Love

Okay, this is going to be random.
If you haven’t seen the Spartacus series on Starz (2010) – I will say with all bias that you must see it immediately!

If you have and shout out to tumblr being full of fan blogs, I am going to talk about the scene here and why I think it is…romantic: https://www.tumblr.com/fuckyeahcrixusandnaevia-blog/53995499714/zurik23m-ashur-vs-naevia

Okay, memory refreshed? Link o’ gifs viewed? Do you think I am insane?
Cool.

So my favorite thing about this whole moment, outside of Naevia getting to fully yeet Ashur into the afterlife in the harshest and most violent way possible, is Crixus’ reactions during her fight. His face shows all the fear and concern his love for her holds. He could have easily manned the situation and been done with Ashur in a swing. So what really makes this romantic to me is his confidence and most importantly, his respect for Naevia. The coddling, the protection vibes, are internal and initmate between them, but he respects her agency as a whole person to handle this one on her own. And if you have seen the show, we know this is early Naevia 2.0. This is not her final kick ass form. And still he respects why she needs this instead of acting in the knowing that she just might not make it. Ashur was a trash gladiator but that is still stronger than a chick with only a few months training on her, right? Love here is all about the respect. For her pain, her trauma, her endurance, the growth of her strength, her right as a free person to take care of and defend her own honor, and to be willing to watch the love of your life possibly die in the attempt to reclaim her strength, self worth and so many other things in the process.

This show in general is one of my favorite stories because there are so many moments where people are and subvert the generalizations of the era where history would have you believe people didnt get unique until modern times. But people have always been people-ing and I love to see shows and movies or read books that let’s that be a major point of fact.

D. Ondria
03302023