The Beauty Queen of TikTok

    Have you ever wondered what your favorite rags-to-riches, Byzantine queen would be like on TikTok or Instagram? Look no further! Our beloved queen Theodora has risen from the dead and built platforms on your favorite apps. During her original life here on earth, she was born into the peasant class but became empress of the Byzantine Empire to rule alongside her lover Justinian, becoming one of the first rulers to advocate for women’s rights. Let’s see what she’s doing now:       

    As the daughter of a bear-keeper in her past life, Theodora had to become an actress - a role similar to prostitution in medieval times - to support her family after she died. Similarly, modern-day Theodora (@theadoreme) briefly became an OnlyFans star to sustain herself and her family. She was known amongst a niche audience, but now, she is a famous lifestyle and beauty influencer, known as the Beauty Queen of TikTok, with over 155 million followers, numerous brand deals, and close ties with the Kardashians.

    Starting out as a newbie influencer, it wasn’t surprising that Theodora typically posted videos relating to her skincare routines and product reviews given that she has always paid careful attention to the care of her body in her past-medieval life; however, she first went viral after hard-launching her famous, controversial relationship with celebrity director Justinian (@justthatguy). Don’t know this royal-tea? Let’s spill it. In their medieval past, Theodora’s looks and wit charmed Justinian into having an affair with her as his mistress, but eventually, he moved into a quick marriage with her despite the Byzantine laws that forbade their union due to Theodora’s low birth. Enchanted by her beauty and wit, Justinian reformed the laws to allow their marriage, causing people to label Theodora as a devil affirmed by the belief that she used her beauty to bewitch him.  

    In modern times, Theodora’s rise to fame starts in her transition to becoming an influencer on Instagram after her short time on OnlyFans. Within a few months, she drew in 100K followers for her beauty and skincare tips. Her rising popularity - due to her apparent beauty - landed her many quick runway jobs and modeling deals, which helped her gain more followers. Justinian, captivated by Theodora’s beauty at a runway show, eventually followed her on Instagram and slid into her DMs to ask her out on a date.  

    After weeks of casual dates, the paparazzi caught the couple holding hands at an exclusive celebrity afterparty. Leaked photos caused dating rumors and speculation to spread fast about the pair with people torn on whether to advocate for them or criticize them. Some long-term fans of Theodora and Justinian were happy at the prospect of their relationship while others were concerned about the age gap in the couple. Like their past life, Theodora was in her mid-twenties while Justinian was in his forties, but in modern-day society, large age differences are way more taboo than in the past. Eventually, the majority of people were captivated by Theodora’s appearance -like Justinian- and simply chose to support the pair.  

    Theodora later confirmed their relationship with a post featuring her and Justinian doing a couples dance trend on Tiktok, and soon after, Justinian posted a photo announcing the couple’s engagement with the caption “My queen, my lover, my life, my future wife ♥️.” Backlash broke out against the couple for moving into marriage too quickly with well-known podcaster Prokopios (@procope_with_me) becoming one of the leading voices to express outrage over the couple’s announcement in his podcast "The Sexist Herstory." 

    Don’t know Prokopios? Let me catch you up to speed. Prokopios, in Theodora’s earlier life, was a historian who wrote a sexist, biased account of Theodora in The Secret History since he was horrified by her rise to power as a lowly-born woman with a background in prostitution. He was particularly not pleased with Theodora's influence on Justinian in policy-making. Apparently, his internal misogyny has transferred over to his modern reincarnation, for in more recent times, he was alarmed by the idea of Justinian settling with a working-class woman instead of an A-list celebrity. He also called Theodora a bop (another word for whore) for her OnlyFans account, remarking that Justinian should only marry virgin women in their class that can’t use their looks to control their minds. Fortunately, Theodora’s influence overpowers misogyny. Prokopios was canceled for his classist and misogynistic comments against Theodora, resulting in the suspension of his podcast accounts on all social media platforms.  

    Afterward, Theodora’s marriage with Justinian allowed her to completely rebrand herself and her platform. Like in her past life, Theodora is an avid advocate for women; for example, she made rape punishable by death and allowed women to own property as Byzantine empress. Currently, she often collaborates with Tiktokers like Drew Afualo (@drewafualo) to make content about women's empowerment and create beauty trends that inspire many girls to embrace their womanhood.  

    Now that you know more about Theodora, go check out her page. She has a long history in both of her lives starting from humble beginnings to becoming an extremely influential queen that advocates for women’s rights using her beauty and wit. Long live the Beauty Queen!