#and naturally same with lucrezia

[borgialucrezia]

THE BORGIA BROTHERS + putting the family's interest above their sister's concerns

"Everything I do is for the family."

[zalrb]

Did you notice (or is it just me) that cesera seemed to grab Lucrezia neck more in season 3? Of course she was still his soft spot and his one true love but I do see this change kind of parallel to his character getting darker in that season.

If that makes any sense at all!

Mm, I didn't make that correlation. I actually think season 2 is his darkest season and I just think in season 3 he was freer with the sexual and/or romantic nature of their physicality -- I mean they both were --

and so the way he touches her in season 3 becomes a little different and the moments he grabs her neck are usually moments where there's a rush of emotion.

There's the obvious moment where he at first think she's an intruder until he recognizes it's her so a threat becomes a seduction

and then there's the finale where he brings her closer after she asks him if he'll think of her when he leaves

which is a kind of hold he's always done

kind of like their hug in 3x09, he's so happy to have her in his arms, he also takes a hold of her neck and kind of smashes her into him -- you can't really see his hands because it's dark and they're gloved but one of them as at the side of her neck then at the back of her neck -- which is something he also does in the same episode in season 1 after, again, not seeing her for so long

and then we get the kisses

What I would say the difference is is that in season 3, Cesare is outright claiming Lucrezia with his touches -- whether it's her neck or her chin

whereas the first two seasons there's absolutely an undercurrent but he's not leaning into that so it might appear sweeter or more reverent than possessive (even though I think he is reverent in his possessiveness)

[rhiarin]

✨AU Headcannons of the Day part 3: Georgina Upperton ✨

Childhood and Teen hood Headcanon

• Georgina was born with white hair. She was the only Upperton Family member who was born with white hair. (she was not born with albinism, but she was born in due to lack of pigment of her hair, or due to various genetic factors)

• During her childhood days, she was always the smartest amongst her siblings, (elders or youngsters).

• Georgina loves reading books, whether it's a historical, some fictional, and more.

• She was always closed to her grandparents, because her parents doesn't have time to spend with her. Her grandparents are very kind hearted to Georgina, and loves to spending some time with her. They always called her "the angel of the family" because of her sweet, kind hearted, humble, and loving girl she is.

• She has a troubled relationship with her mother, she was wondering why her mother doesn't want to spend time, Georgina thinks that she doesn't love her or because of her white hair.... But Georgina doesn't give up on hope, because she hoped that one day, her mother will love her again(why I'm so sad making it)

• Georgina was also the eldest sibling, but not the most senior sibling, she was always being a elder sibling to them because she was very independent, smart, intelligent. She can also helping them solving some problems that they didn't answered too.

• When she was grown up, Georgina decided to dyed her white hair to black. Because she was worried that some nobles of Concordian Nobility would view her as "witch" if she did not dyed her hair.

Adulthood headcanon

• Georgina was a very talented woman. She was really great at drawing arts like sketching and painting, she is also great at embroidery, cross-stitch, and crochet. And she's also great at playing some various instruments like violin, guitar, flute, and piano.

• My AU where Georgina was 27 years old, meeting the little Giulietta Capecchi, she found her at her prospect gardens behind the oak tree crying with bruises in her arms, and her instincts kicked in. Georgina bring Giulietta inside to her mansion and cleaning up her wounds (and this where their mother-daughter figure begins)

• Georgina viewed Giulietta as her "daughter figure", because of how she treated Giulietta as her own daughter and Giulietta also viewed Georgina as her mother figure, because of how she treated her kindly (that I posted on Giulietta's Au headcannons if you remember)

• Georgina loves some fashions, she has many outfits on her wardrobes, and she is really great at choosing the right outfits to wear for attending some parties, events or etc. She's always up-to-date on some latest fashion trends, she is also helps Giulietta to pick the right outfit, to make sure it looks fabulous.

• Even her status, and her wealth. Georgina always wants to be stay humble, kind person, and sweet nature. And it will always be remained in her life as what her grandparents teaches to her. Yes, Georgina was "down to earth" in my AU 🥰

Fun Facts:

• Georgina's birthday was the same as Giulietta's. Yes she's also 2/11

• Georgina's secret talents is dancing and singing.

• Georgina is good at baking. She is really great baking cakes, cupcakes or some other pastries. She's also helps her maids to bake them, and she also teaches Giulietta and Lucrezia how to bake the cake.

• I headcanon Georgina as "Aroace" because she's not interested in romantic or sexual relationships.

• My AU where Georgina and Ernest never met each other.

There we go! My Georgina headcanon is here

Hope you enjoyed 😁✨

[magnificentposting-fabrizioart]

If you had to write a fanfic about Magnificent Century, what would it be about?

The same question for fan art if you can’t answer the above.

Oh boy where do I start.

Well, besides the obvious "What if the show allowed Nigar to be queer as vibes told me she was?", and assuming we preserve the timeline, couple ideas.

-What if Leo and Viktoria realized they were natural allies, tried to plot together, failed, and then escaped together, to Persia and beyond? Honestly I see it as a potential ship but it could be a lot of stuff.

-LOTS of possible Suleyman introspection angles. Maybe reminiscing about HIS childhood while watching Mustafa, and I'd make SURE to highlight the cognitive dissonance that has to be somewhere in there.

-Something about the hilarious correspondence he had w/ a couple of Italian figures begging for him to help/promising to help with an invasion of Italy (The Duke of Mantova, Lucrezia Gonzaga). Somehow I'd find out how the mention that thing I read about parmesan being all the rage in Topkapi too.

-Lots of angles where you could tackle street life in the Empire, Istanbul and beyond.

-50% joking (?) but Biker Gang modern AU titled Sons of Ankara just because the idea is hilarious.

-Inner monologue of Suleyman's reaction to Charles the V abdicating. Actually I think a movie/short show about the two of them in parallel would be fascinating, we have the two biggest egos of the Mediterranean (there might have been fierce competition in Asia) and nominally top figures of their respective worlds that also kinda never had the showdown of the century both were raised and primed to dream of, and I'm morbidly fascinated by that dynamic.

It's also hilarious to imagine show Suleyman's brain smoking by him trying to even CONCEIVE of the concept of abdicating.

[like-sands-of-time]

"The borgias" on showtime went way off the course of recorded history I'm sure and historical events such as these have only one natural conclusion. BUT I am curious what they would have done with a season four, as the events of borgia rule were not over, barely even started.

We're left with vague glimpses but more things could have changed with the politics side, and much more would have changed with lucrezia and cesare and I deeply deeply wish we could have seen their parents come to learn just what is going on between them, hardly even kept secret anymore even if/when she marries a third time.

There's the matter of cesare wanting her to be princess of Naples in Frances name, while he rules forli and rome, further hoping to unite the other states with alliance if not battle. Just saying, the plots with Della Rovere and Sforza may be over but there is other politics, and a change from that could remove the chance of monotony.

Ugh to fanfiction we go I suppose to see if any of the lovely fantasy/history/Renaissance writers out there felt the same 🙏🏻

[lostinfic]

Chapter 7 : Connected

In a bedroom, Cesare finds a porcelain washbasin and a clean cloth. A single candle lights the room. He tips Lucrezia's face up and washes the blood off her cheeks. Were restoring her innocence as easy as erasing the traces of the deaths that occurred around them tonight. 

As he gently wipes her freckled skin, Lucrezia's eyelids flutter shut. It's mesmerizing, the way she responds to his touch, tilting her head back, offering her neck and lips, the instinctual nature of it. She's got him wrapped around her little finger, he has no delusions about that, but she's under his spell too. Water drips from the cloth, slides, pink, down her throat and pools in the hollow of her clavicle. The urge to lick it up makes him tip his head forward. His breath brushes her jawline. She smells of violets and orange blossoms, still wearing the same brand of perfume he gave her years ago...

[silverloreley]

hey if u got any Ivy x Lampwick hc i'd love to hear them! you definately got me invested in ur ship!

I had some time to think about this more and I have some ideas to share:

They met young, Lucignolo was about ten years old when he died of fatigue after he was turned into a donkey (canon from the book) and he was revived, human, at the same age he got transformed, around 9. Ivy was a tad younger, around 8.

She caught him when he tried to seek shelter in the de Vils garage during a particularly cold night. She was in her angelic phase and let him stay, only to kick him out the next morning in a rather brutal way.

He thought she was crazy (and was pretty much right) and avoided her for months afterward. They met by chance again and Ivy kept her ambivalent behavior. By the time they were teens, he had gotten used to it.

Being among the very few kids on the Isle from the start, it was inevitable for them (and Hunter, plus a handful of pirate kids, and a few more) to seek each other's company. Even after more kids were born, they were still in a category of their own.

They spent the childhood bickering, with her chastizing him for his lack of effort in any field and mocking his ignorance (he hated going to school and never studied, while she was a top student). She ended up forcing him to learn some stuff, all while mocking and bullying him, of course. He totally let her, the attention made him feel important.

He was the one to fall first, obviously. Despite knowing of her double nature, he found her both gorgeous and intriguing (and it helped she was rich, as he hated the idea of having to work to live). On her side, she was mostly attracted by how well he let her command him and by his open admiration. It appeared as a shallow relationship from the outside, but the truth is that they know each other rather well.

Ivy was among the most well-off families on the Isle, the de Vils had most of their properties (a couple mansions and other belongings) and managed to put their hands on the only electric plant on the Isle, other than there being a lot of them. Lucignolo had nothing of the sort. Naturally, the de Vils were against their relationship: Lucignolo was a no one, son of no ones, without anything in or out the Isle, while Ivy was a born noble, rich, and with a solid social standing. When they decided to get engaged, Ivy threw a tantrum and forced the family to accept her choice. She won.

They got married as soon as they could, which on the Isle meant as soon as the families allowed. Ivy's parents warmed up to him, eventually, especially once their daughter, Luciana Romina de Vil, was born.

Their daughter's name was the result of a big dispute between them. He wanted to call the child like his mother, Ivy wanted an original name. They compromised he could pick the name as long as he gave up on giving the kid his surname and letting the child be a de Vil only.

Their second daughter was named Lucrezia Imogen de Vil, like Lucrezia Borgia, this time Ivy chose and Lucignolo let her because he liked the name too.

By the time of D1, their eldest Luciana "Lucia" is around 11, Lucrezia "Lulu" is about 8-9 and they just had a boy, Irvyn.

They were not the best parents, to be honest. Well, Ivy could be, when in the right mood, Lucignolo was a bit neglectful at best, he thought raising kids was too much work and let his in-laws do most of the caring. It changed when he realized he was becoming too much like his own father (and after Cecil took him aside and scolded him) and his daughters were distancing themselves from him. He didn't do a 180 degrees change but, from there on, he at least tried.

He also tried to send a letter to Pinocchio, once or twice, as a teen, not much to get help but to see what he was doing. Scoundrel as he was, he was also a decent friend and was very hurt when he never got answers. Ivy told him to get over it, but he never lost hope to someday reconnect. Secretly, she sort of wished she had a friend out on the Isle to send letters to.

In the time of the Isle, Lucignolo's father had died and his mother had remarried, although she had had hopes to find him ever since he left home. Pinocchio had been the one who told her of his sad fate (donkeyfied and died) so it was a huge surprise to her, after the Barrier was opened in D3, to find that he was alive and with children of his own. Signora Luciana instantly loved her grandkids as soon as she met them and accepted Ivy too without thinking twice.

[lucreziasredwyne]

who: @illyaoakheart​ where: the maze within the gardens of highgarden, following the rumours of ‘the watchers’ regarding the nature of cedric tyrell and lucrezia redwyne’s relationship

Highgarden's seemingly endless maze was once a place of good memories, a place where it felt as though the beginning of her place and her association with those in the realm had quietly begun; with the sound of her footsteps breaking twigs, and being utterly lost after wandering away from the Great Hall her mother and father were within. Hazel hues moved quietly to the sight of an overhanging tree, in which she had once seen two nine year old boys hanging upon it; one of fox thorn and one of the Goldengrove's oldest way.

Her eyes now looked upon the very same tree, and it were almost as though she could sense the silhouette of him remaining within it; how he had been the one to drop seamlessly down from the tree, whilst striking blue eyes continued to look upon her from above with curious, amused eyes. Different to warm ones. Seven Hells, it's a girl Mathis. Yeah, I can see that Ced.

There was a familiar, quiet sting that seemed to come from the very back of her eyes as she felt her throat close up around her; when the Lady of Old Oak had wished to tour the grounds of Highgarden's endless mass of gardens, considering she would someday soon preside over them all, the Lady of the Arbor was happy to accept. They needed some air, and she wished for some time alone with the woman considering the recent bump they had worked to communicate through. 

Society pages continued to whisper, and yet, Lucrezia did not wish to speak on such rumours; and did not wish to speak on the idea of her reputation being tainted.

Nor did she wish to speak on what horrible things had been said about the woman she deemed her sister. There would always be those who wished to undermine and see them fall, for their positions were so powerful in court. Lucrezia understood that, however needed to remain patient whilst others got accustomed to learning it too. They had gone around in circles countless times now, and were lost; still, they were within Highgarden's grounds.

She quietly realised the beginning of this maze was where Helena Tyrell had been murdered on her wedding day. To him. This maze was full of ghosts, and worked to ignore the feeling of the hedges closing around her. "At least in here, there are no eyes looking at us with taints of scandal and shame." The Lady of the Arbor spoke, wondering whether she could hear the sound of twigs snapping, or whether she were caught in history. 

"We'll have to go around a few times, and we'll get out eventually. How embarrassing - imagine should the guards notice we have not emerged and have to come looking."

[useyourtelescope]

yuletide 2024 letter

Hello! Thanks for reading my letter - my AO3 is useyourtelescope and I am always happy to receive treats if you are so inclined.

Note some requests have more notes/links because I have requested them before. I have received lovely gifts in the past for some of my repeated fandoms (in some cases for similar prompts), but with small fandoms like these I'm always happy to read more takes on the same prompts. Still, none of that is an indication of preference - I'd love to receive something for any of these requests, new or old alike. I hope this letter provides some inspiration and that you have fun writing this yuletide!

My fandoms are: The Borgias (Showtime TV), Far From The Madding Crowd (2015), The Gilded Age (TV 2022), My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon), One Day (TV 2024), Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (TV 2022).

General Info

I prefer third person to first person fic, though focusing on the POV of one or more characters is fine. I love both fluff and angst, though I want my angst to have a happy or at least hopeful ending. I also enjoy smutfic (more on that later). Below are some tropes/moments I enjoy:

Fake relationship (in all its forms, especially marriage of convenience and undercover as a couple)

Mutual pining (unrequited pining turning into mutual pining also welcome)

Friends/partners to lovers

Hurt/comfort (maybe patching s.o. up after an injury, looking after them when they’re sick or taking home when drunk - emotional h/c is welcome as well as physical)

One partner reassuring the other

Fixing the other character’s clothes (straightening collars, fixing ties)

Clothes sharing/stealing (especially female character wearing male characters clothes, like jacket or sweater/shirt)

One character covering the other with a blanket when they’ve fallen asleep either in their current place or carrying them to bed first and then tucking them in

Domesticity (e.g. cooking together, going grocery shopping, house-hunting, painting their house) either in an established relationship or in the ‘friends’ stage of friends to lovers

Letters / Emails / journal entries / texts

Sleepy snuggles, intentional or accidental

Hand holding (or some sort of significant hand or touch related moment - love me some hand imagery!)

Capers/Heists

Outsider POV

General DNWs: Darkfic, horror, rape/noncon, torture, suicide, permanent death of requested characters (assumed or temporary death is okay), terminal illness, threesomes/moresomes, pegging, infidelity, genderswap, bestiality, scat, watersports, humiliation, unhappy ending, reader/you fic, high school AUs.

Yuleporn: I’m happy to receive Explicit smut in some of my requests and mild (Mature rated) smut is fine in the others. I participated in this year’s Smut4Smut Exchange so my letter for that is a good source of my smut likes/dnws. A few of my ships requested here were also part of my request there so you could use that letter for more specific smut prompts. I have noted preferred ratings and prompts below for the relevant requests.

Requests

The Borgias (Showtime TV): Cesare Borgia, Lucrezia Borgia

Fic rating preference: Any including Explicit.

[recent-ish specific prompts for this ship: smut / general]

I was not expecting to be as into this ship as I am, but their characters are fascinating and the chemistry is just on another level! This fandom/ship lends itself naturally to angst more than my other requests & I am very down for fic of them doing lots of hand wringing over their forbidden desires and/or where they go from the s3 finale, etc - but I am also a fluff fan so if you’d rather write them enjoying the happiness of their stolen moments together I would love that too. Despite the angst they can also be really playful together and that kind of push and pull between the best & worst of themselves is part of what makes them so compelling to me.

Missing scenes, future fic and canon divergence are all good here - with the note that I don't want a future fic set so far in the future it's set when Cesare is dead. For this fandom, I am also open to setting changes AUs as long as it translates some of the complicated family dynamics to a new setting. I’d rather not have a mundane AU like them working at a coffee shop or another cutesy setting that doesn't really seem to fit them - but also it doesn’t need to be a super detailed set up.

Some DNW clarification - since this is a canon that has political alliances through marriage I removed my general DNW of infidelity for this request; anything along the lines of what happens in the show where they’re together despite being married to someone else is fine. Similarly, my DNW of Darkfic is removed here as this canon can lean a bit dark/twisted & you’re very welcome to run in that vein, I just don’t want something unremittingly dark with a very bleak ending for my requested characters. My DNW of Rape/Non-Con still applies, but that’s not intended to ignore canon - referencing Lucrezia’s rape/discussing her trauma from it in either a canon story or AU is welcome, I just don’t want a scene involving rape in the fic.

Far From the Madding Crowd (2015): Gabriel Oak, Bathsheba Everdene

Fic rating preference: Any including Explicit.

The dynamic between Oak and Bathsheba with the reversal of their fortunes and all the things they can't say just gets me every time - the yearning in this film is delicious! I'd most like to read about what happens after the ending - they've had so much build up so how does having a relationship meet (or not) their expectations and how does their new physical relationship affect their daily life, especially with running the farm?

Also, I didn't request her, but I really enjoyed Liddy in the film and would be curious about how much she notices, esp as time goes on - an outsider POV fic where G&B were in the background and their story unfolded through Liddy's eyes would be very welcome. Other character reactions to G&B's relationship are fine as part of a story, but not as the focus of a whole fic.

I read the book a while back & was so-so about it, so would prefer just the film canon was used. I'm mostly interested in future fic, but missing scenes (especially in context of the Liddy POV fic) and minor canon divergence aus (e.g. to play with the timing) would be welcome too. Still, I'd like the core of their arc (and all that time growing - and yearning!) to remain the same and don't want the setting to change.

The Gilded Age (TV 2022): Marian Brook, Larry Russel

Fic rating preference: Any including Explicit.

[recent-ish specific prompts for this ship: smut ]

I find these two super cute and I do love a friends to lovers situation even more in a period drama. I really enjoyed the subtle, gradual development between Marian and Larry with their feelings almost taking them by surprise but then the kiss happened and felt so natural.

I'm mostly interested in future fic from the s2 finale. Based on the jump between seasons 1 & 2 I'm expecting the same to happen in s3, but I'd love to see the little details that might get skipped over on the series as they navigate their feelings - do they try to keep it quiet and between themselves at first? What makes them decide to tell others? I am also extremely curious about how their respective families will react to this development! A fic about Bertha and Aunt Agnes butting heads over the long road to the altar while Marian and Larry try to support each other (with some help from Ada and George perhaps?) could be really fun.

I am open to canon divergence AUs, but I’d prefer to keep the element of them being friends for a while first and having other relationships before they realise their feelings for one another. And I would definitely like to retain the historical setting of the show. I've already mentioned Marian's aunts and Larry's parents, but any other characters that are close to them like Peggy or Gladys or Oscar are welcome to make appearances too.

My Adventures with Superman: Lois Lane, Clark Kent

Fic rating preference: Not higher than Mature.

This series is such a fun watch and this Lois and Clark have such a great, adorable dynamic. Lois figuring his secret out herself in only a handful of episodes (and Jimmy having already known) was a great way to handle it. And that scene in late s2 when Clark thinks Lois is a figment of his imagination and after she tells him everything she did to find him, he goes 'that's an insane thing to do...you really must be Lois!!' - perfect!

Although I enjoyed s2, the amount of time spent on alien-related stories meant I didn't get enough of my fave thing in any Superman canon - Lois and Clark doing journalist stuff! Hence, that is my main prompt here - a fic a little less about the Superman side of things and more about them investigating some earth-bound stories (but maybe using some of Clark's powers to help). As should be obvious, I ship them so I would love to see a bit more of their dating life too when there aren't a bunch of crises one after the other.

Missing Scenes, Future Fic and Canon Divergence AUs are all good. The tone of this series would lend itself well to some cracky tropes so have fun with it. I love their friendship with Jimmy especially so feel free to include him in a significant way and (to a lesser extent) Kara or anyone from the Daily Planet, or the Kents.

One Day (TV 2024): Emma Morley, Dexter Mayhew

Fic rating preference: Not higher than Mature.

So I never read the book of this nor had I seen the film, but I was well aware of that ending for years - it was part of the reason I had resisted the book despite liking some of the author's other writing, and the show initially despite the many recs. Eventually I was finally in the right mood to try the show out and I loved it, even with its angsty end - the vibe of the show and the dynamic between the leads really pulled me in.

Naturally the conceit of the book/show means that we only get snippets of their lives and I'd just love to spend more time with these characters (who did not get enough time in the end *sniffles*). I'm not requesting 'fix-it' fic, but instead missing scenes across the many years encompassed over the show (but prior to the end of the penultimate episode). This doesn't have to necessarily be during the time when they're in a romantic relationship, or even when they are being actively friends - the show made it clear that even when they were on the outs they still thought/cared about each other. Anything that brings across how key their relationship was to both of them would be welcome (though if you want to focus on one character a little more than the other, I'd prefer for it to be Emma).

Appearances from any other characters in their lives are fine - I especially liked some of the stuff with Dex's parents so would be happy to see either of them and if you want to write his sister or Emma's family who we don't meet I'd be very interested to see what the Emma &/ Dex dynamic is like with those characters.

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (TV 2022): Frankie Derwent, Bobby Jones

Fic rating preference: Any including Explicit.

[recent-ish specific prompts for this ship: smut / general]

A light-hearted mystery where the leads fall in love while investigating is exactly my vibe so no surprise that I loved this series. Bobby and Frankie have great banter and chemistry, and the show delighted me by including so many tropes I like (Friends to lovers! Mutual pining made awkward through class differences! Casual domesticity!).

I'm pretty open on this request - in the canon world, missing scenes (especially towards the end of the series when they skip past a few things), future fic (how do they make a marriage work?) or canon divergence are all good (in fact there's so many other ways they could have got together and if you want to take a longer, angstier route to their HEA I would eat that up). The canon setting is not that many years behind WWII and I am not opposed to including that in a future fic, if it's things like anxieties about the future or an emotional reunion during/post war - I certainly DNW to read about either of them dying because of the war (or otherwise)! I'm also open to setting change AUs here - I think a Regency AU of their situation where the class differences are even more keenly felt would be great, and would also enjoy a modern take on it (as long as it retained some of that class difference).

Despite the murder mystery aspect of canon, I'm not hugely into very detailed casefic here - however a fic that's about Frankie and Bobby's banter/relationship while they are investigating a case would be just as a fun as a fic only focused on the romance. If you want to send some more investigations/shenanigans their way feel free to include Knocker or Dr. Arbuthnot. I'd be happy to see either of their families too and I don't mind a future fic including them having kids though I'd prefer not to focus on Frankie being pregnant or original child characters.

[rhetoricandlogic]

Blood & Beauty: The Borgias; A Novel

A novel takes another look at the Borgias.

Renaissance popes are famous less for their piety than for their political machinations and opulent monuments. A prime example is Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI in 1492. He and his two most famous children, Lucrezia and Cesare, are the focus of Sarah Dunant’s new novel, Blood & Beauty. Pope Alexander wants to establish dominion over a large area of Italy and wield that power through his children. Although he does not neglect the arts, his family is his favored monument. In addition to Lucrezia and Cesare, he has other children whom he maneuvers into advantageous marriages. Like the paterfamilias of ancient Rome, the Spanish Rodrigo Borgia exercises absolute power over his children, forcing Cesare into the church, for which he is ill-suited; marrying off his 12-year-old son, Jofré, to ensure an alliance; and requiring Lucrezia to perjure herself in order to obtain an annulment because her marriage ceased to benefit him.

As soon as Rodrigo becomes pope, he moves his household to a convenient distance from the papal apartments. And what a household it is! The pope’s distant cousin, Adriana de Mila, presides, since Rodrigo has removed his children from their mother’s home some years ago. By now, the two older sons are not often home — Cesare is in Siena, presumably studying, and Juan, the pope’s self-indulgent, undisciplined favorite, is out in the streets carrying on. In addition to the two younger children, 13-year-old Lucrezia and her younger brother, Jofré, there is Giulia Farnese, the pope’s 18-year-old mistress who is the daughter-in-law of Adriana de Mila. A dysfunctional family? Oh no — it is functioning pretty much as Rodrigo Borgia wishes.

Dunant is ambitious in the scope of her novel, into which, although it spans a decade, she crams a substantial amount of historical detail. Alliances are fleeting and relationships are complicated. Even a reader who is familiar with the period can get bogged down in the details. One has a choice of ignoring all the convoluted genealogies and military ups and downs and just getting on with the story, or diligently attempting to sort things out with the help of the abbreviated genealogical table and map provided, which, of course, interrupts the flow.

Readers who grew up with the image of Lucrezia Borgia as an infamous poisoner, the human embodiment of a black widow, and have not kept up with revisionist historians, will make the acquaintance of a very different person in Dunant’s novel: a genuinely pious young woman whose filial duty requires her to act against her nature. Dunant dismisses rumors of Lucrezia’s licentiousness as slander — her heroine is inclined to virtue and compassion and is forced from that path only by duty to her family. We see her grow from a precocious 13-year-old to a young woman who is determined to make a life for herself away from her father.

Brother Cesare does not get the same sympathetic treatment from the author — he is presented as a ruthless, brilliant schemer, a man who loves his sister, perhaps all too well, but whose political ambitions always take precedence over her happiness. Dunant seems a bit conflicted about whether father Rodrigo is quite as bad as appearances show him. A fat old man (and here, the author is quite specific about his unattractive appearance) and wiser than his impetuous son, he is inclined to attempt diplomacy before resorting to force. Dunant is not quite clear about how mistress Giulia feels about the lover who is old enough to be her grandfather and who keeps her from seeing her husband. Sometimes she is content and sometimes not, but the author does not spend much time letting the reader know what is in Giulia’s mind  — the secondary characters in this novel are not well-developed.

Dunant is at her best when she sets the scene of the action, painting a vivid picture of crowded rooms occupied by sweating cardinals, showing the family together at the table, or Cesare ingratiating himself with his guards while he spies on them to garner information for future action. Her narration has a suitably cynical tone, and she can turn a phrase deftly, although occasionally it seems as if she has tried too hard to do so. To the dismay of grammar mavens, the author considers the subjunctive mood of the English language defunct, providing the phrase “as if he was dancing” to set their teeth on edge. Names are spelled one way on one page, a different way on another, and some are wrong entirely. The blind eye of the former Duke of Urbino is bestowed on his son, the current duke. A fiction writer does have the option of interpreting history as she sees fit, especially when the sources provide some leeway, but a lack of attention to detail should not be part of that choice.

Dunant plans a sequel to this volume, which may explain why some scenes seem to hint at future significance. For example, the novel opens in 1492 with a seven-page dialogue between Rodrigo Borgia, who would like to be pope, and Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici, who is a teenager at the time. Dunant makes no mention that Giovanni will become Pope Leo X in 1513, so if a reader does not know that bit of history, Giovanni is merely serving to provide a picture of Borgia filtered through the eyes of a young Medici who is trying to follow his famous father Lorenzo’s advice in judging what he encounters. As this is Giovanni’s sole appearance in the novel, a Dunant devotee will have to await the second volume in order to find out more about him.

The Borgias have always fascinated readers, perhaps because one can now contemplate their machinations from a safe distance in time. They have been depicted in novels by Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo; a biography by Rafael Sabatini, the swashbuckler specialist; an opera by Donizetti; Prince of Foxes, a Samuel Shellabarger novel developed by Orson Welles into a movie; and a TV series starring Jeremy Irons. If one’s appetite for Renaissance intrigue has not yet been sated, Blood & Beauty may be a tempting morsel.

[jasmineleeplays]

Duchess Matilda gains enough gold to create the Kingdom of Italy, and her first business as Queen of Italy was to hold court and hear the petitions brought forth by her subjects. The first petition was about whether to disallow or encourage a female preacher named Lucrezia. Given that Queen Matilda is a woman herself and is Zealous by nature, this issue hit close to home and she decides to endorse the female preacher and encourage more people to spread the word of God.

On the 7th of July 1072, at the age of 26, Queen Matilda of Italy formed Italy. At the same time, she gave away one of her titles - the Duchy of Spoleto - to her Chancellor and largest vassal, Count Vitale of Fermo, and elevated him to become Duke Vitale of Spoleto.

Meanwhile, Queen Matilda managed to secure a marriage betrothal between her son Prince Goffredo of Italy and Tatyana Rurikid who is a Genius and Prince Vsevolod's granddaughter. Although it says the match will not result in an alliance for now, Tatyana's father is next in-line to inherit from her grandfather Prince Vsevolod, so it should result in an alliance when Prince Vsevolod dies.

[borgialucrezia]

okay so personally, I think cesare definitely knew he was having some sexual thoughts about lucrezia pre-canon, but do not think he thought his desire to keep her unmarried was anything more than him just being a good, perhaps overprotective, but well-meaning, older brother until he was standing there performing the wedding ceremony and she said "I do" and looked to him for reassurance and he felt himself sick with the realization that there was some other reason he didn't like the idea of her married beside keeping her innocence intact as long as possible (because he understood what men could be like & how unpleasant his sister's experience in marriage might be), but was wondering if you had a different interpretation? like, that maybe it was later after he'd began crushing on ursula due to obvious similarities in their appearance and situations? or were those feelings so different from what he felt for lucrezia that he didn't even connect them and lived in denial a while longer until lucrezia accepted the bloodied knife without hesitation unlike ursula who ran from him when he did the same thing for her? because I could see the argument for that being the moment things shift in his brain, but also I could see it being the season 1 moment. idk.

cesare is well aware of his incestuous feelings for lucrezia which is why he sought out the nearest blonde beautiful damsel in distress with an abusive husband to project onto and save!! considering he had failed to rescue his own sister...but he also allowed his narcissism and obsession with ursula to overwhelm him and led him to assaulting her when she asserted her independence. eventually he lost her after subjecting her to a tormenting existence with his stalking when she simply asked him to leave her alone.

the contrast between cesare killing lucrezia's husband and ursula's husband was quite interesting! ursula was terrified of cesare's murderous tendencies while lucrezia embraced him like no one else outside his family did. lucrezia loved cesare unconditionally, accepting all his imperfections and darker nature until a breaking point as seen in the 'borgia apocalypse' script where she'd abandon him and even trying to poison him upon distrust and disrespect. cesare's lack of respect towards ursula stemmed from her fear and escape, a reaction similiar to what lucrezia have done after alfonso's death.

[zalrb]

I'm rewatching The Borgias, about to finish s2, and I'm curious.

About what point do you think Cesare and Lucrezia realized their affection went deeper than sibling love? from the very beginning they were touchy and romantic in a way, visibly more than familiar love, the kiss in s2 came so natural, but at the same time, it might've been normal for them to display affection like that, since we see Rodrigo kiss Lucrezia in the mouth as well (in the spanish movie about them they're also seen kissing in front of their father and others, but there were just a few disgusted reactions and others, specially Rodrigo, didn't seem to think much of it, so perhaps those kisses were common between family at the time?)

So what do you think was the moment that made them think "I love you like a man and a woman love each other, not just like a brother and sister"?

I chart out my thoughts on their realization in my posts, which can be found in the general tv master list or in the borgias or cesare x lucrezia tag.

[opera-ghosts]

Remembering Lilli Lehmann on her birthday:

b. November 24, 1848, Würzburg, Germany d. May 17, 1929, Berlin, Germany

Mozart - Die Entführung aus dem Serail - Martern aller Arten - Lilli Lehmann (1907)

"Yes, I am quite tired," was her first remark as she seated herself at a little writing-desk and her visitor near by. " The opera lasted so late ; I did not get to bed until two o'clock. But I was waiting for you this morning, and had just prepared to write down some items you might wish to know."

Then she took a pencil and paper, — and what do you suppose she wrote first? These are the exact words, and she read them aloud as she wrote:

"Born — Wiirzburg, November 24, 1848."

I could not conceal some surprise, and was obliged to explain: "The American ladies so seldom give their age that your frankness is a revelation."

"The Lilli Lehmann " smiled and said:

"Why not? One is thereby no younger,"

She turned again to the desk, and went on with the "interview," using her pencil with great firmness and rapidity as she wrote in German, and with all possible abbreviations :

"I was brought up in Prague, where I made my debut when eighteen years of age. My mother was my first teacher and constant companion. She was herself a dramatic soprano, well known as Maria Low, and my father, too, was a singer."

" In what opera did you first appear? "

" It was the ' Magic Flute, ' and I appeared in one of the lighter roles ; but two weeks later, during the performance, the dramatic soprano was taken ill, and I then and there went on with her role, trusting to my memory after hearing it so often. My mother, who was in the audience and knew I had never studied the part, nearly fainted when she saw me come on the stage as Pamina."

Madame Lehmann's feats of memory have more than once created a sensation. We remember the astonishment aroused in New York music circles five years ago when she mastered the Italian text of " Lucrezia Borgia " in three days.

Recurring to her life in Prague, Madame Lehmann further said:

" I appeared not only in many operas, but also as an actress in many plays. In those days opera singers were expected to be as proficient in the dramatic side of their art as the musical, and we were called upon to perform in all the great tragedies. But nowadays this would be impossible, since the operatic repertoire has become so tremendous"

People seldom consider how much larger is the present list of famous operas than formerly. All the Wagnerian works, many of Verdi's, and most of the French have taken their places in comparatively recent years, and yet there is still a demand for all the old operas too. The singer who attains Wagner must at the same time keep up her Mozart, Beethoven, Gliick, Rossini, Meyerbeer, and Bellini.

As the visitor mentioned Bellini, Madame Lehmann assented. " Yes, we are to give 'Norma* here next month. " "Norma," abounding in melody and florid fancies, is as different from Wagner as a cloudless sky from a thunder-storm.

The divine art, like nature, has its various moods, and Wagner and Bellini represent two extremes.

Among Wagner's works, " Isolde" is one character to which Madame Lehmann's temperament and physique are strikingly fitted. Throughout the long first act, wherein she is almost constantly singing, she imparts a glorious impression of one who thinks in music. The fearless, impassioned Isolde thinks bitter, rancorous thoughts of Tristan, whom she abhors, until with fierce resolve she hands him the fatal drink which, unknown to herself, is a love-potion. The previous dearth of action has created a ready mood for us to thrill and respond at the love-frenzy, the delirium which now animates the scene as these unwitting love suddenly find all hatred and other memories gone from their hearts.

It may be mentioned here that Wagner firmly believed in the power of contrast, and he purposely preceded his greatest climaxes by what many would deem an unwonted length of inaction.

In 1870 Lilli Lehmann was engaged for the Berlin Opera- House.

Americans can hardly appreciate the significance of this fact; but it means much. The opera in Berlin is supported by the government and directly under the supervision of the emperor. The singers are not engaged for a season, but for life, being entitled to an annuity after they retire from the stage. Lilli Lehmann' s contract was signed by the kaiser during the FrancoPrussian war.

When asked if the old Emperor Wilhelm was musical, Madame Lehmann smiled, and there was a gleam of humor in her eyes:

" No, I can not truthfully say that he was

at all musical, tho he was wonderfully kind and good to all artists."

For fifteen years Lilli Lehmann sang in Berlin with an occasional flight to Baireuth under the kaiser* s permission, where she sang for Wagner himself.

" I was one of the Rhine daughters, and also the first Forest Bird in ' Siegfried "

Wagners own Forest Bird! It is a thrilling and poetic statement that would be hard to equal. Of all this great masters characters, including gods and demi-gods, knights and shepherds, dwarfs and giants, his most original, and perhaps for this reason his best-loved children of the brain, were, we believe, his Rhine daughters and his Forest Bird. The former sing under the water laughing strains of mystical import and unearthly sweetness, while the Forest Bird sings in the air — always unseen, but more impressive than the greatest presence.

This bird-music is not very long, but it is of unsurpassed beauty, and the most memorable theme in the opera. The scene too is

exceptional and powerful in its simplicity — only one person on the stage. Siegfried, the inspired youth, who knows the speech of bird and beast, is alone in the forest when he hears a bird sing. He pauses to listen, as you in the audience do too, for the song is not a meaningless mocking-bird array of trills and cadences, but a tender strain that bespeaks the bird as a prophet. Siegfried tries to catch the message, tries to see the bird, and tries, too, to imitate its tones. He cuts him a reed from the water-banks, and shapes it and tests it until he can play upon it the music he hears. Ah, we should like to have been in that audience at Baireuth when this Forest Bird took its first flight into the world !

It is a great thing to create a role, to set the standard by which all later performances shall be modeled. If the new opera proves to be a great and lasting work, the singers who created the important roles are always credited therewith and mentioned.

They usually have been selected by the composer, and their performance is the result of his best instruction as well as their own inspiration. Madame Lehmann has "created " many roles, but the most poetic, we deem, is the Forest Bird.

After writing with characteristic abbreviation the foregoing fact — " f 7S~7^y Baireuth, Rhine daughter, I Forest Bird" — Madame Lehmann handed over the paper and asked " Is there anything more I can tell you?"

Her bright eyes, clear complexion, and magnificent figure prompted a personal question :

" How do you keep your splendid health, and the strength to work so much? "

For this she had a ready answer :

" I have been a vegetarian for the past five years."

In reply to one more parting question, Lilli Lehmann spoke words of wisdom that are worthy of reflection :

" Yes, I still practise and study more than ever. At the end one is just beginning."

From

Stars of the opera, a description of operas & a series of personal interviews with Marcella Sembrich, Emma Eames, Emma Calve, Lillian Nordica, Lilli Lehmann, Geraldine Farrar & Nellie Melba

[incendiorum-arch]

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

🍟 FRIES - do they order food often? or they prefer to cook their own food?

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

🔪 KNIFE - how do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? do they put themselves at blame?

❤️ RED HEART - their love language(s)?

💥 : answered here !

💤 : io has an absolutely terrible relationship with sleep. they have a terrible habit of going until they can’t anymore and collapsing wherever seems best for a nap. which… could be anywhere, really. once they’re tired enough, io doesn’t really care where or how they’re sleeping. on the floor, in a chair, after laying down in some grass to ‘soak up the sun’ and ‘not sleep, I promise.’

sometimes, though, even if they do want to sleep, they just can’t relax enough to get there. their hypervigilance works against them, and they’re a light sleeper anyway. sometimes they’re just thinking too much. and sometimes they don’t want to risk nightmares and bad dreams. when it comes down to it, io has a few ways to try and get themself to sleep.

the healthiest of these is to rely on someone else, or lucrezia. they sleep better next to someone they trust, even if that person just happens to be in the same room at the moment. lucrezia functions as a feline watch-dog, and will curl up against their back with her ears pricked, or tuck herself into their arms, sprawl on their back. her purring and watchfulness makes io comfortable enough to sleep.

the least healthiest way io puts themself to sleep is to drink until they can. which is… bad. for obvious reasons. but see the io wants to quit drinking but is terrified too explanation. they also just… rely on it so heavily at this point that they don’t know how to function without it. case in point – using it to get some sleep.

🍟 : they do order food! io travels a lot and to a plethora of different places, and they enjoy tasting the foods offered in there. you’d never find them eating from chain restaurants, but you would find them eating from smaller, local places. little family restaurants are more their style.

io cooks too and enjoys it a lot. they’re very good at making hearty, lasting food with a lot of flavor. they like cooking for people they care about, too. love is stored in making good meals for the people you care about.

they also enjoy foraging and growing their own ingredients for meals, too. io is of the firm opinion that everything tastes better when grown, picked, or hunted with your own hands. and they’re… correct, really. grocery store ingredients have nothing on what nature and gardens can provide in terms of taste.

🌙 : io’s biggest wish is true freedom. and they would go to the ends of the earth for it. they could so easily be pushed to commit atrocities if only to know that they are perfectly, one-hundred-percent free at the end of it all. free to do as they will, free to go where they want. but in the end io isn’t doing it for power. they’re doing it so they can finally let out the breath they’ve been holding for eighteen centuries.

no more hunters. a son finally laid to rest. room to actually grieve the loss of a family long, long gone. io just wants peace, and they won’t turn down violence to get there.

🔪 : the last part of that question ‘do they put themself at blame’ is so, so quintessentially io. it’s bad how often io will put themself at blame. even if there is, logically, no way that io could have stopped it, you can trust that io will find a way to convince themself that they could have.

beyond that, however, io’s reaction to injury and misfortune befalling a loved one. if it was caused by another person and that person isn’t already dead, then io diving headfirst into aggression and revenge is so, so ridiculously likely.

they will care for the people they love in these scenarios. from everything to cleaning wounds to stitching them to making a warm meal or providing whatever comfort they can. io won’t leave. they’re a faithful companion to their loved ones through thick and thin.

❤️ : the number one love language for io is physical affection. whatever is past ��touch starvation’ is io. if given the opportunity they will wrap themself around someone and do their best impression of a happy space heater. they just… they want touched with love so bad they ache for it. someone cupping their face and stroking their cheeks. someone reaching for their hand. someone sitting so close to them that their legs and shoulders are pressed against each other. io will death grip someone’s arm while sleeping just for that little bit of a physical anchor. physical affection is how they show and receive love.

I would put another love language up there for io, but this one is more of a… io showing love. when its returned they can get a little… weird about it depending on circumstance because it can often nudge their mind into a I’m a burden mood, which is unfortunately incredibly frequent for them.

BUT ANYWAY, io will also show love through acts of service. making meals for loved ones, dropping everything to come to their side, things like that. io gets so caught up in that I’m a burden feeling that the last thing they want is for someone they love to also feel like that. for io, to love someone is to love them wholly and unconditionally and find peace in doing things for them. draw a bath for them, brush and braid their hair, take care of them when sick or injured. it could never be too much for them.

with time and a lot of reassurance, io can come around to receiving acts of service as a love language, but it’s a hard, uphill battle. io is so stubborn about being self sufficient that they’ll try and hide mortal injury if only to not be deadweight. they constantly fear being such a burden that the people they love won’t want to deal with them and their problems and will simply leave or retract their own love. io has a very, very warped perception of being loved.

@vonerde , oc emoji asks.

[borgialucrezia]

hold on...that part when you said in the tags that cesare uses his power hunger and coldness as terrible coping mechanisms to deal with his guilt about murdering juan and corrupting lucrezia...that's very on point considering he was the one who decided his siblings' fates (and juan shaped cesare's destiny and haunted the narrative throughout cesare's story despite being dead for years)...

"i think cesare is building walls around his heart. you do get colder and less sentimental when you take that path. he has to go on and he can't mourn [juan] forever, especially since he's responsible for his death. he's not making excuses for what he is anymore, and what he wants to be. i think he can control his mind into having no second thoughts. and that's the only way you can rule in that era, really [...] he did it out of jealousy and envy. once he made up his mind, it was set. he didn’t want to talk anymore, because he knew juan could change his mind."

—françois arnaud.

the 'can't mourn juan forever' part just says how he feels some sort of remorse over killing him, at least off-screen, but in his mind it was something that had to be done so he could go to the next level and get what he wants? it makes sense but also makes me question why did he emotionally crush juan while stabbing him by very decidedly excluding him from the family in his final moment (regarding juan forgiving him for everything) by telling that 'they're borgias and they never forgive' deliberately knowing damn well juan suffered from feeling excluded and his desperate need to be included when he simply could've just killed him without being extra? but come to think of it, that's such a..fascinating writing actually, because cesare borgia is supposed to be our handsome heartthrob lead, with a covetous nature and masked sociopathy but filled with conflict. i mean i gotta confess, the reason i say cesare is the finest male lead in every way is because of his descent into darkness trope as he's gradually becoming selfish, morally bankrupt, and even outright villainous, causing his father to fear him in a way that cesare lowkey threatened to usurp him since he has no qualms about murdering anyone, including his brother (and the two sforzas, whom he disobeyed his father about not killing but that's not relevant right now). rodrigo felt that he had no choice but to give in to cesare by allowing him to take control of the papal army.

the transformation of cesare's character is so personal to me because you can see how at first he tried to do everything to please his father, and then he was like, 'well hey if you're keeping me trapped forever in the cardinal robes, i'll give you an example to fear me' *kills juan*. eventually after his father gave in and fearfully forgave and gave him command to the papal army and their ambitions became one. their plans together threatened lucrezia and those she cared about. he kept her in the dark, and she's no longer his priority nor on the same page as him. planning a murder for political gain without her knowledge and against her interests and what she stands for.

so we all know from the very beginning that lucrezia's character's core has always been the desperate need to regain her lost innocence. s3's ending shows cesare making a promise to her as he takes away her chance to regain that lost innocence she sought to bring back, persuading her that she will be "naked, clean, bloodless again, and mine." as some sort of attempt for her to accept the twistedness of their relationship. lucrezia had darkness in her since she's a borgia, but she never wanted to give in to it. all the borgia children have it. cesare proudly embraces it, while juan was emotionally and physically wrecked, so he succumbed to it. that's also why juan still perceives his sister as 'angelic' because he believes cesare is dragging her down with him.

and it's true in some way because she was turned on by cesare's darkness, brutality, and strength. she believed she was safe with him and thought she could handle and manage cesare by herself, while he thought she would accept everything about him (just like how poor miss bonadeo was naïve enough to believe in his chivalry) and she always did, until the series finale. it ended any romantic tone of their relationship and concluded their story. she ran away from him and left him for dead. (re: borgia apocalypse script), see what happens when someone lets their own hunger for power and ambitions consume them and puts them above his family and loved ones? their downfall would be as intense as it is lonely. i'm still a little bitter over not getting a fourth season, especially when we could've seen francois deliver the craziest and most unhinged performance as it was written in the script, and holliday with those powerful lines...

i think something just fell into place in my brain but idk how to make it make sense to anyone else, but i’m gonna try??

basically cesare spends two seasons trying his damn hardest to protect lucrezia’s innocence. first in s1 by trying to convince his father she's too young for marriage and then, by putting her to bed on her wedding night and telling giovanni sforza she’s young and it’s been a long day or whatever. and then, in s2, when she tells him she would happily kill tonight he reminds her that her killing juan would deeply upset their father and he then takes the task upon himself instead. then s3 comes along and she is (on more than one occasion) visibly upset by how things are going with alfonso, they’re not going as she hoped, he’s not a man she could fall in love with, he’s not a man that will ever cherish her and offer his life and soul to protect her/her honor/the things that matter most to her, etc.. and so, she turns to cesare, ready to give into what’s been brewing between them for YEARS. meanwhile cesare himself spends pretty much all of "siblings" struggling not to give into it because of the thought he’d be corrupting her soul. but despite his hesitation, he slips up and allows them to give into their feelings, crossing a line he feels never should've been crossed. then, he spends the rest of the season feeling ashamed because he believes he's damned her and so he tries his best to avoid giving into her again. anyway, i believe between this, having killed his own brother for power (and for lucrezia—both on her behalf and to protect her innocence, but mostly, let's be real, for power), and gaining his father’s trust is why he begins to shift into the monster that he’s come to be known as. it’s like these three things combined make something in his brain snap, turning him colder, and in turn making him more calculating and power hungry until he's the one forcing lucrezia to aid him in killing her own husband, therefore, committing the final act of corruption of her soul, bringing her down with him. twisted, dark, and complicated. my roman empire indeed.