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ducavalentinos · 2 years

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What is your personal Top Ten of Borgia nonfiction books, and why would you choose them?

Ohh, ok, I don’t think I have a top ten??? but let’s see how this goes! lol I'll separate it in two sections: non-fiction books about the Borgia family as a whole and non-fiction books about individual members of the family, (tbh just Rodrigo and Cesare) I’ll focus on secondary sources, but let me know if you also meant/want primary sources :))

Non-Fiction Books about the Borgia Family:

The Borgias: The Hidden History, G.J Meyer

His book has some flaws, which I’ve talked about here in the past so I won’t get into it again haha, but overall I do think a decent bio about the Borgia family. He did made an effort to present something new, and he does have at least a little bit of critical sense about the sources which created the history of the Borgias as we know today, and also like I said before, I adore the structure of his book, how he intertwined the chapters about the Borgias with chapters about papal history/other noble families, it’s an engaging and interesting read.

The Borgias, Ivan Cloulas

Ok so, although his book reads like a gossip magazine with a lot of unsubstantial claims I feel I have to include him on this list only because his book begins with the Borgias from València and it ends back at Spain, with Juan’s son, arriving at Francisco de Borja, most commonly known as St. Francis Borgia. It’s one of the few books about the Borgia family where you have a more detailed account about these family members and I like some of his thoughts about the descendants of Rodrigo Borgia and their shared similarities, being employed in different ways. It also has a cool chapter analysing the history of the Borgias through the centuries, I don’t agree with some of his conclusions, but I really enjoyed reading that chapter, so yeah.

The Borgia Chronicles: 1414-1572, Mary Hollingsworth

The reason I like her book is maybe precisely why some people don’t I suppose, it is dry and it mainly sticks to presenting the information available about the family, instead of sensationalistic writing with a high dose of personal judgments and claims/narratives which don’t have enough evidence to back it up, that within the Borgia historical literature is a rare thing to find. Overall I do think Borgia authors seems more interested/concerned about showing the reader what they think about the family and the many mysteries surrounding them, than actually laying out in an objective manner the historical material available and letting the reader reach their own judgments and conclusions about it, you know. Hollingsworth, for the most part, tends to do the former in her book and refrain from doing the latter, so yeah there might be some mistakes iirc, and it’s not a book for everyone, but I do like it, and I find a decent source to check/compare info about the Borgia family in the english language.

Non-Fiction books about Rodrigo Borgia, (Pope Alexander VI)

Material for a History of Pope Alexander VI, his relatives and his times, Peter de Roo.

The reason this one is on my list is because no matter how much we may agree or disagree with his presentation of Rodrigo, his life and his papacy, there is no denying he gathered an extensive, if not the most extensive, historical material about Rodrigo/his family and it’s amazing to read it. I also think he lays out his arguments in a very coherent way, attaching his evidence alongside it, his thought process is not all over the place, and that’s something I appreciate a lot when reading historical bios. He also does not throw Cesare under the bus in order to defend Rodrigo or explain his actions, De Roo is as just with Rodrigo as he is with Cesare, which it’s another rare thing to find with Borgia authors, especially Rodrigo’s authors.

Non-fiction books about Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia: Duca di Romagna, notizie e documenti raccolti e pubblicati, Edoard Alvisi.

I don’t even know what else to say about this biography without fangirling all over again lol, I’ll leave some of my thoughts while reading his bio that I posted here and here :)) and I’ll complement by saying it is my one and only favorite Borgia biography as well as the best one made about Cesare imo. Every time I remember Cesare has such a high quality historical work about his life, it warms my heart and I feel so grateful to il signore Alvisi, god bless his soul for the necessary, honest, historical work he did there.

Cesare Borgia: La Sua Vita, La Sua Famiglia, I Suoi Tempi, Gustavo Sacerdote.

The reason I include him is mostly because of his research, like it happens with de Roo, it is impossible to deny his excellent research about Cesare, combined with Alvisi’s, you really do have all the available historical material about Cesare’s life, and it was great to be able to absorb so much information in a in-deepth way. I don’t have a good opinion about him as an historian or as Cesare’s biographer, but as a researcher he is one of the best I’ve read, and the way in which he exposes his research should be the standard for any historical work imo, he was incredibly meticulous and made it a point to present as much of the official documents in their integrity as possible, instead of just selective bits. His bibliography is also a thing of beauty, super organized and thorough.

The Life of Cesare Borgia, Rafael Sabatini

The reason is really that love his writing and his sense of humour. He is dramatic, but my kind of dramatic perhaps lol, and he rightly addresses the big double standards when it comes to the Borgia family (while they lived and even more so after their deaths, until Sabatini’s own day), as well as points out the flaws within the main primary sources about them, most of all: Cappello, Guicciardini and Sanuto, with a justified wave of indignation + amazing sarcasm which for me, it’s satisfying to read. His examination of Gregorovius’ view and claims about Cesare, for example, it’s truly one of his best moments, so yeah, I have a fondness for his bio, even though I am aware of its flaws, and I mostly disagree with his personal view about Cesare as a man and his politics.

El Princípe del Renacimiento: Vida y Leyenda de César Borgia, José Catalán Deus

So, putting aside that I love reading in spanish and I find the spanish section of the Borgia historical literature quite interesting, actually, the reason I included this one is because, as far as I know, I think it is the best one in the spanish language about Cesare, it carries much of the flaws and vices of his historical literature, yes, but I do think it a decent bio. Also it was an important book for me when I read it at the time, because it made me re-think much of the claims and presentations made about the Borgia family by the previous authors I had read, and go deeper into the historical material to see if there was any evidence for it. I think much like Meyer, Catalán Deus also attempted to deliver something new, and advance in a way the way Cesare’s historical figure has been studied and presented, and I appreciate that effort, it’s one of the books I check info from time to time, too. Ps: it’s not on my top 10, I don’t like the book as a whole, but I can’t help but to add on this list Marion Johnson’s The Borgias, for one simple and superficial reason: the artwork is soooo pretty 💖 it’s hardcover with quality pages and beautiful coloured images, and to this day it is the most beautiful bio I own about the Borgias, so I had to say something djsdjsdjs, excuse me here. Andd I think those are it, anon?? it’s possible I might be forgetting some, I spent such a long time reading about them, it’s hard for me to remember all of the books, especially with my bad memory lol, but if I remember other ones later, I’ll reblog this and add to this list! Thank you for sending this ask, and I’m so sorry for the time I took to answer it! :( I hope you still see this <33

#anon ask #ask answered #house borgia in history #i feel i'm repeating myself here + my english is not as sharp as it used to be and there might some typos :(((#but anyways hope it's understandable lol

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earlgodwin · 1 month

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obviously, i love when tv shows resort to adapting defamatory rumors about the borgias, in fact it makes stuff spicier for good television! but i have that pet peeve and it is the false narrative with zero factual basis that i keep encountering while reading biographies about the house of borgia that the scholars really need to fuck off with them, and it's the whole irritating narrative that juan is the pope's favorite son, and cesare is consumed by jealousy towards him. which is total bullshit when cesare in fact received so much affection and appreciation from the pope as much as juan received (if not more than juan) cesare was the one who has always been consistently by their father's side and enjoyed immense popularity in rome, even among the artists who hailed him as the most handsome man in italy, and machiavelli was all over him. basically cesare was the renaissance's main prince. so there's nothing that indicates that cesare is jealous of juan over literally anything, and it's just the biographers being overly dramatic about him by giving him the "from zero to hero" trope (read maria bellonci's 'the life and times of lucrezia borgia' because she dives deep into this topic)

and no, cesare didn't hate juan. it's quite the opposite! his letters to his younger brother are full of tenderness, guidance, and fraternal love. it's another borgia famous rumor that needs to die down in biographies.

let's take sarah bradford (the author of 'lucrezia borgia: life, love, and death in renaissance Italy' and cesare borgia: his life and times) for example, and how she deliberately cut the part where cesare signs his letter to juan with "dal vostro fratello che vi ama com se stesso." translated as "from your brother who loves you as himself" because of her unnecessary haterism towards juan since she likes hyping cesare at his expense.

she also manipulated a document about the ambassador who visited cesare. here's a snippet from her book:

the actual translation from the document (praising both brothers) :

at this point, i'm convinced that if sarah bradford (and authors like her) didn't burst blood vessels for one minute by projecting her one-sided beef towards juan onto cesare with her unfair, incorrect statements of him she might start getting chills and have a stroke

that's it for now! i'm planning to make a masterpost about stuff like that because there are a lot of infamous rumors that some biographers tend to resort to, which is truly exhausting lol

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illustratus · 1 year

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Cesare Borgia leaves the Vatican by Giuseppe Lorenzo Gatteri

#cesare borgia #vatican #art #giuseppe lorenzo gatteri #history #papal states #house of borgia #borgia #europe #european #italy #italian #vatican city #renaissance #italian wars

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queen-helaenas-pet-spider · 1 year

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{Fancast} Isolda Dychauk as Sansa Stark

The gods are just, thought Sansa. Robb had died at a wedding feast as well. It was Robb she wept for. Him and Margaery. Poor Margaery, twice wed and twice widowed. Sansa slid her arm from a sleeve, pushed down the gown, and wriggled out of it. She balled it up and shoved it into the bole of an oak, shook out the clothing she had hidden there. Dress warmly, Ser Dontos had told her, and dress dark. She had no blacks, so she chose a dress of thick brown wool. The bodice was decorated with freshwater pearls, though. The cloak will cover them. The cloak was a deep green, with a large hood. She slipped the dress over her head, and donned the cloak, though she left the hood down for the moment. There were shoes as well, simple and sturdy, with flat heels and square toes. The gods heard my prayer, she thought. She felt so numb and dreamy. My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel.

Sansa Stark Flees King's Landing {A Storm of Swords}

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pagansphinx · 5 months

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Bartolomeo Veneto • Lucrezia Borgia ‘Flora' • 1515

Read more about the infamously evil Lucrezia Borgia

#art #painting #art history #fine art #Infamous medieval women #portrait #16th century art #medieval history #vaneto #european history #the house of borgia #lucrezia borgia #historic portrait #pagan sphinx art blog

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troublesomesnitch · 1 month

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Make Your Hands Unclean

Aemond x Wife!Reader - Period sex drabble

Premise and bits of dialogue shamelessly stolen from The Borgias.

Contents: drabble, pure filth. Menstrual sex, p in v, anal touching, graphic imagery. Internalised misogyny and harmful attitudes towards menstruation. Aemond is an asshole. Porn with weird plottish vibes.

Words: 2300

idk what this even is, this thing kind of wrote itself and I just went with it. It is kind of a mess tbh.

You were supposed to marry a lord.

That is what you were raised for, and those are the skills you were taught. To sing, to dance, to play the harp; to make yourself look pleasant. Your septa taught you to sew, and a woman from Essos taught you to weave, and in the afternoons the maester taught you history and linguistics, astronomy and arithmetic, and other things that ladies rarely speak about, but nevertheless must learn.

For it is the lady, not the lord, who runs the castle. Who manages the household, and oversees the people it employs. Such a lady must ideally be both kind and commanding, generous and frugal. She must know how to handle serfs and noblemen alike, and she must be proficient in numeracy; able to record expenses and perform difficult calculations.

To be a prince’s wife requires no such skills.

This castle already has two queens, and besides it is not for royal women to concern themselves with practical matters. There are ladies-in-waiting for that, and stewards, chamberlains, maids and matrons; an army of servants hundreds strong to ensure that you may always be spoiled and idle. More than a lady, but less than a queen, left to twiddle your thumbs and wonder when, if ever, the oppressive walls of Maegor’s Holdfast will begin to feel like home.

You do not like it here.

The days are long in King’s Landing, and the air is foul, polluted by the smoke of ten thousand hearths, by the stench of filth and unwashed bodies. It seeps through every crack and crevice, and you like the early mornings the most, when a cleansing mist blows in from the sea, and the ship’s bells ring over Blackwater Bay.

Your husband rises early too, though it is for different reasons. Prince Aemond adheres to strict routines, to noble pursuits and rigorous discipline. He is exactly as people say: a stoic, severe in both temper and countenance, condemning indulgence and deriding depravity.

Yet for all of his moral posturing, he does seem to have developed a taste for it rather quickly.

You couldn’t say the exact number of times the prince has had you, but it has been many, and often, and in every position imaginable, and you dutifully report it all back to your family. As they have instructed you to do.

Before you were sent off to the capital, you were relentlessly reminded that there will never again be an opportunity such as this. That a marriage to a royal prince is a rare honour for your family, and one that was only made possible because the crown finds itself at war. Your house is not a great one, and your father is not the noblest lord, but he is very wealthy. And on the field of battle, wealth does tend to triumph.

You do not know what other promises were made, what lands or titles were negotiated. Only that so much now depends on you; on your ability to please your husband and give him healthy children. Preferably male, but even a daughter would markedly strengthen your position. So you play your part as best as you can , and you pen your secret letters, divulging all the details of your intimate affairs. That the prince sleeps with you frequently, and seems to find great pleasure in it. That he performs his movements to completion, and expends his semen inside your body.

It is a grave responsibility to have on your shoulders, and you were utterly crushed when you woke to find your insides churning, and your sheets stained with blood.

They will be most displeased, your mother and father. Your brothers and uncles, and your cousins too. Prince Aemond's seed has not yet taken.

In the evening he knocks on your door. Two determined raps, and you are thoroughly surprised. Your maid will have told his mother of your ailment, and she will have told him, and he too must be disappointed. But you know it is the prince, for there is no one else who would visit you at this hour.

You know very well what he has come for, too.

“We can’t tonight,” you sigh.

“And why is that?” he says, amused, as if the idea that you would refuse him is ridiculous.

“My blood - I am bleeding.”

Prince Aemond hums, but he walks to your couch and begins to undress himself, unbuckling his doublet and unlacing his breeches, tugging off his boots while you wring your hands.

He can’t be serious. He can’t mean to take you like this.

“It’s not - it isn’t proper,” you protest. “Our maester said it is ill-advised - most men find it unclean - “

“I am not most men,” he scoffs.

There is no arguing against that, and he says it with all the confidence of someone who knows it to be true. Aemond is a royal prince. A dragonlord, a scion of a greater people. Second to no one but his king and brother, and if he wants to get himself all bloodied, then you suppose that is his right.

He rids himself of his undershirt, and you reluctantly move to the side to let him join you in bed. It isn’t proper, but your insides flutter when he pulls you against his naked body, letting you feel the warmth of his skin, his manhood against the back of your thigh. It is hard, and twitching when he runs his hands over your figure, your breasts and your stomach, your waist, your hips, the tops of your thighs -

“No, you mustn’t - ” you squeak, but he rucks your gown up anyway and slips his hand in between your legs.

You are wet there, with blood as well as with desire, and you can feel the stickiness when he spreads your lips, curving his fingers and sliding them back and forth along your slit. His breathing is hoarse just from caressing you, from feeling your wet, your warmth, your little swollen nub begging to be touched. You whimper when he circles it with the gentlest of strokes, light and teasing, until you arch your hips up in frustration and breathe oh please.

Prince Aemond likes it when you beg. Only then does he press down, but not enough to bring you to a peak. Just enough to make your insides tighten, and more blood gush from your womb.

You always did find it strangely beautiful, the blood of your cycle. Deep maroon, and scarlet red - but you are ashamed to see it coating the prince’s fingers when he withdraws them. It is thick, and clotted, and he takes a moment to study it before he wipes his hand clean on your shift.

“Are you not displeased with me?” you whisper. He should be, given that you have failed to conceive. That there is no way of knowing if you can bear children at all.

“One mere month is not cause for concern,” the prince says.

You breathe a faint sigh of relief. It is a comfort to know that at least your husband doesn’t hold your failure against you - yet.

He tugs on your shift, eager to expose your body, but you cross your hands over your chest.

“Let me keep it for tonight,” you plead.

You can’t rid yourself of the thought that you are unclean, and you would feel so much more at ease if he didn’t see your heavy, aching body. But you don’t want to entirely deny him access to it, either. Seeing as you are bleeding, the chances of begetting a child are small, which means that his wish to sleep with you must come from genuine desire rather than obligation. And that makes you very happy, as you imagine it would any wife.

You will make sure to include it in the next letter you send back home. Hopefully it will lessen their disappointment.

The prince looks somewhat displeased, but he lets you keep your dress, resorting instead to bunching it up around your waist. He is stern, but never cruel to you, even if he does pull at the neck to bare more of your breasts. He pinches your nipple, and then his hand moves downward again, and you throw your leg over his hip to give him more room to touch you.

This time he does it properly. His fingers find your pleasure right away, and he swiftly brings you to your rapture, impatient as he is to have you. It leaves his hand stained and tainted, and once again he wipes it off on your shift, but this time you don’t care.

With the position you’re in, it is easy for him to crawl over your leg and take his place between them, and he kisses you as he presses against you, deeply and hungrily, rocking his hips, his manhood throbbing and leaking between your legs.

Your parts are soaked, but he is careful when he pushes inside. Despite the prince’s relentless pursuit of knowledge, he must not know all that much about a woman’s blood, at least not in practical terms. Where it hurts, and how much, and whether this intrusion will make it worse. You can’t hold it against him - you don’t believe there are many scholars who would want to write about the topic, and how then was he supposed to learn?

“Harder,” you pant, and he obliges, moving faster and pushing deep inside.

You let him find a steady rhythm, hooking your legs over his hips, and letting your hands wander over his body while he has his way with you. You stroke his balls, imagining that what he keeps inside will take root in you. You pinch his nipples, all hard with pleasure, and you slide your hands down to his lower back, to the base of his spine, where the skin is dusted with downy hairs. Where you can feel each of his thrusts; the rolling movements of his hips, the rhythmic clenching of his buttocks.

Your dainty touch makes him shudder, and you move your hands to his arse, and then further still, slipping your fingers in between his buttocks. To where he is warm and tender, and where his skin starts to pucker.

It is filthy, the way he twitches there. The way he throbs. A dirty place to touch, and a sinful thing to do, but you have found that the prince likes it. No added pressure or attempts at entry, just gentle strokes with the tips of your fingers. Soft caresses over his opening.

He buries his face in your neck and groans, and you can feel that he is nearing his peak. His movements are fast and shallow, his chest heaving and slick with sweat.

“Yes, my prince,” you whisper. “Fill me with your seed, put a son inside me - “

He likes that. He hisses loudly, gripping the headboard for purchase, and you look up at him when his hips stutter. Prince Aemond’s face is always handsome, but never more than when he is on top of you, in the throes of ecstasy. His brow is furrowed and his eye squeezed shut, and the tension in his body makes the damaged side of his face convulse, his lip twitching up towards the scar.

He wouldn’t like for you to see that, but in this state he does not feel it happening.

You lie still as he peaks, allowing him to rut into you wildly, groaning and grunting as he spills his seed. Hot, and wet, and adding to the mess inside you. He lies limp on top of you to catch his breath, and when he finally withdraws, the blood is everywhere. On his softening organ, on his sack, and crusted to the soft hairs on his thighs.

“I’ve made you dirty,” you state.

“Yes, you have,” he says. “In more ways than one.”

You look the other way to give him some privacy when he rises to tidy and dress himself. On your wedding night he stayed with you until the morning, and he has done it a few times since, but it is not a common occurrence. Prince Aemond prefers to sleep alone, and your mother chastises you for that too. She says that to rouse a man’s desire is less than half the battle, and that you must make your husband love you.

Of course if it were really that simple, then there would be no unhappy marriages and no children born as bastards, and if you knew how to make a man fall in love, you would be the richest woman in all the world.

But you must at least try.

“Won’t you stay with me?” You ask. “It is - important, for a woman to be embraced - to be treated gently, afterwards…”

“Next time, I will,” he says. And that is the end of that, for you will not stoop so low as to beg for his company.

He smoothes out his shirt and pulls on his breeches, and you sit up and comb your fingers through your tangled hair. When you look down there are stains on your sheets, and a thick rosy fluid trickling out between your legs.

“You may want to abstain from riding,” the prince says over his shoulder. “It is known to upset the balance of the womb.”

You nod, bound to obey what is clearly a command posing as a suggestion.

“Did you know,” you muse, “that the blood of the womb is the only blood that is not born from violence?”

Prince Aemond looks at you with a thoughtful expression, one that suggests he had in fact not considered that before.

“Quite the philosopher you are,” he remarks, with a little raise of his brow. Coming from him, that is the highest praise.

It does not change his mind about staying, but he does press a noble kiss to your temple before he leaves you. Sore and bloodied, but content.

You did well tonight.

Notes

“Most men find it unclean/I am not most men” is from S1E7 of the Borgias.

“Menstruation is the only blood that is not born from violence and yet it’s the one that disgusts you the most” is a quote by artist Maia Schwartz. I couldn’t find any more information about her unfortunately.

Tags. @arcielee, @targaryen-madness.

#aemond targaryen x reader #aemond x reader #aemond targaryen x you #aemond smut #aemond x you #aemond targaryen #hotd fanfic #aemond fanfiction #aemond targaryen fanfic

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anamazingangie · 5 months

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In defense of ‘House of the Dragon’ costumes.

I doubt anyone will read this, but at least I can link to it instead of arguing with people.

I don’t even like the costumes that much, truly, but every fucking time the criticism is paired with examples of the costuming work on ‘The Borgias’, ‘The Tudors’, or even ‘Reign’. I have thoughts on the costumes from those shows too, but will readily admit they do have more detail and texture than most garments worn in HotD.

HOWEVER

Whenever I hear these mentioned in comparison I want to scream.

Tudors is set in 16th-century England.

Borgias is in 1490-1500 Italy

Reign [allegedly] depicts mid 16th century Europe.

None of these have examples of medieval fashion. The middle ages spanned from the 5th century to the 15th (and by then, the renaissance movement had come to Italy, so the Borgias does not depict medieval clothing, either.)

ASOIF is a fantasy universe, true, but GRRM has stated many times that the Middle Ages served as a basis for the world he created and that historical realism was an important grounding factor for making the universe feel real, too.

I think it’s fair to say this should apply to clothing, just as it applies to decor, atmosphere, and technological advancements in both the books and the show. Clearly it is supposed to replicate the middle ages, or a very similar equivalent in Westeros.

I’m happy to suspend some disbelief given the fact it is a fantasy setting—for example none of the garments in GoT were historically ‘accurate’ but the more traditional gowns kept a silhouette and stylistic details that were similar to garments from the 15th century [most pointedly Sansa’s and Cersei’s gowns from the earlier seasons] which would fit the period in history that influenced the books.

I genuinely think HotD was trying to do something similar, drawing from fashions from the slightly earlier 1300s/1400s—which follows with the established timeline.

And, obviously, that is very much not the time period shown in borgias, reign, or the tudors. It is in fact HUNDREDS of years earlier.

To put this into context:

Comparing the 1300s to the 1500s is equivalent to comparing your wardrobe to what is in a Jane Austen film.

Comparing the 1500s to the 1700s is like comparing civil war era uniforms to what is worn by the military today.

A lot changes in 200 years.

And you know what? Garments in the 1300s weren’t that pretty.

Almost all of them lacked closures, which meant they went over the head and were shaped with belts or ties.

Corsets were not worn during this period so any sort of tight, supportive, and shapely bodices in this era is a thing of fiction.

Though layers were often worn, they were typically only visible at the hems and not the neckline [so the layers of a partlet/visible chemise as seen in the 16th century was unlikely, too].

In fact the only realistic depiction of this period I've seen in costuming is on the show “Hollow Crown” and do you know what those dresses looked like? Well…

Not to mention this is a difficult period to research in general since so little paper survived. This website has timelines for fashion, and where the 15th century page features a dozen examples for each decade, the 14th century page has less than a dozen examples TOTAL.

Now I’m not saying the costumes couldn’t have been better. I do think fabrics with more texture could have made even the simple gowns look more interesting, and I wish the amazing embroidery that we saw hints of was better utilized.

But, I think given the historical examples the designer was probably tasked with interpreting in a fantasy setting, the costumes are just not going to be as fantastic as what you see in dramas from later periods.

(The wigs however were unforgivable, i’ll give you that, lol. )

ALSO I'm not saying you can't complain about them or think they were ugly. I'm just saying that if you are going to compare them to something, please compare them to garments from other fantasy dramas, or things that actually take place in the same period.

Ok. Rant over.

#game of thrones #house of the dragon #costume design #costume #targaryen #hbo #historical #medieval fashion #middle ages #medieval dress #rant

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luckhissoul · 1 month

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ROLEPLAY HISTORY!

The rules are simple! Post characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back. Then tag ten people to do the same (if you can’t think of ten, just write down however many you can and tag that number of people). Please repost, don’t reblog!

CURRENT MUSE(S): (canon muses)

mat cauthon ( the wheel of time )

quinn blackwood ( the vampire chronicles)

michael curry ( the mayfair witches )

adolin kholin ( stormlight archive )

jasnah kholin ( stormlight archive )

syl ( stormlight archive )

vin venture ( mistborn )

ivar the boneless ( vikings )

bellamy blake ( the 100 )

francis de valois ( reign )

cahir ( the witcher saga )

aviendha ( the wheel of time )

min farshaw ( the wheel of time )

paul atredies ( dune )

alia atredies ( dune )

carl grimes ( the walking dead )

aramis ( the three musketeers )

john silver ( black sails )

seth gecko ( from dusk til dawn : the series )

will graham ( hannibal )

rodrigo borgia ( the borgias )

lucrezia borgia ( the borgias )

michael grey ( peaky blinders )

marcel gerard ( the orignals )

anakin skywalker ( star wars )

louis xiv ( versailles )

moiraine damodred ( the wheel of time )

lan mandragoran ( the wheel of time )

and four ocs !

WANT TO WRITE: (maybe i will write them someday, maybe not)

like idk right now? probably none. i considered adding marius from the vampire chronicles but decided against it lol

HAVE WRITTEN:

peter petrelli ( heroes )

jaime lannister ( asoiaf )

theon greyjoy ( asoiaf )

sam "falcon" wilson ( mcu )

raven / mystique ( mcu )

elijah mikaelson ( the the originals )

caroline forbes ( the vampire diaries )

enzo st. john ( the vampire diaries )

elle bishop ( heroes )

arthur petrelli ( heroes )

genevieve ( the orginals )

aurora ( the originals )

matt parkman ( heroes )

kaz brekker ( six of crows )

the darkling ( shadow and bone )

fergus fraser ( outlander )

sarah manning ( orphan black )

james patrick march ( ahs )

tate langdon ( ahs )

jimmy darling ( ahs )

kit walker ( ahs )

ethan chandler ( penny dreadful )

lazlo kreizler ( the alienist )

marcus isaacson ( the alienist )

lucius vorenus ( rome )

dwight enys ( poldark )

nell crain ( the haunting of hill house )

charles xavier ( mcu )

elizabeth of york

gendry ( asoiaf )

dinah madani ( the punisher )

freya mikaelson ( the originals )

carolina villanueva ( high seas )

nicolas sala ( high seas )

WOULD WRITE AGAIN:

not sure who i would ? write again ? sometimes i'm like hey maybe but then i'm like nah i don't want to lol

Tagged by: @stcrforged tagging : @caracarnn - @xhideyourfires - @adversitybloomed - @wstfl - @honorhearted - @godresembled - @bas0rexias - @indigodreames and anyone else?

#;ooc #long post for ts

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ninja-muse · 11 hours

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So I like Kate Quinn. I love the way she writes unsung women in history—not just that she writes them, but that she takes the time to flesh out their historical context. Women (people) don't just wake up and suddenly find out that they're a spy or a code breaker or an opera singer, after all. They're shaped by their time and their culture and their upbringing, and they have to navigate their present, at its best and its worst. Quinn makes sure that's true for her novels.

I also love that Quinn has a way of pulling you gently along so that suddenly you look up and you've finished the entire book. Her prose is strong, her plots are great, and her characters are compelling, but they never feel fast. There's time taken to build things up and build them up, to give small details and day-to-day lives. It's immersive without being grim. And yet, like I said, I get addicted. The longest I think I've taken to read one of her books is three days. Usually it's two.

Which is why you should listen when I say this is one of her best.* The vibrancy of the characters is a notch up. The topics she's tackling are wider ranging and so the research feels deeper. Her ability to look at the 1950s, see how complicated they were, and encapsulate that in the boarding house setting was marvelous. The structure was a step up too. And the way she spun the characters off each other and developed their friendships? She's always been good at that but again….

The basic plot, for those who haven't had this on their TBR for six months, which is probably most of you: it's 1950 in Washington, D.C., and a new woman has moved into a depressing boardinghouse in a seedy neighbourhood. Over the next few years, she brings the residents together through a secret dinner club, and then somebody is killed. (They all have secrets; it could be anyone, and anyone might have done it.)

The other boarders shine light on facets of the era: the British army wife, the Hungarian refugee, the pro-McCarthy Texan, the athlete, the plus-sized secretary who grew up in a Hooverville, the cop's daughter who's turned her back on her family, the imaginative teen son of the landlady and his kid sister, the young widow. (Not to mention the side characters who all drift in and out of the women's lives.) They shouldn't have anything in common and they shouldn't like each other, and yet there is so much found family in this. So much wholesome comfort and people helping each other fix problems. So much arguing and so much unity.

(It surprises me not at all that this book was Quinn's reaction to the fear and anger that was 2020–2021.)

And I've waxed on enough. Quinn's hit a home run, to use one of Bea's sports metaphors, not only in terms of setting and character and plot, but also in general everything else. It balances the darker parts of the 1950s with their hopefulness for the future and the found family of the house. It talks about a lot of stuff that gets glossed over in the standard pop culture '50s, and while it doesn't dig as deep into some (marginalization) issues as it could, I understand why Quinn left the depth of those tales to people with lived experience.

If I say more, I'll be truly spoiling the experience of reading this, so please, if you're going to read a Kate Quinn book this summer, make it this one.

Out July 9.

*Of her 20th century novels; I haven't read her Romans and Borgias.

#book reviews #book recommendations #book covers #adult booklr #booklr #historical fiction #upcoming releases #2024 releases #the briar club #kate quinn #my photos #read in 2024

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caracarnn · 1 month

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ROLEPLAY HISTORY!

CURRENT MUSE(S): (canon muses)

Rand al'Thor (the wheel of time)

Elayne Trakand (the wheel of time)

Andraste (dragon age)

Asmodean (the wheel of time)

Ciri (the witcher)

Daenerys Targaryen (asoiaf)

Dalinar Kholin (the stormlight archive)

Deirdre Mayfair (anne rice)

Elend Venture (mistborn)

Galad Damodred (the wheel of time)

George Villiers (mary & george)

Geralt of Rivia (the witcher)

Jon Snow (asoiaf)

Julien Mayfair (anne rice)

Kaladin Stormblessed (the stormlight archive)

Kelsier (mistborn)

Mona Mayfair (anne rice)

Padme Amidala (star wars)

Perrin Aybara (the wheel of time) Renarin Kholin (the stormlight archive)

Robb Stark (asoiaf)

Rowan Mayfair (anne rice)

Shallan Davar (the stormlight archive)

Spook (mistborn)

Stella Mayfair (anne rice)

Tyrion Lannister (asoiaf)

Empress Tuon (the wheel of time)

Yennefer of Vengerberg (the witcher)

Anne of Austria (the musketeers)

Arno Dorian (assassin's creed)

Cesare Borgia (the borgias)

Daryl Dixon (the walking dead)

David 8 (alien)

Eleanor Guthrie (black sails)

Ellie (the last of us game)

Sir Gawain (the green knight)

Hannibal Lecter (hannibal)

James Flint (black sails)

Jamie Fraser (outlander)

Jesper Fahey (six of crows)

Katrina van Tassel (sleepy hollow)

Klaus Mikaelson (tvd)

Louis Pointe du Lac (anne rice)

Lucien Grimaud (the musketeers)

Magneto (xmen)

Obi Wan Kenobi (star wars)

Philippe d'Orleans (versailles)

Ragnar Lothbrok (vikings)

Rebekah Mikaelson (tvd)

Richie Gecko (from dusk till dawn)

Rick Grimes (the walking dead)

Sam Bridges (death stranding)

Ubbe Ragnarsson (vikings)

Victor Frankenstein (penny dreadful/novel)

WANT TO WRITE:

idk? lol I mean I always happen on someone new everyday so --- there are tons. I was looking for someone from the Dune novels but idk. Lestat? DONT KNOW

HAVE WRITTEN: (these I only write for strict people still but usually nope)

Steve Rogers (mcu)

Athos (the musketeers)

Porthos (the musketeers)

Loki (mcu)

Natasha Romanoff (mcu)

Doctor Strange (mcu)

Lanfear (the wheel of time)

Dr. Thresden (ahs)

every sarah paulson ahs character ever lol

mark (orphan black)

John Constantine (dc)

Oliver Queen (arrow)

Sylar (heroes)

Claire Bennett (heroes)

Sara Howard (the alienist)

Lucius Isaacson (the alienist)

Freydis (vikings)

Katia (vikings)

Aslaug (vikings)

Thor (mcu)

Edward Kenway (assassin's creed)

a bunch of other assassin's creed characters lol

Alina Starkov (shadow and bone)

Genya Safin (shadow and bone)

Luke Crain (Haunting of Hill House)

Eva Villanueva (high seas)

Lola ( reign)

Bash (reign)

Henry & Catherine (reign)

Michael Curry (anne rice)

Every Mayfair character ever lol (anne rice)

Santanico (from dusk till dawn)

Clarke Griffin (the 100)

Quicksilver (mcu)

Jensen (the losers)

Aragorn (lotr)

tagged by: @luckhissoul & @stcrforged tagging: @ofprevioustimes @adversitybloomed @malumxsubest @uncxntrxllable @forwardlion @depictedblue @qanedanegros @theasteria @revelour

#.ooc #long post for ts #help i dk when to stop #there's more too that I can't remember

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teecupangel · 1 year

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I have this idea where throughout history, Templars are attempting to control everything and these assassin upstarts are stopping them and fighting and parkouring and being really badass and pretty and free and wild and clearly they need a strong hand - aka the templars always end up perving over the assassins and try to capture them rather then kill them. In Desmond's time the assassins are much better off because they know if they get captured by Templars they may be creeped on (or more) but they won't be killed so they can escape. Robert perving on Altair, the Borgias and Pazzi perving on Ezio, Charles Lee perving on Connor, and Vidic Cross and Otso Berg percing on Desmond. Just Templars ->Assassins, constantly.

I hope you understand the kind of badtouch you just unleashed upon this tumblr blog, nonny. Like, I’ll elaborate on your idea, don’t worry, but before we get to it:

WARNING: there’s gonna be noncon, dubcon, and blatant misuse of power and authority in this post. We’re making the Templars a Badtouch cult and this is the only warning you’re gonna get.

To be sure, I’ll even add the ‘read more’ line after this so you guys have one last line of ‘defense’ in case you don’t want to read this kind of thing.

Okay? Still here?

Let’s fuck AC lore by making the Templars BadTouch Central!

(we’re gonna skip the Order of the Ancient/Cult of Kosmos because… uuuhh… just… imagine what would happen to Deimos and Khemu in this scenario if we were to talk about them.)

So… let’s start with Robert. I know you’re thinking of Robert perving on Altaïr but, may I suggest… instead of dying, Kadar was captured instead? And that’s when Robert decided he would be the one to ‘indoctrinate’ the young novice. On one hand, Kadar’s alive. On the other… uuuhhh… as far as the Levantine Brotherhood knows, he’s dead and the one in charge of his ‘indoctrination’ is Robert soooo… yyeaaahhh. (We’re not counting Al Mualim, okay? Al Mualim joined the BadTouch cult late so no. Just no.) Of course, there would still be some bad touching between Altaïr and Robert when they first meet and… I honestly don’t know how we’ll add Maria to this. Like… are we going to make her complicit in the badtouching? Do we make her not know about it just like she didn’t know about the true end goal of the Templars? Either way, Maria’s gonna be the reason why Kadar escapes.

Now, for Ezio… uhhhh… do you remember how he went to Uberto to give him the evidence of his family’s innocence? Like… Uberto’s a Templar and, at that point, Ezio doesn’t know anything about the Assassins and Templars. Not only that, Rodrigo Borgia was in that scene was well… All I’m saying is that… weeeelllllll… it would be very easy for Uberto, a well-known friend of Ezio’s father, to be able to persuade Ezio to come inside and well… yeeaaahhh. To be fair, if the whole deal of the Templars are to be creepy pervs, they won’t execute the Auditores. They would capture them, keep them locked in a place where they can be ‘indoctrinated’. Oooohhh boooyy. Let’s skip a bit forward. This would mean that Ezio would have a more complicated relationship with the Borgias, especially with Cesare and Lucrezia. Like… yeahhhh… dubcon threesome is on the table, that’s for sure.

Charles Lee wanting to perve on Ratonhnhaké:ton would give us a reason for Haytham to be the one to interact with Ratonhnhaké:ton the most. Haytham knew about Charles Lee’s desires and he’s like “yeeaahh, no” and tries to educate Ratonhnhaké:ton the normal way. When that didn’t work, Haytham chose to die instead of giving his permission/blessing for Charles Lee to ‘indoctrinate’ his son.

Speaking of Haytham Kenway… We hate Birch in this house but, you know… he was very successful in ‘indoctrinating’ Haytham, that’s for sure. And the lessons he learned from Birch that Haytham applied to Shay’s ‘indoctrination’. I don’t think Shay would have tried to indoctrinate any of his old allies (although perhaps he did try with Liam and Hope but he’s very new at this) and the Templars (Haytham) decided to focus on indoctrinating Shay instead of trying to indoctrinate all of them. And they succeeded, that’s for damn sure.

Edward… well… he got more than gold when he joined the Templars, that’s for sure. Like, the whole sequence with the Templars? Yeah, just add some kinky master-servant play in that entire scene and you’re good to go. (To be fair, Edward seems like the type to go “yeah, sure, why not?”)

Arno… Oooohhh bbooyy. So, we can go for the whole the de la Serre didn’t ‘indoctrinate’ him at all but considering he’s been their ward since his father died, there will definitely be hints of it. His entire relationship with Élise would definitely be muddied by this entire thing. Like, even if they did fall in love out of their own free will and the de la Serre didn’t do anything dubious to him, no one’s gonna believe that. The Brotherhood would believe Arno’s been ‘indoctrinated’. Also… yeah, Germain will definitely be badtouching Arno too.

And then there was the Frye twins. So, in this case, Jacob definitely got badtouched by Pearl Attaway. Roth is a question though as he’s not technically a Templar? So… their relationship stays just as complicated as the one in canon. Evie though. Oh boy. Evie gets the attention of both Lucy Thorne and Starrick. The whole fight scene in the tower? Yeah, definitely more touchy. The scene where Evie danced with Starrick? … they did more than dance, let’s keep it at that.

And then there’s Desmond Miles. Sooooo… Vidic could definitely lean in to the whole ‘you need someone to guide you, Mister Miles.’ badtouch vibe while Lucy remains her canon self. Although, since we are talking about Lucy… yeaaahh, she’s definitely been ‘indoctrinated’. Cross and Desmond though would have a more punch-and-kick routine that usually has some creepy pervy touches from Cross. Desmond, at this point, know about the Templars’ shtick so he just goes along with it until he finds the proper time to kick their asses and run. It does mean he pretty much knows the Templars kinks.

#templars are pervy #templar order is a badtouch cult #this does mean the assassins could just honeytrap them #so i’m not gonna add the usual tags just to be safe #because of the noncon-dubcon and the grooming aspect of this entire thing #i mean you can add al mualim i guess but that means altaïr’s childhood would be a big no-no

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ducavalentinos · 2 years

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What do you think about Lucrezia's view towards Cesare, specifically? I've been interested in Lucrezia's perspective for a while now but i have only read Bradford's biography. Do you have other recommendations on what to read about her, especially those that documents her letters, poems, etc? Thank you !!! <3

So, sorry for taking so long to get to this!

I was a little confused by your question, anon, but I think I understood what you meant. I think it is important to separate what can be known/affirmed about Lucrezia through her historical material versus what’s speculated/claimed about her by her biographers, what are facts and what are personal opinions basically. There’s a pretty big gap there and very often both are conflated and presented as the same.

I don’t have an opinion about Lucrezia’s view towards Cesare, because sadly that’s something we don’t have. There are no letters from her to him, or any historical records where she states her view about him, so it is hard/impossible to know what her view of him was, exactly. What her historical material suggests/hints is: she had a good relationship with him, was certainly very supportive of her family’s, but especially of his political plans, she seems to have always been well informed of it. I find it very interesting and telling for example, her own remark to Isabella d’Este in one of their letters from 1503-1506 iirc, where she pretty much says that if Cesare had any plans against Pope Julius II, she would know about it + Cesare’s own letter to her plainly suggests she had an interest in politics, (which actually, it’s also hinted through Rodrigo’s actions towards her and their personal letters to each other) so much so he seems to have thought telling her about his recent conquest of Camerino would lift her spirits and help her with the health issues she was having at the time, and then there is no denying she was and remained loyal to him until his death.

Now, my opinion about her biographers’ perspectives about her perspective about Cesare is more complex and I’ve talked about it here quite a lot so forgive me for not entering into it yet again, because I know I probably sound like a broken record to many of my dear followers/mutuals by now lmaoo, but all my thoughts about that are mostly in my house borgia in history tag, or in the authors tag: here, here and here for Lucrezia’s biographers, if you are interested. But to sum up: I disagree with their point of view about Lucrezia and especially their point of view about Cesare + their sibling relationship, it lacks evidence to support it, and it’s full of inconsistencies and personal biases.

As for recs, I mean, like I said before I can’t, in good conscience, rec any Borgia bio with the expection of Alvisi’s Duca de Romagna about Cesare djsjdds, but I can say perhaps you will find Gregorovius’ bio interesting, because narratives/assumptions aside, his historical research is pretty decent. There’s a good amount of documents and personal letters, at least as far as I can remember, but certainly his work is the work which contains the most historical documents about Lucrezia, and there’s also a book called: Prettiest Love Letters in the World: The Letters Between Lucrezia Borgia and Pietro Rembo, 1503-1519, that as the name says, it’s hers and Bembo’s love letters to each other. I have to say I never finished this one, but what I’ve read was pretty cool, their letters were so lovely and intense, so maybe you’ll like that, as well.

Hope this helps somehow, and please let me know if I didn’t understood your question correctly! <3

#anon ask #ask answered #lucrezia borgia #cesare borgia #house borgia in history

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earlgodwin · 17 days

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Letter of condolence from Girolamo Savonarola to Rodrigo Borgia AKA Pope Alexander VI upon the death of Juan Borgia

#☹️❤️‍🩹#the fact rodrigo had manic episodes when juan was missing and when his body was delivered to him from the tiber he went on a rage #and he constantly wept in his room for 3 days without eating or drinking anything #he lost his baby boy 😭#juan borgia #rodrigo borgia #the borgias #history #historical figures #historical #borgia #borgias #the borgia family #house of borgia #girolamo savonarola #text post

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illustratus · 2 years

Text

Portrait of Gentleman aka Cesare Borgia

by Altobello Melone

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kiatheinsomniac · 2 years

Note

Congrats on 1k!!!! I'm here with an AC request!

(Assassin is up to you!)

I had the idea of a little drabble where Assassin and Reader are childhood friends but get separated after something happens (eg. with Ezio, it'd be after the death of his family; with Connor, it'd be after the village gets burned, and so on.)

Years later, a mission far from home reunites them again. Reader has been in the Brotherhood most of their life now and is the one helping with the mission.

notes: I will admit to my Ezio bias and whoever gets the reference in the title gets bonus points from me

pairing: Brotherhood! Ezio Auditore x Reader

word count: 0.8k

☾ ⋆ﾟ MASTERLIST /RULES /TAGLIST FORM

I know that face (strange though it seems)

You had brought very few belongings with you from Napoli when you had been called to assist in the Brotherhood’s cause in Roma, the most precious of those being your framed letter. It was worn along its creases from so many times of folding and unfolding it to read its contents: eventually you had decided that the frame with its expensive glass shield was worth the price in order to protect something so valuable.

It had been written by your childhood friend, Ezio Auditore, who you had concealed your feelings for, delivered to you by his lover Cristina – that should serve as explanation enough as to why your feelings had remained hidden. His family had been executed in the square the previous day and your father, who had been a close friend of Giovanni Auditore, packed up the house and moved his family down south. You had not been there for the execution and so the last time you saw him had been when your family had been invited to lunch at his home.

You had come to learn, three years after the move, that your father and Giovanni were assassins, fighting in the shadows of history to protect free will. You had to step up to join their cause, to fill your mother’s boots when she too was murdered by the enemy; the Templars.

A part of you had been beyond hopeful that you would find Ezio again on this mission but when you heard about the attack which devastated Monteriggioni, that spark of hope was snuffed out. Mourning wasn’t too difficult as you had already assumed him dead years beforehand so that moment of hope didn’t hurt too much.

The hideout in Roma was a run down building, that was for sure, and you could only hope that his mentore Machiavelli spoke of would be able to raise some funds for the few of you who had managed to make it here. You found yourself sitting upon a crate, sharpening your dagger in the rome adjoined to the entrance hall which was yet to be given any sort of purpose.

“Ben trovato, Niccolò!” You heard Fabio Orsini’s voice call out. Machiavelli had some good ideas but he spent a long time explaining them and, quite frankly, after running around Roma all day for him and noting down areas where Borgia activity was highest, only to return and write up the report to be delivered on his desk, you had no energy left for him today. “Ah, ser Ezio, a pleasure.” You forgot how to breathe for a moment and looked up into the entrance hall through the large, arched doorway.

You couldn’t see the man’s face from here, only his assassin robes – the traditional white and red, just like yours – but he was tall and held himself with that familiar confidence that time had not made you forget. You leaned against the stone wall, hand pressed to the cold surface, observing, looking to catch a glimpse of his face. Fabio proceeded to introduce himself but you simply remained still as a statue against the wall, that flicker of hope reigniting in your chest.

“A fine warrior.” The man, Ezio, said and his voice was deep, much deeper than the young Ezio Auditore that you remembered but that was something that would have come to him in the years that separated you, no? You continued to observe in silent hope.

“I know you are used to better accommodations in Toscana-”

“It is perfect.” Ezio looked around the place as he spoke, his eyes finally landing on you, having not noticed you in your silence. Those were Ezio Auditore’s eyes, that was the scar on his lip that you had needed to instantly remind him to apply medicinal balm to in your youth. Fabio continued talking but he was no longer listening, eyes fixed on you before he tore them away, finishing off the conversation and wishing the Orsini well. “A moment, Machiavelli.” He turned to the other assassin before streaking across the room to you.

“I got your letter.” Your voice came out in a whisper, as though your breath would blow him away and this miracle of fate before you would vanish into mist like a phantom, “I kept it, I even brought it here with me.”

“You…” He seemed to be in the same utter disbelief, “I returned to Firenze many years later but you had gone, no one knew what became of your family.” His brows furrowed and you could see the pain of the memory written clearly across his face.

“My parents were also assassins. The… execution-” you trod lightly on the subject, “-made my father fear for our safety and we fled south, continuing our work from there. I’ve been in Napoli all this time.”

“We never got to say goodbye.” You smiled despite the tears that were welling in your eyes, overjoyed to know that Ezio was alive and well. He reached forwards and pulled you into a hug and you melted against him, holding him tighter only for him to hold you even tighter in return.

“Then, even better than goodbye, why don’t we say hello?” He suggested in a whisper, burying his face in your hair.

“Hello, Ezio.”

“Hello, Y/n.”

🏷️@gojohater101

☾ ⋆ﾟ Buy me a coffee?

#assassins creed #assassins creed fanfiction #assassins creed fanfic #assassins creed x reader #ezio auditore x reader #ezio auditore fanfic #ezio auditore fanfiction #ezio auditore #Kia's 1k requests event

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