#maybe i need to reread Vampilov's play “the eldest son”. maybe i can take some references from there. i'm not sure

[tankgotstuckinthecircusgate]

youth i wrote for carlo: 😊😊💀😊💀💀😊

youth i wrote for anna & xaviero:

Their youth is literally "In a range between despair and hope"

Anyway. Lately I've been thinking more and more about the possibility that Carlo's family might be from Corleone. It's relatively fitting, it seems. But it also means unrelenting horror: Bernardino Verro('s murder) -> WW1 -> Mussolini

Thought 1

I honestly just don't wanna leave Lily and Anna in Sicily. The more I learn, the more it makes sense that Xaviero might have moved them to America as well. Mostly because of Mussolini (It would make the most sense if they lived in Gangi, which was the site of Mussolini's siege in 1925. In this case family's transportation has the greatest motivation, because it wasn't only the criminals who were affected, but the entire population). It also makes sense that all the characters eventually leave Sicily. Because at some points it's a story about emigration, because I want to reflect on that and look for different reasons for each individual character to move. (Moretti likely moved his relatives to America as well, but that doesn't play a significant role in the plot). Anyway, Xaviero was trivially scared to leave his mother and sister there, I think. I don't know yet how to organize it to make it look logical and smooth. Of course, I really like the moment when Carlo sends a letter to his family after killing Xaviero, cutting all ties with them. It's poetic enough. But life isn't poetic. Being in the same city makes everything tenser. He needs to look into the eyes of his mother and sister (and he can, he can look! and he won't even have a guilty conscience. You need to keep in mind that people like Carlo & others live in a different space). There may be a parallel here: “I ask forgiveness only from the Lord God and my mother, because their love knows no bounds. The rest of the world, I know, will never forgive me." (Although that phrase is more appropriate for Moretti - he really values family. But like the others, he's an ambiguous character - since I added an arc with him and Eddie's uncle, where Moretti asks the latter to come to America urgently without the possibility of refusal, thus taking him away from his wife, young daughter /and btw from Eddie's mother. But I won't write about that here, it's a different important arc that needs explanation/, ie. cutting this man from his family). Either way, it can be a very interesting and complex situation & dynamic. And yes, mostly I just need reasons to fit Lily and Anna into the plot. It certainly changes a lot of the existing dynamics between characters (for example, between Eddie's mother and Carlo), much can change Carlo's character too. A new headache for me, but also opens more possibilities (because the current version of Carlo cutting off from his family seems to me a little bit cartoonish & it irritates me a lot)

^ "Начар малай" by AIGEL. wanted to post if for a long time; makes me think of Lily & Anna (aigel gets the criminal topic better than anyone else. honestly). They certainly didn't know that Carlo killed Xaviero (or?). I'm not sure about crime in general. It's a complicated situation

Thought 2

Continuing with the Corleone theme. I think Carlo's family are peasants after all. Socialism adds more meaning to Carlo's father hanging himself. It's really a tired bull (the slow collapse of hopes for a better future if socialism does win. It didn't). It's a little funny that Tomas and Verro died in the same year - it can be connected logically now. I'm still thinking (if to develop the thought that Falcones are from Corleone) how fun it would be to make Moretti and Carlo from the same place. Moretti's father could be a gabelotto* who didn't want to join the mafia himself, but sent his son there. (*Gabelotti - middlemen to whom landowners leased land). Also makes sense. You can tell that the fact that the name “Tomaso/Thomas” means "twins" still haunts me. About Moretti & his father being a gabelotto - would be funny if Lily briefly saw Moretti and thought he looks suspiciously familiar, but she can't quite recall where she might've seen him.

This, in fact, could've been the case even if they weren't from Corleone. The socialist fasci* movement wasn't only there, but Verro's headquarters (the most prominent representative) was there. (*not at all the same as Mussolini's movement). Also adds sense to Lily & Tomas being socialists and then Anna & Xaviero being deeply interested in politics - Verro did a lot for peasants's education

Thought 3

I was thinking about Xaviero's attitude towards Italy and its army. At first wanted to make Xaviero and the rest of the family favor the Italian government, for a stronger contrast to Carlo (mostly because of the hopes of being freed from the mafia) and Xaviero actually serving in the army (initially with a lot of entzuism but later disillusioned). But 1) the government did terrible things often to perfectly ordinary people; 2) there may be a collapse of illusions here; 3) Xaviero's draft age falls in WWI, so it's a matter of survival. I'm not sure he would have gone there. So it's more likely he was a draft-dodger. Or maybe he did, but he deserted. He's the only man in the family and I'm yeah not sure how Carlo's family felt about the Italian government (I think there are ambiguous attitudes there that changed every decade?). The defection story actually looks really interesting. Reveals the Sicilian-Italian relationship (it's not their war) and adds Xaviero's problems with the law - the same as the others, but for a completely different reason. ("Mothers don't believe in death, waiting from train stations for their sons - alive. They sleep without locking the door, the floorboards creak - alas.” and then, later -> “hold me in your arms and never let me go anywhere”*) Also adds to Xaviero's motivation to move to America - it will be easier to be realized there and in the context of the law

*something personal to me again (when it finally won't be? moretti plot would contain 3 scenes if it wasn't that much personal). My mother still thinks my brother is a coward for not going to war (when conscripts were illegally sent to the front in sept. 2022). I don't believe a mother would want her son to go to the meat grinder. But it happens in life. And here again, I want to give the fictional characters more normal things. Life is always going to be more complicated than any fiction. Some things that happen just can't be made up on their own - I'm becoming more and more convinced of that with each day

"Сирота" by АукцЫон. Makes me think of Falcones in general & "How much does the captain owe the coachman's granddaughter?" could be so funny if Morettis & Falcones lived in the same place (captain here is for Xaviero)