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Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond as Charlie Chaplin in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

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THE NANNY (1993-1999)

2x07 | "A Star Is Unborn"

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Roman Vishniac. Whitehall Palace, London. 1930s

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TWIN PEAKS 1.03 "Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer"

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The Borgias | Lucrezia's Wedding

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kill the imposter syndrome in your head because not only is there someone out there doing it worse than you, they’re also using chat gpt to do it

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The fern flower (papardes zieds) is a magic flower in Latvian mythology. It is supposed to appear only on the night of 23 to 24 June during the celebration of the summer solstice which is called Jāņi in Latvia. In addition to the idea that the finder of the fern flower will become rich or happy, here, the fern flower is sometimes perceived a symbol of fertility, and if a couple is looking for the fern flower, they're most likely making love somewhere in the woods. 😏

Priecīgus Līgo un Jāņus!

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annie steg gerard

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PENELOPE GARCIA & DEREK MORGAN CRIMINAL MINDS | 3.09 'PENELOPE'

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Muff

Early 19th Century

France

The MET (Accession Number: 2009.300.1397)

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"Alexander sat on the throne provided and gestured for the musicians to begin playing. That evening, it pleased him to see Juan and Lucrezia dance. As the tune was sprightly, Juan led Lucrezia onto the floor, she on his right, and the two began a fast piva: a short step to the left, one half-hop to the right, another left, then a pause. Both were exceptionally graceful." — THE BORGIA BRIDE (Jeanne Kalogridis)

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DAILYWORLDCINEMA'S 5th ANNIVERSARY EVENT Day 7: Free Choice

Pierre Niney as Edmond Dantès + the Count mask The Count of Monte-Cristo / Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (2024) dir. Matthieu Delaporte & Alexandre de La Patellière

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"Lucrezia and her brothers were strongly influenced by their Catalan ancestry. ‘Catalan’, as distinct from Spanish, had a particular connotation in the eyes of Italians and indeed the Catalans themselves." — LUCREZIA BORGIA: LIFE, LOVE, AND DEATH IN RENAISSANCE ITALY (Sarah Bradford)

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Dogs drinking sky 🩵

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okay i know you've mentioned/answered this a million times but i would love to get your top recommendations for borgias published books and content.

i haven't really ventured into those selections but i really want to take the leap into that realm and buy/borrow some books and read them..!

(also i'm curious if you read many fanfictions for the borgias, and if so do you have any good recs?)

💞

hi <33 no worries at all !! i love being asked questions about everything related to the borgias because i get very enthusiastic about them. now let's start with my favorite borgias biographies:

maria bellonci's 'lucrezia borgia' because i tend to avoid cliché biased narratives. it's such a solid read really. it also portrays lucrezia in a way that i've always believed she was: a completely misunderstood woman who is a pawn in the power and ambition games of her father and brother. but deep down she's just a silly, pretty poetry lover who's guilty by association. this book also debunks cesare's supposed "jealousy" towards juan as the shows how much he loves him (based on the letters to each other) and that rodrigo has always loved his children equally, which is a cherry on top lol.

emma lucas's 'lucrezia borgia.' while it's not entirely accurate because it satisfies my beloved (but not accurate) 'lucrezia is a femme fatale and not saintly' narrative (which i love btw), i'm fascinated by how it unexpectedly delves deep into her family, especially rodrigo, cesare and juan. it also provides great anecdotes about the characters so there's that. despite having negative reviews, the biography is actually very well-written and highly entertaining !! fuck the gossip !!

christopher hibbert's 'the borgias and their enemies.' for some reason, i keep forgetting to recommend this book to my friends. i tend to get easily invested with any borgia book that focuses on the pope and his children and providing narratives without forcing you to choose what to believe. the author obviously conducted extensive research before publishing it because when reading a biography (not historical fiction), i prefer to avoid biased perspectives that can be heavily misleading. i also appreciate the fact that machiavelli (and other important figures) plays an important role in this biography because i'm always excited about him.

ferdinand gregorovius' 'lucretia borgia according to original documents and correspondence of her day'. it's also a very unbiased excellent piece of history that is full of validated source. and i just adore how the author is pro-lucrezia as well.

samantha morris' 'cesare and lucrezia: brother and sister of history's most vilified family' is also well documented and well researched! while cesare was given more depth than lucrezia, still, lucrezia's character in this biography is more colorful. obviously the most popular narrative for the borgia family is them being incestuous, corrupt and violent, a family to be feared, but the author suggests otherwise as she sets out to prove this is not the full story and she does make a good argument !! she detailed how they've been portrayed by mainstream media as well as detailing what happened to their descendants.

sarah bradford's 'lucrezia borgia.' okay so this one isn't a favorite of mine, but i'd recommend it to you or anyone who's a huge fan of ceslu. it's written like a love story biography exclusively about them. while i like how she wrote about ceslu, i heavily dislike how she wrote about juan and rodrigo and how she portrayed them based on narratives from the family's enemies. the author also manipulated a letter about the envoy boccaccio, which is supposed to praise both brothers. but instead, the author just one-upped him with cesare by dunking on him, which i personally find lame and intensely inaccurate since juan borgia was pretty much loved by his wife, his family, and his friends based on the retrieved documents and letters. that being said, i do enjoy the ceslu parts, of course, and i believe any fan of showtime's 'the borgias' who ships ceslu (including myself) would enjoy this book and its fluent writing and can easily ignore the negatively inaccurate narratives about the other members of the family.

that's all for the biography books! now let's start with historical fiction:

sarah dunant's 'blood and beauty'. one thing about me is that i'm never gonna stop praising this book because it is absolutely my favorite historical fiction book about this extraordinary family! again, i get so invested in any book when the author does extensive research. also, if you're looking for a book about this family that reads like an episode of showtime's 'the borgias,' then this book is your go-to! full of interesting dynamics, and yes, cesare is as cruel and megalomaniacal as history and machiavelli portrayed him, lucrezia as a victim of her father and brother's political ambitions game, and juan as the flawed kid who was eventually sunk deep when he got dragged into his father's ambitions game. while the book doesn't provide a deeper exploration of the characters' psyche, it's more focused on the story by making it very engaging and sheds light on their complex relationships and their rise to power. and every character is highly sympathetic as the author brilliantly humanizes them. in short, it is emotionally intriguing and a must-read for the borgias enjoyers.

mario puzo's 'the family'. you know i wasn't even surprised a bit that this book's writing and story being groundbreaking because after all, it is written by the author of 'the godfather'. the family is such a compelling book, such tender writing when it comes to lucrezia and cesare. the story becomes intriguing the more you read. i also loved puzo's portrayal of rodrigo as this family man who deeply loves his children yet he uses them as pawns (which is also similar to jeremy irons' portrayal). while i gotta criticize that the characters have no depth and his version of lucrezia as this damsel angel for her father and brother is, uhhh… quite boring. i like her when she's multilayered and agentive. i also think the way he tried to present cesare and give him the "from zero to hero" trope in order to make him relatable is also lame because cesare's success as a historical figure is because he was calculating and wicked, and definitely not a bitter loser. nevertheless i can overlook all that when there's an engaging story and great writing, no matter what the characterizations are like. so overall it's impressive and entertaining and you will definitely enjoy it.

as for fanfiction...i'm sorry but i never read any because i feel quite satisfied by all the borgias show canon that we have and all these historical books. i wish i could help with recommending fics :/

thank you very much for the question, and i hope this post answers it. have a great day 💕🫶