#this is so funny because like..he LOVES lucrezia and cesare and is trying to make peace with them but they're so petty and hate his ass bad

[borgialucrezia]

"The rift between him and his brother and sister has sort of widened and widened and whereas he's trying to be all mature and get over it, Neil [Jordan] was always keen on Juan coming back different and secure and grounded. That’s how I wanted to play it when he came back. He's spent the entire first series being picked upon and bullied by the family. I think the shock of Lucrezia actually manning up and trying to kill him had a huge effect as well. He’s growing and maturing. If there’s one aspect of Juan that never changes throughout both seasons is he always does what it true inside him. From where Juan stands he sees the hypocrisy in the family, how they can do one thing and say another. As far as Juan is concerned he's always had the best interests of the family at heart." — David Oakes.

[i-am-borgia]

the look on Alfonso's face will never not be funny

Y'all the System keeps messing my tags all the way up and I'm not about to shorten them so here they are, coherent for once:

So, I've been critical in the past of Lucrezia's reasons for turning to Cesare *physically*, because every time she does so her trigger is being rejected by Alfonso in one way or another. Now, I will admit that seducing one's brother is never a mundane or average reaction when rejected, but social convention aside, this specific reaction bothers me because it seems to showcase Lucrezia's low self-esteem and her love/trust issues. Obviously she and Cesare both suffer from this to some measure, partly because they've been low-key in love with each other their whole lives (sorry Neil), but to make that the thing that pushed Lucrezia over the edge seems like Red Flags Class 101. But rewatching this scene gave me a slightly different perspective that I wanted to throw out there in a bunch of messy and unasked-for tags:

I know that Lucrezia was on a campaign to woe Alfonso into sleeping with her (which couldn't possibly have anything to do with her nascent suspicion that Cesare killed Juan for her, which I do believe got the incestuous mess of season 3 rolling officially), but I don't think that explains her behaviour in this scene. The air is frigid until she mentions Cesare - ostensibly trying to warn Alfonso that Cesare can act like a psychopath when anyone tries to have a discussion with him about Lucrezia, but in reality she gets mentally side-tracked when she starts talking about Cesare's passions and how they're so intense when it comes to his "family". Immediately after she gets all touchy and affectionate towards Alfonso, kissing him etc., when Alfonso clearly looks turned off. He gives her the most awkward laugh in the universite and then randomly leaves (even though he was hardly in danger of losing his virginity, I mean, come on). Lucrezia stares off into space with this discontented but determined expression - and THAT is when she thinks about the conversation and realizes she knows darn well how intense Cesare's passions are towards her. She pays him a visit not long after, and can't go five minutes before making a suggestive remark and basically rubbing up against him. Cesare just happens to be feeling his oats because he's trying on armour, I suppose, and "chastily" kisses her (in the exact same way Lucrezia kisses Alfonso) and things start falling into place for Lucrezia. As some sort of final test, she invites Ces to her room, and the damage is officially done.

Now, looking at it this way, her decision to go to Cesare's room during the wedding or her decision to receive him naked are less about her insecurity invoked by Alfonso's rejection of her, but rather his rejection and the problem with her child (let's keep in mind that Cesare failed to fix that for her and yet she pulled more to him than to Alfonso) seemed to have caused her to feel more secure about the nature of her bond with Cesare - so even though there's a lot of insecurity in her, low self-esteem etc., opting to go to Cesare was her solution for the problem, finding that missing piece of the puzzle. If Cesare, who did not have this same "awakening", had not rejected her time and again after the wedding, I doubt she would have suffered so much from their relationship. She admits to it, really: she keeps searching Cesare out and never tries to pretend that her love for him is planotic. So my closing argument for today, Your Honour (lol), is that that notion originated more or less in this scene.

I'm also starting to see why my tags didn't fit.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

[zalrb]

TVD 3x03 Review

I’m skipping to 3x03 because me and initiumseries already did 3x02 in a drunk review even though for some reason I label it 3x03 (maybe I was still drunk when I uploaded it):

1. I like that when Damon asks Katherine where she is and she says, “Staring out your window, pining away” this fool actually looks around. She isn’t there, Damon.

2. I didn’t realize how whiny Nina is as Katherine until now, my god.

3. “Details are all a blur.” “Well that’s a crying shame.” Translation: YOU DON’T REMEMBER US, STEFAN?

4. Yeah I hate it but in 3x03, when Stefan’s feeding on that woman in the car, Paul is slick there because as an actor he’s relishing the opportunity in being bad, it works well for him.

5. Rebekah’s introduction is pretty good. Just rolling up on Stefan, licking his cheek and talking about the date he just killed. This is why I never understood why when people think of Bad Boy Stefan/Dark Stefan and his partner in crime they go to Katherine, it’s Rebekah he’s the “bad boy” with.

6. “Chicago was magical.” “Yeah well I’ll take your word for it.” Legit Klaus’ utter look of disappointment when Stefan brushes off Chicago is hilarious. Omg, those two.

7. Oh look Damon just in Elena’s bed, she’s clearly uncomfortable and he’s making a sexual joke. Omg totally in love!

8. Oh Look Damon rifling through Elena’s underwear drawer.

9. Caroline’s dad’s logic doesn’t make sense considering that Caroline isn’t going around killing people for blood. She uses blood bags. She has it under control. He can’t turn her into a non-vampire so this entire process is a waste of time.

10. I will say the shot of her being tortured by the sun was good.

11. Damon forcing Elena to read Stefan’s diary is literally just him trying to knock him down a peg in her eyes.

12. I was going to say I find it interesting that as a ripper Stefan would continue to write in his journal but in the ‘20s Stefan doesn’t have his humanity off, he’s just off the deep end with his ripper nature so he’s manic, which means he does feel and Stefan probably feels things the most profoundly on the show so it would make sense he’d journal.

13. Stefan as a Ripper is also just a bro. Which I find funny.

14. “What is this?” *shows a picture of Stefan and Klaus.” “I told you, Stefan, Chicago is a magical place.” LOL. Be boyfriends.

15. HA. Yo I’m sorry man but Stefan grabs Klaus and pulls him around to face him, Joseph’s face JUST looks turned on. They can’t help this shit and it’s HILARIOUS.

16. They tried to recreate the Klebekah scene with Steroline but the latter felt flat for SO many reasons. First of all, with Klebekah, their victim is panting, which adds a really disturbing sense of eroticism to the scene. Second of all, Stefan starts touching Rebekah AS they feed on this woman. Third of all, Claire and Paul just had better chemistry.

17. “I’m bored, I want to go.” “Then go without me I’m not your girlfriend.” Says Rebekah to her brother meanwhile her brother and Stefan are eye-fucking the shit out of each other after Stefan and Rebekah were getting off on killing an innocent woman. Legit the three of them together are MESSY.

18. There is so much inappropriate tension in this scene.

19. And again, Klaus looks so turned on at Stefan committing violence, he STAYS adjusting himself, like omg.

20. This is the second Black female bartender that Damon’s flirted with that’s ended up dead.

21. I think what I actually enjoy about Elena reading Stefan’s ripper diaries is that she flips through it looking for hope (one of their fundamental themes) and she gets to the 30s where Stefan says the bloodlust is easier and Lexi’s onto her next project, which is getting him to laugh and she smiles, assured. I like it because she didn’t have to see that he was “cured” she just had to see that he was better.

22. The closet scene! AND their love theme plays. 3x03 is definitely not an underrated scene among SErs but I always like talking about how layered it is in terms of the characters and in terms of chemistry. I bring it up a lot because Lupita Nyong’o brought up a point about chemistry:

“Chemistry is something that you pray for as an actor because it is so hard to fabricate. It’s so much easier to just have it and then, you know, work on other things, on your intention and your action and all that. Trying to fabricate chemistry is just … it adds another … it’s a lot of energy.”

And I think a prime example of this is 3x03 because even the way Nina spoke about the scene, about how at that point, it had been the longest time she and Paul had gone without filming a scene together so seeing him really felt like seeing him for the first time and the feeling of the scene

And like I’ve said before, Elena being in the closet is Stefan’s past/his darkness and his future/his light converging in one space.

But also what I like about SE and the way TVD had written them is they give them mini tests within the relationship that they then overcome. For instance, Stefan is super far gone, he’s off the wagon, he’s been murdering people for months, is he so far gone that he’ll turn on Elena? And for a second it looks like he might when calls Klaus over but he doesn’t because he just gives him a vintage.

Stefan is drinking human blood, Elena doesn’t like it, is that going to be a choice that tears them apart or brings them together? Elena chooses to be in it with Stefan by giving him her vein.

There’s constant tension between Stefan’s vampirism and SE love and SE love always wins out. 

23. “I had an hour to realize what a bad idea it was to leave you here alone, process it and move on.” Damon, you’re a dick.

24. Klaus is so in love with Stefan and I find it hilarious because this isn’t brotherly at all.

25. These stares. Get a ROOM.

26. Yeah see Candice is good at screaming when it comes to being tortured but when it comes to crying she’s adequate at best.

27. KLEFAN WHY ARE Y’ALL SO CLOSE?

28. Touching chests and shit.

29. Klaus: I forgot what it was like to have a brother.

Me:

30. It always bothered me that when the vampire use vampire speed in the show and slam each other against things like walls and doors, nothing dents or cracks. They do it in Mr and Mrs. Smith for godsake and they’re not even vampires!

31. That was a BAD shot of Ian, man, he looked old as fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

32. “Well I am torn, you see, I promised Stefan I wouldn’t let you die but how many freebies did I really sign up for? And clearly you WANT to die otherwise you wouldn’t be here...” Jo’s delivery is on point.

33. I’ve said it before but the, “You shouldn’t be here.” “Where else would I be?” and Elena’s head tilt like of COURSE I’d come after you, of COURSE I’m here, of course, of course, of course, is really just pure SE.

34. “When I’m done with him, he won’t want to go back.” Idc, the writers had to know that that the line was DRIPPING with innuendo.

35. “I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to be with you.” SE did this so much better than DE did because it wasn’t hyperbolic and the inflection in Paul’s tone, the shocked stillness of Elena is just done so WELL. And their circumstance is also SO MUCH sadder than DE’s was because DE’s issue was literally just that Damon was trash.

36. Aww Forwood.

37. Oh Klaus stabbing Rebekah because she wants to leave, I just wish they made them Cesare and Lucrezia. Go all the way. Cowards.

38. Klaus: Look guys, we’re an Ot3 again!

39. See when Rebekah throws over the casket, it should break apart.

40. Stefan’s hair really was stupid in the 20s.

41. “Have you seen these two people before?” “No.” “OK.” That’s it?

Alright guy, thanks for reading!

[ducavalentinos]

What are your thoughts on Rodrigo and Lucrezia's relationship?

Well, as I said a little bit here, I think it was an endearing and interesting relationship because at first sight it does look like Lucrezia was only a pawn in her father’s political game, and to an certain extent, she was. Just like all of Rodrigo’s children. Each one had a part to play. Neither one of them were free to do whatever they wished.

However, at closer look, when you examine Rodrigo’s actions towards Lucrezia, there is no denying she was his darling girl. That he made and unmade several marriage alliances for her does not deny the immense love he had for her, nor that that was heronly role in the family. Rodrigo trusted her mental capabilities just as much as he did with his sons and he showed that time and again, by making her governor of Spoleto, Foligno and Nepi, and then leaving her as his representative to administer the Vatican during his absence. As far as Renaissance fathers go, I’d argue that he was a good one, and even a little advanced for his times. Lucrezia had one advantage than many other women in powerful families were not so fortunate to have, she had a father that wasn’t entirely insensitive towards her, and who seemed inclined to listen to her, instead of simply dismissing her and her thoughts/feelings. It’s pretty evident that Rodrigo didn’t like to see his daughter sad. Of course politics and the glory for the house of Borja always came first, but wherever it was possible we see him trying to please her and make her happy. Lucrezia undoubtedly was aware of that and she possibly used it to her advantage. She knew where her limits lied with him, she knew when to be an loyal, obedient daughter, and when to try to get what she wanted it. Very similar to Cesare’s own behavior with his father also, only Rodrigo displays more flexibility in his decisions where Lucrezia is concerned. 

And it’s funny because there is always a lot of discussion over who was Rodrigo’s favorite child? Juan or Cesare? Many scholars unquestionably affirm it was Juan. But honestly? nowdays, it looks to me Lucrezia was his favorite. It looks like she was the family’s favorite. With the exception of Vannozza, whose favorite seemed to have been Cesare, but Rodrigo, Juan and Cesare all adored her and doted on her, big time. 

And she adored them. Especially speaking of Rodrigo and Cesare. I think Lucrezia’s relationship with her father was actually not that different than your typical daughter-father relationship, only their bond and their love for each other was strengthened due to the hostile environment they lived in and how others perceived them. It was really on another level, which puzzled the italians and made it an easy target for their enemies to create disgusting lies about them. Of course, sometimes, it couldn’t have been easy being Rodrigo Borgia’s daughter (although try being his son, right Cesare? Juan? Joffre?! lool) it’s possible Lucrezia felt overwhelmed at times, nevertheless, she must have felt protected and loved by her father. She certainly learned a lot from him.

I highly disagree with the notion that Lucrezia was Rodrigo’s prisoner, his victim, or that she was so opposed to his designs in general, when there’s nothing serious indicating that. She was his daughter and as such she inherited plenty from him, the good and the bad. She was also a proud Borgia and seemed to have always been ready to do anything for her family and their glory. She seemed very aware of her duties towards her family and that their fortune was her fortune, so if she supposedly rebelled against him here and there, at the end of the day, she capitulated. Not because she was weak-minded or powerless against it all as her biographers love to suggest and claim, but rather because just like her siblings, she saw what she could gain for it, she possibly saw what it could represent for herself and her house. She understood his actions and saw the big picture of it, if you will. It doesn’t look like it ever got in the way of her love for him. She loved him with all her heart, until the very end. What was said about Rodrigo’s love for her: “l’hama questa madona Lucrezia in superlativo gradu” (He loved her superlatively; passionately) was clearly reciprocated by her. I think her grief over his death really says it all about how strong that love was, and how important he was in her life.