inkflourishes ♟

the tamer of horses

john and antony were both controversial figures, both seen as having 'fallen from grace'—john from the beatles, antony from the roman empire. they were temperamental and unpredictable, loved by some, hated by others (just like marmite, i suppose). both criticised for being extravagant (antony with his feasts and silver cups and purple (!!) sails, john with his psychedelic rolls royce and peace campaigns).

they both struggled with dual identities: john wrestling with the beatle persona vs the activist he wanted to be with yoko; antony torn between his role as a roman general and his life as lover of cleopatra. and, of course, the whole public betrayal, antony abandoning his good roman wife (octavia) and leaving her with all the chaos and children he had with fulvia, john leaving behind cynthia and julian.

people couldn't forgive either man for openly loving a woman who didn't 'belong' to the expected order of things.

cleopatra and yoko both faced viscious public hatred. cleopatra mainly because she wasn't roman, and didn't fit with the ideal concept of the 'pure roman woman'. and yoko? well, a lot of the hate for her also stems from racism that still echoes today. certainly not the only reason for people's dislike of her, but a large one. both were painted as manipulative seductresses who ruined great men: cleopatra supposedly bewitched antony and pulled him from roman duty, yoko supposedly shattered the beatles. (my personal opinion? she was definitely a factor in the band's split, but certainly not the only reason.) regardless of whether you like them or not, you also have to admit that they were both very strong women—artists, strategists, and powerful in ways that defied expectations.

and honestly, is there anything more john&yoko than that story of antony and cleopatra sneaking out in disguise and playing tricks on random people while, like, entire legions were waiting on him to plan the war against the parthians? that level of obsessive, world-ignoring devotion? same energy as john pissing off every manager and press man alive because he'd rather stay in bed with yoko making avant-garde art and protesting than 'save the beatles'.

from dean’s 1967 interview with oriana fallaci

Brazilian reports about Prost attending Senna's funeral and interview

"the other one" - prosenna and landoscar x

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