#is this perhaps

Lucilla and Geta is more light, like whites, gold, orange, red. Commodus and Caracalla having darker colors tending to wear blacks, blues, and purples. In film, Geta is SEEMINGLY considered the “eldest” like Lucilla, by just being more percipient than Caracalla.

I kind of see the siblings as dualities of themselves. I think back on the line in the first film where Marcus Aurelius said to Lucilla; “if only had you been a man” and “your brother needs you more” or something on the lines of asking Lucilla to aid Commodus. I could only imagine if Commodus had not died (film), Lucilla would have shared the same madness as her brother. Much like Geta and Caracalla.

Whoever the hell Lucilla would be if she'd been born a man? Just the same as any of the others, spoiled by the privilege and entitlement and the expectation of all falling to her feet.

This reminded me of something I've been thinking about recently which absolutely kills me and isn't... strictly related to the parallels between Lucilla and Commodus and Geta and Caracalla, but the way the twins were flipped sometime in production; how Caracalla was meant to be the one in lead, and Geta the pathetic and weak one. Much more akin to how history has painted their namesakes, maybe; Geta as the unfortunate victim who lost in the power struggle against his more aggressive and dominant elder brother.

At the same time, their actual characters were not flipped. Geta retained his personality despite rising to the top of the dynamic. Caracalla retained his, despite assuming the weaker and effeminate role.

It's fascinating to me, because when I first learned about them being flipped, I assumed the characters themselves changed. But no - comparing between history and movie, you can easily connect these two in their characteristics to their inspirations. Caracalla is erratic, aggressive, bloodthirsty, and ruthless. Geta is quieter, observant, and comes across as someone who was not trained into his duties but could have easily been competent at his role if not for that neglect and his twin's influence. It is so interesting to me that he kept that, despite their dynamic changing in the production, that regardless of his position in the relationship, be that presumed follower or presumed leader, he is still the more astute one. He didn't need to assume also Caracalla's violence to be that. It's been driving me INSANE for like... a week straight. Kills me.

Of Caracalla: Caracalla, whose reign contributed to the decay of the empire, has often been regarded as one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants in Roman history.

The byname Caracalla was based on his alleged designing of a new cloak of that name. Another of his nicknames, Tarautas, was that of an ugly, insolent, and bloodthirsty gladiator whom he was thought to resemble.

Of Geta: Geta was the younger son of Emperor Septimius Severus and his wife Julia Domna. Unlike his more aggressive brother, Caracalla, Geta was known for his gentle and studious nature. He was raised in the imperial household and was groomed for a life of power and responsibility.

This difference was only enhanced by the fact that Geta suffered from a slight stammer. In his time, he became quite literate, surrounding himself with intellectuals and writers. He showed his father much more respect than Caracalla and also was a far more loving child to his mother. He took great care of his appearance, liking to wear expensive, elegant clothes.

Kill me? Now? DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN.

Anyway, to the parallels - they are so. Specifically in attire, in attitude; Lucilla has always been cunning, sharp, observant. That is exactly what Geta is, too, with the only difference being that he's fucking stupid and Lucilla is not. But the more I've sat with Geta, the more it's because... he has never had the chance to be smart. He's never been taught the first thing about his position or what he should be doing with it. And that is what makes him dumb as rocks, not any inherent lack of intelligence. Rather, he seems to hold immense potential which could be forged into just about anything - if he hadn't been raised with violence. If he had been taught trust. If Caracalla wasn't his only frame of reference, his only ally, his only security, safety, certainty. And when we meet them, those things are already crumbling, and this boy is just totally at a loss with what to do with himself or anything else, and he doesn't trust anybody. He's totally unfit for his role not because he couldn't be raised into it, but because he's been raised by wolves, and become a wolf himself.

Caracalla and Commodus, on the other hand. Commodus is a weird parallel to both twins: with most people, he's got the sly, terrifying, conniving wit that Geta seems to grapple for. On the other hand, particularly with Lucilla, he is everything that Caracalla is. Unpredictable, emotionally driven, torn between deifying admiration and fits of rage and distrust and violence. He has no spine when it comes to Lucilla, which is an interesting mirror to Caracalla, who seems to draw his courage mostly from Geta and doesn't fear confronting him - but fears everything else, when Geta isn't there to protect him. On the other hand, Caracalla's and Commodus's mistrust toward their siblings is more or less equal. The ways they're intertwined to them is different yet just as twisted. Caracalla in so many ways comes across like a child to Geta, and Commodus has this same trait with Lucilla, regressing to that whiny, tantrum-prone thing when he's with her, but both of them have a desperate love for their pair and it is anything but healthy, even though you can tell it is strong. Of course, Caracalla's not quite plotting to make Geta his pureblood imperial wife but like. How far are we from that really. Geta exists to serve him and both him and Commodus are equally torn apart by (perceived, in Caracalla's case) betrayal from the one they put on this pedestal.

I'm going to quit here because I'm going feral. Like I'm climbing walls I'm not okay I fucking. Hate. The imperials in this franchise why are they this way why do they make me feel things I'm RARWRARWHWUHG.

(watched tron legacy again B) also inspired by a conversation with a tiktok buddy but i’m too embarrassed to send this to them so enjoy. not proofread but that’s like part of my brand now i’m so sorry.)

“So after we patrol and look in to the reports of grid bugs sightings we’ll pick Flynn up. Should we take him to oversee what’s being put up near the sea of simulation? I believe he’d enjoy that. Maybe a tour of the new-“

“Do I have to come?”

Tron stopped in his tracks and glanced at Clu, a bit startled at being interrupted. “Excuse me?”

Clu scrunched his eyebrows slightly and pressed his lips together in a small frown. “Do I have to come? I have things I could be doing. I don’t have time to be watching you fawn over Flynn.”

Tron blinked in surprise and found himself at loss for words. Maker, was he that obvious? “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! You-“

The other program had already wandered away, spotting something that required his attention. Seeing that, Tron stopped his nervous sputtering and frowned again. He absolutely did not ‘fawn’ over anyone, it’s was pure admiration of course. This was Kevin Flynn they were talking about! The Creator. The ideas he had, what he had made the grid into. Everything was falling into place, and if it wasn’t he always had a solution. Truly, they were lucky to-

“You’re doing it again Tron. I can tell from over here.”

At Clu’s voice, he jumped. With a huff, Tron followed. There was nothing wrong with admiring The Creator, after all he was-

ignore the thumb but.,....... grist....... 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤