frail youngest sister of their father. If they expected her to be shocked or confused, they were instead met with a soft laugh and a quiet Internet search on Liviโs ever-present smartphone. Such words as โnonbinaryโ and neutral pronouns โ only ever used in conversation with Livi and a few other trusted friends, of course, the emperor was ill-prepared to deal with a nonconforming child, never mind a nonbinary one! - but gradually Dom became more confident in their personal identity. It was easier for them to don the sparkly gowns knowing that the way they dressed didnโt invalidate who they felt they were.
But with that comfort and confidence came in turn issues with their physical appearance. They were too small and lacking in form and muscle to ever be a masculine enough man, and too few people took them seriously with their increasingly feminine shape. Rome had always prized women with wide hips and generous busts.
Tw for eating disorder below
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When they had pinpointed that โ that the shape of their body was what was causing them so much discomfort โ they soon found remedies for it. What started as a healthy diet and conditioning exercise, to get back into the physical condition they had once been, became increasingly obsessive as they started to see results.
Livi grew concerned, as she ever did, and begged them to eat something, to stop the exercise. Dom said they would once there was no trace of their old body. Liv made them swear it. On Titusโs grave.
They barely ate, and when they were forced to, quickly purged it following the meal. Hours and hours in the training fields, on the courts, until their legs were shaking so they could hardly stand. So much self-hatred and anxiety and fear of it- never being enough. Of them never ridding themself of the last airs of femininity; of Annia always being there in the corner of their mind, whispering about what a woman they could have been.
Their figure melted away over the next year. Eventually, the monthly pains and bleeding spaced out, and stopped entirely. Still the relentless regimen. Liv begged them, again, pleaded with them, screamed at them and tackled them down onto the bed โ even the child-sized Liviana was stronger than them, by this point โ and reminded them what theyโd sworn. Would they dishonor their brother, or would they get better?
After this outburst, their relationship with their aunt much improved. Livi was patient, gentle and quiet; she would distract Dom with drawing or music or internet โmemesโ when the urges to run got so strong, would entice the kitchen staff to make low calorie vegetarian dishes, knowing that vegetarian food was Domโs weakness and reasoning that few calories were still better than no calories โ and they got better.
They still fear gaining weight; they still exercise too much and eat too little. But gone, at least for now, is the numbness and apathy that once surrounded them.
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When they had pinpointed that โ that the shape of their body was what was causing them so much discomfort โ they soon found remedies for it. What started as a healthy diet and conditioning exercise, to get back into the physical condition they had once been, became increasingly obsessive as they started to see results.
Livi grew concerned, as she ever did, and begged them to eat something, to stop the exercise. Dom said they would once there was no trace of their old body. Liv made them swear it. On Titusโs grave.
They barely ate, and when they were forced to, quickly purged it following the meal. Hours and hours in the training fields, on the courts, until their legs were shaking so they could hardly stand. So much self-hatred and anxiety and fear of it- never being enough. Of them never ridding themself of the last airs of femininity; of Annia always being there in the corner of their mind, whispering about what a woman they could have been.
Their figure melted away over the next year. Eventually, the monthly pains and bleeding spaced out, and stopped entirely. Still the relentless regimen. Liv begged them, again, pleaded with them, screamed at them and tackled them down onto the bed โ even the child-sized Liviana was stronger than them, by this point โ and reminded them what theyโd sworn. Would they dishonor their brother, or would they get better?
After this outburst, their relationship with their aunt much improved. Livi was patient, gentle and quiet; she would distract Dom with drawing or music or internet โmemesโ when the urges to run got so strong, would entice the kitchen staff to make low calorie vegetarian dishes, knowing that vegetarian food was Domโs weakness and reasoning that few calories were still better than no calories โ and they got better.
They still fear gaining weight; they still exercise too much and eat too little. But gone, at least for now, is the numbness and apathy that once surrounded them.
Several months have passed. This trip to Aciras is going to beโฆ interesting, for certain. Betrothed to a man theyโve only met on official business, from a kingdom that might be progressive compared to Lusitania, but is still remarkably old-world fussy compared to the rest of the world... they can only hope that Stefanos wonโt immediately call it off upon getting to know them, or worse, force them into an identity they canโt fill.
Still, he's well-liked by his people and by his siblings. Everything will work out fine for them.
โฆright?
๐๐๐ + ๐๐ธ๐ต๐ธ๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ญ๐ฎ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Color Code: c2e2a7 | Faceclaim: Alba Galocha
๐๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ธ๐ท๐ฐ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Warriors - Imagine Dragons
As a child you would wait
And watch from far away
But you always knew that you'd be the one
That work while they all play
In youth you'd lay
Awake at night and scheme
Of all the things that you would change
But it was just a dream!
As a child you would wait
And watch from far away
But you always knew that you'd be the one
That work while they all play
In youth you'd lay
Awake at night and scheme
Of all the things that you would change
But it was just a dream!
๐๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ป๐ธ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ธ
โโโโโโโโโโ
Stefanos Kokinos of Polemos
๐๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป
โโโโโโโโโโ
Dia has at times spoken at FF ('Foeda Flammae', or 'the league of the flame' - a radfem organization that advocates for women to take up arms and forcibly take back their rights) rallies, and has accidentally become a bit of a radical feminist icon across the world. They don't agree with all of FF's platforms, and even speak out against how dangerous their 'rekindling the flame of war' would be, and how many women would be subject to horrible violence because of it- but it falls on deaf ears; the organization only ever uses their quotes that appear to support their platforms, and claim to be endorsed by Dom when they're very much not.
They have 10k followers on Tumblr, and about 12k on instagram, but try to keep a low profile and keep those identities un-associated with their name.
They have 10k followers on Tumblr, and about 12k on instagram, but try to keep a low profile and keep those identities un-associated with their name.
Color code || #F2AED3 || Faceclaim || Jodelle Ferland
14 || Female || Non-invitee (Dom's "handmaid") || Unbetrothed
14 || Female || Non-invitee (Dom's "handmaid") || Unbetrothed
Liviana Decima Viriatus is Domโs aunt, by technicality โ their fatherโs youngest sister - though sheโs nearly six years younger, which confuses lots of people. Livi, as she prefers to be called, is a mere fourteen and a half, but looks even younger, her growth stunted by a genetic condition (though the public doesnโt know that). She has EDS (also an unknown diagnosis) and as a result wears ankle and wrist splints at all times, though theyโre usually hidden under flowy gowns a size too big for her. At most formal events she can be seen leaning on a pair of wrist crutches.
Liv is known most for being a quiet shadow to her niece, but her silence hides a lot more. Especially given her age, sheโs a nearly prodigious musician, a skilled performer of both violin and piano. As her symptoms have gotten worse, sheโs had to stop practicing as much โ which breaks her heart โ but sheโs still able to maintain proficiency at least. She struggles to communicate with the people around her; she was raised to only speak Latin and never taught more than a bare minimum of English, though Dom has done their best to remedy that. She writes stories in Latin, and has tried her hand at poetry in both Latin and English with some interesting results.
Sheโs attending the festivities at Aciras as her niece and brotherโs aide and attendant, though mutterings at home suggest that sheโs supposed to be seeking a husband, too. Thatโll never happen, of course, not with Dom and Felix around. Truthfully, Felix caught wind of his father planning to marry her off to an Athenian while he and Dom were away in Aciras (and thus unable to intervene), and instead suggested โ sweetly as he ever does โ that they take her along to find her an even more influential foreign husband. Somehow, somehow, the Viriathus agreed to the deal, and so Liv got dragged along as an โattendantโ to an event she feels incredibly out of her depth in.
She spends much of the festivities away from the other royals, feeling left out and isolated for her age as much as anything. She attends some of the more informal meetings and outings, if only often from a distance, and is planning on giving a chamber concert in Lynston โ something informal, at the city library or something - at some point during their stay.
Livi has a pet sparrow named Qvi (pronounced qwee) that goes anywhere she does, often riding on her shoulder.
Color Code || #b56d24 || Faceclaim || TBD
20 || Male || Invited Attendant || Unbetrothed
20 || Male || Invited Attendant || Unbetrothed
Much like the other Lusitanians in the delegation, Felix carries himself with an air of archaic, out-of-place formality. His dark brown eyes are attentive and observant. Like his siblings, heโs not of particularly great stature (A mere five feet seven inches), but he carries himself like someone half a foot taller. Heโs fiercely protective of his sister Liv, and both incredibly competitive with and supportive of Dom. The two of them are especially close after Titusโs death.
Heโs in Ameria now as a gesture of goodwill (After all, how better to illustrate how important Amerian-Lusitanian relations are than by sending an entire delegation of royals for the wedding) and โ at least as it is known privately and socially in Lusitania โ to search for a suitable future spouse. That thought couldnโt be further from his mind, of course โ heโs here to protect Dom (and suss out the Polemesians โ for a neighboring kingdom, he knows far, far too little about them, and now his niece is supposed to marry one of them?) and make sure Liv doesnโt get in trouble.
Heโs battling his own feelings about certain matters, namely those of attraction and such, but the last thing he needs to do right now is make himself vulnerable, too. Still, though โ so many of the princes here areโฆ remarkably attractive. Not that heโs of any interest to them, either, the ninth prince of a teeny tiny Mediterranean microstateโฆ
