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anghraineI'm trying to finish the month-late chapter of we get dark, only to shine, but I'm enjoying the current plotbunny SO MUCH.
Again, if you're on Tumblr you already know, but the omnipresence in Borgias fandom of business and/or organized crime US-modern AUs + the shitshow of US politics rn got me thinking that politician!Borgias would be a near perfect fit. For one, they were primarily political figures irl, and some of Alexander VI's most unpopular actions:
1. Accepting large numbers of refugees (from the Inquisition)
2. Speaking Spanish (at court)
3. Ignoring traditional policy (esp in terms of nepotism)
4. Expanding papal authority
That would fit exactly???? into US politics at this moment. It would fit into a lot of people's politics, really, but the prevalence of US moderns is where the idea came from and what I know best, so. And it's just so easy to make it work. Like.
BREAKING NEWS. BORJA WINS ELECTION
AP - With all votes counted, former Speaker of the House Rodrigo Borja (D-CA) has won a narrow popular victory over his Republican opponent, Senator Julius Rove (R-WY). The electoral victory was decisive, with Borja winning 358 electoral votes, helped by strong support from female, Latino, and African-American voters. The Democratic victory makes for a new historical first: Borja, the son of Ecuadorian immigrants, will be America's first Hispanic president.
[picture]
President-elect Rodrigo Borja with running mate Katharine Powers (left), his wife Julie (right) and son Juan (far right)
Senator Rove's campaign has yet to discuss the candidate's concession...
If I were one of the people who could make those cool fake news manips, I TOTALLY WOULD. Though even then, I'd have to stop short of the anti-Borja ads that splice in clips of Rodrigo giving speeches in Spanish (his native language!) about amnesty.
(The Borgias are usually white Italian-Americans in the fics, but... they weren't even Italian irl, and were subject to intense racism from Italians that specifically emphasized them speaking Spanish ~~~in public~~~. That is not at all out of place in US politics, but it's... not a white Italian-American thing.)
And that's not even getting to working in RL Cesare/Cèsar's actual fixation (beyond conquest) and most lasting achievement—judicial reform! Rodrigo can put César in law school, where—going by historical Cèsar's spectacular performance at the University of Pisa that culminated in a disputation where he stunned everyone with eloquence, and his notorious oratorical brilliance in general—he's a superstar graduating summa cum laude. But before he can seriously follow his dream career, Rodrigo steamrollers him into a political career (doable mostly because the Borjas are super popular in their district). Juan is groomed for the high-profile law career, but awful, and bombs an easy case, then turns out to have attempted bribery and threats, which gets him disbarred in a massive scandal.
Who could possibly have leaked the details to the press? We just don't know!
Again, if you're on Tumblr you already know, but the omnipresence in Borgias fandom of business and/or organized crime US-modern AUs + the shitshow of US politics rn got me thinking that politician!Borgias would be a near perfect fit. For one, they were primarily political figures irl, and some of Alexander VI's most unpopular actions:
1. Accepting large numbers of refugees (from the Inquisition)
2. Speaking Spanish (at court)
3. Ignoring traditional policy (esp in terms of nepotism)
4. Expanding papal authority
That would fit exactly???? into US politics at this moment. It would fit into a lot of people's politics, really, but the prevalence of US moderns is where the idea came from and what I know best, so. And it's just so easy to make it work. Like.
BREAKING NEWS. BORJA WINS ELECTION
AP - With all votes counted, former Speaker of the House Rodrigo Borja (D-CA) has won a narrow popular victory over his Republican opponent, Senator Julius Rove (R-WY). The electoral victory was decisive, with Borja winning 358 electoral votes, helped by strong support from female, Latino, and African-American voters. The Democratic victory makes for a new historical first: Borja, the son of Ecuadorian immigrants, will be America's first Hispanic president.
[picture]
President-elect Rodrigo Borja with running mate Katharine Powers (left), his wife Julie (right) and son Juan (far right)
Senator Rove's campaign has yet to discuss the candidate's concession...
If I were one of the people who could make those cool fake news manips, I TOTALLY WOULD. Though even then, I'd have to stop short of the anti-Borja ads that splice in clips of Rodrigo giving speeches in Spanish (his native language!) about amnesty.
(The Borgias are usually white Italian-Americans in the fics, but... they weren't even Italian irl, and were subject to intense racism from Italians that specifically emphasized them speaking Spanish ~~~in public~~~. That is not at all out of place in US politics, but it's... not a white Italian-American thing.)
And that's not even getting to working in RL Cesare/Cèsar's actual fixation (beyond conquest) and most lasting achievement—judicial reform! Rodrigo can put César in law school, where—going by historical Cèsar's spectacular performance at the University of Pisa that culminated in a disputation where he stunned everyone with eloquence, and his notorious oratorical brilliance in general—he's a superstar graduating summa cum laude. But before he can seriously follow his dream career, Rodrigo steamrollers him into a political career (doable mostly because the Borjas are super popular in their district). Juan is groomed for the high-profile law career, but awful, and bombs an easy case, then turns out to have attempted bribery and threats, which gets him disbarred in a massive scandal.
