James Carnarvon

Ahh, haha - wait until you've read my latest Dani story!

One thing you should probably never do is assume that I have an intimate understanding of Italian culture. I feel like a bit of a fraud writing stories where the main character is Italian, but it was an inevitable consequence of expanding a world that was originally seen through the eyes of a character with an English upbringing (i.e. Gianni), for which my writer's voice was at least partially legitimate! I don't try too hard to emulate a culture of which I'm not a part; real Italian kids would probably not talk and behave as my characters do. I think you've got the right idea when you say 'Marco was struggling from not staring at Dani'. It's embarrassment, pure and simple, at a time when their friendship is at such a nascent stage.

Thank you - and welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy the rest...

The Internet is my poker face. In real life I’d be terrible, because lying and deception is against my nature.

All signs point to… *redacted*! 😮 I miss Mawgrim, too. At least his legacy here will remain.

Intriguing…

I have four chapters left in which to persuade you, if indeed that’s where this story is going. Let’s see how you feel after Giaco has spoken for himself…

The power of confirmation bias…? I must admit I am slightly astounded by this interpretation. I’m not sure it’s supported by anything else in the chapter. The poor boy is reacting in sheer incomprehension that Dani still doesn’t trust him after the huge steps he has taken. Or, at least, that was my intention. I don’t feel it’s wrong that he should speak in terms of his own feelings at that point. If you disagree, it may reflect more on my own character than his. …but I’m glad you enjoyed the rest!

Full disclosure: I've never really felt that Dani and Marco belonged together. For all that their very different backgrounds make Dani a happier and sunnier sort of person, they are otherwise very similar in their core character traits. I think the spark between characters like Gianni and Angelo, Toto and Michele and Dani and Giaco comes, to some extent, from the differences between them. It's not a total case of opposites attract: all of the characters have goodness in them that manifests in different ways, but - for example - Giaco and Dani, the doer and the thinker, compliment each other perfectly. I feel that Marco's feelings for Dani originate in Dani's persistent kindness towards him at a time when he had lost everything (plus, of course, Dani is the "cutest boy in Ravello"). Dani's dimly flickering spark of mutual attraction to Marco can probably be put down to hormones and general teenage confusion. Instead, I think they are perfect best friend material. I respect Team Darco; I know there are strong feelings on that side, and I hope the last two chapters have explored the possibility satisfactorily. As Dani felt in ch.10, "there was a question between them that needed to be answered". Now, it has. The real question is... can Diaco be salvaged...?

So, now the Darco half of the love triangle has officially withered on the vine... what next?

Daniele set out for the cathedral square the next morning wearing his new tri-colour tie-dye t-shirt, wondering what to expect from his first meeting with Marco as boyfriend and boyfriend. He tried to imagine them greeting each other with a kiss, but it didn’t seem likely somehow, not under the watchful eyes of all those other people. A relationship with Marco, he suspected, would be a much more private affair altogether. As he walked up his usual stairway, surrounded by high stone walls, o

Dani does act unwisely with Emilia. I don’t think he ever fails to realise it’s a date. There may be an element of rebound involved, but also an element of ‘trying to be normal’ as I mentioned in my reply to travlbug. Dani learns from this experience, in that dating girls is futile for him… but I can’t promise that he will never act unwisely again!

A sharp flick of the hand while retaining an unsmiling demeanour…?

Okay, I think I've found the comment you're hinting at now. Sorry, I was thinking about comments you'd made on the last story, for some reason. Well, as you are carefully avoiding commenting in any specific detail, neither will I. Which makes this whole strand of conversation pretty redundant for the moment, I guess. 😂

Reading the stories back to back has some advantages, I guess. Nonetheless, it's a sign that you're paying attention that you picked up on that note of caution from Patrizia in the last story and correctly linked this scene back to it! I don't remember anyone commenting on it before. This story is different from my others in that it features a storyline for each of my three generations of main characters, albeit all witnessed through Dani's eyes. I'm afraid you've lost me there! It doesn't mean you're mistaken, but so far I'm not sure what you're driving at.

Late to the party but definitely catching up. I hope you enjoy the story!

I'm sure love will triumph...

That’s not a spoiler. It’s established at the end of this chapter! Who says I won’t put the train back on track? 😉

That may be the case, but it was still on point.

Well, the last three comments are very interesting, haha. Team Diaco (or, at this point, it might be more appropriate for me to say Team Giaco) is growing by the day. Clearly the opening of the chapter has had the desired effect of cementing readers’ confidence in Giaco just at the point that Dani gives into his fears and throws it all away. It’s then had the unintended consequence of making readers turn slightly against Dani himself. 😬 Dani is fourteen and it wouldn’t be realistic for his decision-making to be mature to the point of being unimpeachable. Circumstances have left him in deeper with Giaco than he was ready for. Fundamentally Dani doesn’t want to hurt anyone, so resolving this love triangle was always going to cost him. If he makes decisions that end up hurting people more I’d put that down to his naivety and inexperience. I’d take issue with the suggestion that he’s not being honest, because that’s exactly what he’s trying to do when he has his hurtful talk with Giaco. The only other thing I’ll say in his defence is that he is instantly aware of how much he has hurt Giaco, and he feels it intensely. If he then seems to be going down a strange rebound route with Marco it’s because he has convinced himself that Giaco could never possibly forgive him. As I put it in my story outline… Dani and Marco give it a go.

As you’ve already seen, there’s worse to come. Resolving this love triangle was always going to be MESSY.

Aw, thank you! I’m sure it’s not possible for them to keep getting better. One of these days there will have to be one you don’t like as much. 😅 I know what you mean about Fredo Corleone and can see the parallels. Maybe it was a subconscious influence. I think I’d rather hang out with Fredo than Ettore, though! No, I never spelled out the nature of Leggero’s ‘indiscretion’. I considered it, but it wasn’t essential to the story to nail it down. I never intend to return to Leggero as a character and was disinclined to put a great deal of flesh on the bones. I wonder what it is about those Mexican kids that resonates here? Do they live less supervised, more self-directed lives, maybe more driven by their emotions? Thank you again for reading and leaving your thoughts along the way.

Marco's story is far from over.

Let's face it - if there was a competent protection racket in operation, two twelve-year-old boys wouldn't have a chance against it... but, then, they probably wouldn't have a twelve-year-old boy working for them either. So, Ettore's incompetence is intentional. It really just provides the context for a story about friendship. Of course, that's not to say there's no threat to come...

Marco's not terribly good at hiding how he feels and tends to operate on pure, raw emotion. At least in Dani's perception, Marco's concern for him outweighed the jealous aspects of his motivation. That's not to say that jealousy wasn't a factor. Stick with me. The story isn't over yet! EDIT to add: I'm glad that the story has persuaded you about Dani/Giaco and you're rooting for them. Before I started publishing this I felt the reader voices were all for Dani/Marco. It brings a bit of balance.