This is a multi-fandom blog, quickly reduced to gibberish by pretty things, and prone to sudden fits of food porn, art and science.
Just wanted to say how much I’m really loving everyone’s 30 Days of the Borgias posts.
Some truly fantastic posts so far - and I can’t wait to see some of the more creative entries!
Day 01 ~ Picture or gif that expresses your reaction to the show.
Day 02 ~ Favourite female character.
Day 03 ~ Favourite male character.
Day 04 ~ Favourite antagonist.
Day 05 ~ Favourite quote from The Borgias.
Day 06 ~ Who do you ship?
Day 07 ~ Three words that describe The Borgias.
Day 08 ~ Favourite moment so far.
Day 09 ~ Least favourite character.
Day 10 ~ Would you rather be a cardinal or a soldier?
Day 11 ~ Favourite outfit worn by anyone.
Day 12 ~ Historical Crackship: Who belongs together, time and space be damned?
Day 13 ~ Re-Write History: Something you wish had happened.
Day 14 ~ Re-Write History: Something you wish never happened.
Day 15 ~ FREE DAY - Anything you’d like
Day 16 ~ Link to an interview or video you think is funny.
Day 17 ~ Favourite episode.
Day 18 ~ Give some advice to one of the characters.
Day 19 ~ Character that’s the most like you.
Day 20 ~ What do you like best about The Borgias?
Day 21 ~ Link to a Borgias blog.
Day 22 ~ Favourite friendship.
Day 23 ~ Cesare, Juan & Lucrezia: Shag, marry, stab - what would you do?
Day 24 ~ Favourite quote from The Borgias.
Day 25 ~ Good riddance: Who have you not been sorry to see killed off?
Day 26 ~ A scene you can watch over and over again.
Day 27 ~ Fightin’ words: Who would you like to see in a fight to the death?
Day 28 ~ Fancast: Who would you like to see in a role on The Borgias?
Day 29 ~ Link to a fanvid you like.
Day 30 ~ How would you end the show?
Remember you can start the challenge at any time!
I have a lot of feelings about Juan Borgia.
My poor misguided troll…
David Oakes made Juan a remarkable character.
The fandom would not be so polarized if his performance wasn’t so nuanced.
You hate him. You love him. You love to hate him. You hate to love him.
But you can’t ignore him.
That’s because of David.
Because he didn’t just read his lines, he got into the character’s head and heart and tried to understand what drove his actions.
This is the core of Juan’s character: He is convinced that being a Borgia makes him different, makes him better.
He said it in the dinner scene in episode two.
“The mob does need bread and circuses,” he announces, only to be challenged by Rodrigo, who knows that nothing rankles Juan more than being reminded of his bastardy, of his commonness.
But he persists, telling the Pope, “There are distinctions, Father, in the natural order of things, between the peasant and the nobleman, between the stallion and the mule.”
“Between us and the common people?” Rodrigo keeps baiting him. “But we all have an eternal soul.”
And when the Pope asks if he can walk among the poor of Rome, Juan points out that it’s not safe for him to do so.
“You see it was a riddle, after all,” he smiles sadly.
In his last intimate scene with with his father, Juan says, “I lead your armies. I defend this papacy, I defend this family with my heart and with my soul.”
He believes that his actions are just, are correct. When he attacked his mother’s husband, he believed the man’s presence was an insult to his standing as Gonfaloniere, and especially, as a Borgia. This was the man who was rumoured to be his true father, after all: a goat herd.
In that beautiful scene later on in episode two, he asks Cesare, “Do you love me brother?”
“As I love myself,” Cesare answers, saying so much in only four words, and none of the subtlety is lost on Juan, who replies, ”Which these days is not a lot.”
“You are observant,” Cesare laughs, but Juan is deadly serious now.
“You love your family. Your family name. Borgia,” he almost spits the word.
Because Borgia is everything.
It’s status. It’s security. It’s identity.
When he admits to Lucrezia that he would have killed the painter before allowing her debase herself, and that her child is the bastard of a peasant that shouldn’t be allowed to live, it’s because he genuinely believes they are better than other people.
Remember that nearly every woman his father put forth wasn’t good enough for him to marry. He had to marry royalty. He would accept no less.
Because Juan feels inferior, every slight is taken out of proportion.
I don’t believe he would have attacked any of the dancing girls, had their song not been a taunt, an insult to him. You can see the sadness on his face as he’s watching them play, just before he realizes what they’re singing. He didn’t intend to hurt any of them before that moment - he just loved their beauty. But the insult would not go unanswered.
No, I’m not justifying his actions - just trying to explain them.
Juan tells Cesare, “I’ve been in pain…all of my years.”
The pain of knowing that he’s laughed at, of not feeling good enough, of not being good enough, of being a coward, and a braggart and a fool.
The pain of knowing that even though he tells his brother that he, Juan, is their father’s favourite, who did Rodrigo pick to follow in his footsteps?
Who does Rodrigo confide in?
Cesare.
Who did Rodrigo continuously swallow his disappointment with?
Who did Rodrigo remind - on more than one occasion - that he wears his very shoes at Rodrigo’s pleasure, and that anything he has, everything he is, can be taken away at a word?
Juan.
It bears repeating that this is where David Oakes excels as an actor, in the space between victim and predator.
That is why the show will be different without him.
That is why he will be missed.
I glimpse us, Cesare, two brothers in harmony, walking together.
But the miracle is that there’s no pain.
If you take my honour, you must take my life.
He told me of your bravery in Forli… You know the truth. You were there.
