| Oct 26, 2012 0:17:37 GMT -5 |
Post by LOVINO "SOUTH ITALY" VARGAS on Oct 26, 2012 0:17:37 GMT -5
LOVINO (SOUTH ITALY/ROMANO) VARGAS 
"Go away, Give me a chance to miss you"
"Go away, Give me a chance to miss you"
I Feel Like We're Summoning The Devil
Nickname/Alias: Lovi (for the girls), Romano, tomato (don’t call him that though)
Gender: Male
Character Type: Country
Country or Country of Origin: Italy (South)
Canon or Original: Canon
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When I look into all of your stupid faces
I think how fun it will be to pound them into dust
Hair: Dark brown
Height and Weight: 174 cm/65 kg
Other Distinguishing Features: He has a quirky curl sticking out from his hair. It both acts as a erogenous zone and reacts to certain feelings the Italian boy experiences.
Overall Appearance: Standing only slightly taller than his brother, Romano isn’t much more imposing than Veneziano is. He has next to no visible muscle, and there’s still some boyish roundness present on his face despite his age. It’s rare to see the Italian smile unless he’s in the right company, and his most common expressions are scowls and pouts. His hair is brown, like mentioned, and it’s semi-long and silky. Romano doesn’t like his hair messed up and will not have anyone touch it. His most common wear consists of a brown military uniform with rolled up sleeves.
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Man up or I'll beat you with my peace prize!
♫ Girls || Though most of those who have seen him find it hard to believe, Romano can actually be quite the charmer around girls at times. He’s not France by any means, but he knows how to hold open a door and say some nice things every now and then. He especially likes to cook for women, and loves it when he gets complimented by one. He feels like he can be more open and himself when away from other males. Plus, girls are nice to look at. Make no mistake though, being more open doesn’t mean Romano wouldn’t ever get awkward or shy around women, oh no. He doesn’t mind kissing their hand or cheek, but getting hugged or smooched by a girl out of the blue is still a bit embarrassing to him. He just won’t scream and yell as much, as the chances are he doesn't mind it.
♫ Tomatoes! || One of the only good things that came with living with Spain was access to these babies – for free! These are Romano’s absolute favorite food, and it shows; most of the food he cooks contains them in some form. He's love for them doesn’t mean he likes to be compared to them though, so don’t do that. It’s creepy.
♫ Alone time || Sometimes Romano just wants to be left the hell alone. He feels like he has to be too much on edge whenever someone’s around, so he can only relax and have a proper siesta when he’s completely by himself and surrounded by nothing but silence. So, not allowing him his me-time is a surefire way to get him stressed out and even meaner than usual.
♫ Anything Italian || Very much a patriot, Romano is proud of his home country and will not stand anyone insulting it. Or its food. Especially not its food.
♫ Siesta || It’s no lie, Romano loves his legal naptimes. He usually feels guilty whenever he knows there’s work to be done and he hasn’t even started (and most likely won’t start at all) doing it, but during the siesta all that guilt goes away. Then his only job is to relax, and he often uses this time to gather his thoughts and go through the events of the day – provided he doesn’t fall asleep first.
♫ Compliments || They say that a job well done is a reward in and out of itself. It’s not. At least, not to this particular Italian. See, he sucks at understanding others’ feelings just as much – if not more – than his own, so if you don’t say you’re pleased with something he’s done, he’s going to assume you aren’t. So compliment him where it’s due, it gets you a long way and ups his self-esteem quite a bit.
♫ Winning || Romano rarely experiences the feeling of victory, so whenever he does he feels thrilled. Any opportunity to boost his low self-esteem is very welcome to the Italian, and he especially loves winning against people he hates.
♫ Affection || Romano likes to be liked, to put things simply. Even if overly attached people annoy him and gentle gestures are often met with snark, he’s very happy knowing someone accepts him for who he is, faults and all. Now if only people knew how to show that affection in a way that doesn’t make him cringe…
♫ Football || He has played as a hobby in the past, and is often following games on TV. He roots for his homecountry’s team each time.
♫ His brother || Even though you’ll never hear him say it, his brother is the most important person in his life. While he often finds himself annoyed by the other's antics, and while he has a deep-rooted jealousy towards him, he loves the idiot dearly.
♫ Warmth/the sun || Romano can’t handle the cold all that well, and doesn’t like to go outside when it’s rainy or cloudy. He loves to sunbathe, and one of his favorite ways to pass time is to find a sunny spot and just take a nap, preferably with a bowl of fresh tomatoes somewhere at hand for when he gets hungry. Of course, being alone is also a must; he refuses to share this particular experience with anyone, ever.
♫ Beaches || Romano loves to relax on a beach especially during the summer. He hates tourists beaches though, and isn’t comfortable with swimming and sunbathing if the whole area’s full of people. He also kinda dislikes sand, but has learnt to tolerate it.
♫ Money || Being the poorer region between him and his brother, Romano has always held appreciation for money, and isn’t afraid to use shady means to acquire it if needed. He isn’t greedy though, and usually gets by with surprisingly little amounts, so he never steals unless he absolutely needs to.
Dislikes:
‼ People touching his curl || Romano hates people touching him in general, so it goes without saying he’d want people to stay away from an erogenous zone. Partly for… obvious reasons, partly because he knows it’s his weak spot, and feels even more vulnerable than usual when it's touched.
‼ Perverts || “Hate mixed with extreme doses of terror” is a far more accurate a description of his feelings towards them, but yes, he hates perverts. He always feels threatened and vulnerable in their presence, and in case they know about his curl, he feels naked as well. He’s not beyond physically hurting lechers who get too close for comfort, though more often than not he’ll flight rather than fight. He’s also always cautious if he sees someone getting physically close with those he holds dear or with females, and is bound to try and go intervene even when it's not warranted.
‼ Being touched || Despite the usual customs in his homecountry, Romano really dislikes people getting their hands on him without a warning. Greetings and the like are okay, but anything else is going too far and making him uncomfortable. That is, unless he knows you. If you happen to be someone he feels any kind of affection towards, he actually doesn’t mind hugs or pats on the back or what have you – though he will still say he does. So, really, it’s difficult. It’s not hard to discern when he’s just saying “no” to save face and when he’s genuinely bothered though, as anyone with the ability to listen can hear when he’s seriously panicking and when he’s just talking shit.
‼ The Mafia || Having been involved with them when young, the Italian both fears them and dislikes them. They affected his world-view and it’s partly due to them that he’s a good pickpocket, even if he doesn’t practice it often nowadays. He refuses to talk about any of that though.
‼ Anything German || Yes, Romano is very much prejudiced against German people and especially their food. He thinks of them as scary, violent and untrustworthy, and he hates Germany for being so close with his brother; he fears he'll steal him away. Plus, their food is just yucky!
‼ Foreign/bad food || Romano is very particular about the food he eats, and refuses to touch anything that looks, smells or tastes bad. He loves the food he himself makes and is very proud of his country’s cuisine, so it’s not easy to convince him to try anything foreign or made by people he doesn’t like. Admitting other countries’ cuisine is good is like saying Italian food isn’t the most amazing thing out there to him, and so he gives compliments very scarcely.
‼ People messing up his kitchen || Kitchen is an important place to the Italian, as is the dining hall. He will not have anyone causing a ruckus or creating a mess near his food!
‼ Being teased || He hates it when people tease him about things, be it his tendency to blush, his shortness or his curl. To him there’s no line between teasing and bullying, and he absolutely hates to be embarrassed, no matter who’s caused it and how. He might be slightly more tolerant of this if he’s alone with the person, but humiliating him in public is one of the fastest ways to earn his hate.
‼ Having to fight || Romano… really isn’t good at fighting. He can somehow aim and hold a gun, and he knows which end to grab onto when it comes to knives, but that’s pretty much it. He can’t fight to save his life and if at all possible, would rather avoid conflict. Unfortunately, the rest of his personality isn’t exactly ideal for conflict avoiding…
‼ Having to rely on someone || Romano doesn’t like to put his trust on anyone. Sure, you will hear him call for help if the situation seems absolutely hopeless because damn it, he doesn’t want to die, and you can often spot him complaining and trying to get others do his bidding for him, but most of those tasks are menial. He doesn’t mind making someone else clean for him, but having to ask someone to help him with something that’s actually important to him (like cooking) always hits him hard.
‼ Being compared to others || Especially to his brother. This is one of his most deep-rooted fears and dislikes, so even playful “they look alike” mentions can cause him to at the very least flinch.
‼ Noisy people || People should just mind their own damn business, period. Romano doesn’t like it when people try to get inside his head (even if that might help him a great deal at times), or when others inject themselves into his life without his permission. Of course, since this is Romano we’re talking about, things aren’t always that simple. Sometimes, if he likes you enough, he very much wants you to come visit him out of the blue, get curious about him and his hobbies and the like. Yes, even when he's cussing you out whenever you try to contact him. Like everything with him, it’s complicated, basically.
Strengths:
↑ Hard working || As will be elaborated on later, when Romano sets his mind to do something, he will see whatever it is to completion without fail. He’s stubborn in that regard.
↑ Good pickpocket || Romano knows how to steal like mentioned earlier. He can empty anyone’s pockets without them noticing, and in some situations even steal their weapons before they can use them. Unless, of course, the person’s too scary and the risk too great.
↑ Agile || Romano is fast when he wants to be (that is, mostly only when he’s running away, but still), and it partly makes up for his lack of physical strength and muscle.
↑ Good in desperate situations || Even though Romano is usually weak and useless when it comes to fights, if it’s to save someone he cares about, he can perform amazingly well; he once even beat down members of his Mafia to go and save Spain.
↑ Loyal || This isn’t the only time this part is mentioned, but yes, Romano is very loyal to those that have managed to get close to him. He never abandons the few friends he has (unless his own life is in danger, then he’s outta there!) and would do anything to protect them from harm.
Weaknesses:
↓ Scaredy cat || Romano is very easy to scare. Certain people, phrases, expressions and gestures, as well as any sort of threat of physical pain are sure to make the Italian flinch. He fears abandonment, being alone and getting attached, and the list goes on and on. Of course, he does his best not to let any of that show.
↓ Short temper || Romano has a short temper, and sometimes when mad he doesn’t think his actions through. He might go insult the wrong kind of person or take on a dare he wouldn’t otherwise accept in a million years, all in the rush of the moment.
↓ Low self-esteem || Even if he does his best to hide it, yes, Romano suffers from a remarkable lack of self-confidence. He knows he’s no good, and is very insecure because of it. While any remarks done by people he doesn’t care about don’t manage to hurt him much, and those done by his enemies only manage to make him chuckle, any indication from a loved one that he’s not good enough is extremely hurtful to him.
↓ Physically weak || As is probably clear from the very first glance, Romano lacks sheer strength. He can’t lift much, and his punches hurt him more than the enemy, in most cases. He’s got a very hard head on his shoulders though, so beware his headbutts!
↓ No good at fighting || What do you mean you don’t throw the pin of a grenade? Romano is absolutely no good with most weapons, save from the basic knife and a handgun. He also knows almost no fighting tactics besides retreating.
↓ Clumsy || The real reason why he never got any work done as a child. It wasn’t like he didn’t try to clean Spain’s place, but the stupid furniture kept getting knocked over on their own! And… not so on-their-own… Although he’s gotten a bit better as an adult, he still has no dexterity and his sense of balance isn’t the best out there.
↓ Dishonest || To the max when it comes to his emotions. Half the things he says aren’t what he actually thinks or means. It’s become a habit for him to lie about his feelings by now, and so it’s extremely difficult for him to just say a simple “thank you” or “don’t go”.
Fears:
◄ Cats || This might come as a surprise, but yes. To him, cats are scary, scary creatures who often get their paws all over his curl when they see it, thinking it’s a playtoy. Don’t get Romano wrong, he does think the creatures are cute, but he’s just experienced one assault too many by them to really crave for their company ever again.
◄ Dying || Yeah, everyone’s afraid of dying. Romano is especially scared of the people he cares about dying, though. His Grandpa was the strongest guy out there ever, but in the end he got taken away without Romano really even getting to know him all that well. It hurt him, even though he didn’t even know the guy. He can’t even imagine how much it would hurt if someone he really cared about up and passed away. He didn’t spend all that time with them and learn to tolerate them just to watch them die, damn it! Due to this, Romano’s the first one to get concerned when someone he knows is sick or seriously injured – even if he doesn’t readily show it.
◄ Being left alone/abandoned || Yes, this is still the same “leave me alone, damn it!” Romano we all know and love (to varying degrees). It’s true he does want his me-moments and isn’t one to enjoy constant company or big crowds, but that doesn’t mean he’d like loneliness. He likes being alone as long as he knows that if he ever wanted to, he’d have someone he could go to, but being left completely on his own terrifies him. In that vein he’s also afraid of rejection. He knows he’s not the best material for a friend with his weakness, big mouth, messy, illogical lines of thoughts and cowardice, and so he’s afraid people will eventually grow tired of him and drop him for someone better and shinier.
◄ Being hurt || Romano doesn’t have the most amazing pain threshold out there, and he hates to be injured, especially in the hands of another human being. He’d rather fall down stairs and break his leg than get a punch on his chest, even if the latter would cause less damage. It’s a pride thing. Plus, people are a lot scarier than any accidents or animals.
◄ Being physically bound || Be it jail time, getting stuck somewhere or being tied up, Romano hates not being able to go around as he pleases. It’s not so much a freedom thing than it is a simple case of “tied up = can’t escape = can be hurt now” mentality, but all the same he’s afraid.
Secrets:
♠ Precious people || Romano truly cares for Veneziano, but he would never in a million years admit it. The same goes for Spain; despite the other being so annoying at times, Romano appreciates the fact that he’s put up with him for so long.
♠ His food-tasting adventures || Remember how it was mentioned that Romano hardly ever tried foreign food? Well, that’s not exactly true. He does like to experiment and taste different foods everyone now and then due to sheer curiosity, though of course he’ll always say everything he tried was bad – even if it wasn’t.
♠ His true feelings || To sum up, the way Romano truly feels about anything and everything is one big secret, one he hasn’t fully unraveled himself.
Any Quirks/Habits:
♣ Getting red very easily || No, Romano doesn’t blush… It’s just that his capillaries have the tendency to get wider more often than others’. Shut up. Either way, whenever he gets riled up, embarrassed, intoxicated and to some extent even surprised, his face gets all red. It’s absolutely involuntary, and he doesn’t like it when it’s pointed out or made fun of; that usually makes
♣ The verbal tick “Chigii” || Have you ever had the feeling that despite the wide array of words and expressions available, the English language just doesn’t have a word that would sufficiently express your current emotion? Because Romano sure has. And after many a day just complaining and moaning about it, he came up with a word (or a sound effect, rather) of his own. “Chigii” is an expression he (sometimes involuntarily) uses to express extreme annoyance and embarrassment.
♣ His curl || Truth be told, Romano’s curl is just one big quirk. Not only is it inconceivably an erogenous zone, it has the tendency to express Romano’s feelings better than he himself can (which, alright, isn’t that difficult a task because he sucks in that department). It’s known to turn into a heart when he’s happy about something (so don’t expect to see that often), droop when he’s scared or sad, and start going up and down when he’s mad. Unfortunately, this curious behavior often gets people interested in his curl, which has even led to touching in the past. Whatever you do, do not touch the curl though. That’s a surefire way to end up in Romano’s “assholes I don’t wanna associate with list”, and that list’s written with a permanent marker.
♣ Talking with his hands || He does this a lot, to the point that if his hands are occupied with something else, he has trouble expressing himself even more than usual.
♣ Cursing || As is probably clear to anyone who’s ever spent more than five minutes with the guy, Romano curses a lot. Not enough for every other word to be some kind of profanity, but enough for people to take notice of it.
Overall Personality:
The very first thing you should know about Romano is that his behavior is drastically affected by the gender of the person he’s interacting with. If you happen to be of the fairer sex, Romano is friendly, talkative, somewhat of a ladiesman and even polite to an extent; he still curses, but he is careful not to direct his profanities at you. However, if you’re a man you’d better prepare for hell. That’s because for the dudes, Romano is uncooperative, snappy, and seeming to be constantly on edge and angry. He’s bound to insult you, bark orders and cuss without a care in the world, and he expects you to just take it or leave him alone. Actually, he’d prefer the latter, thanks.
So yes, it’s definitely no lie that Romano far prefers the company of girls. To elaborate on that, Romano feels more at ease with women because he considers them weaker and more feminine than himself by default. This means that he doesn’t need to constantly prove his worth and strength, and that he doesn’t have to be afraid of getting physically hurt by them. When around men, you never know when one decides to hurt you for no reason, but if a woman ever tried to attack him, Romano believes he could handle it (with the exception of a few certain females). There’s also another reason few are aware of, or even come to think about. See, men have this tendency to… insult their friends as a gesture of caring. They can say the meanest of things to their best friends without a care in the world, all in good fun. Hell, Romano himself is guilty of insulting his ‘friends’ every opportunity he gets. But the thing is, Romano’s self-esteem sucks. Even if he knows the insults thrown at him are nothing more than friendly trash talk between bros, he can’t handle it in the long run. He gets suspicious. Scared. What if those things aren’t just jokes? What if they mean them? He has no way to know, damn it. Women aren’t like that. They’re kind and more emphatic, and they’re far more likely to compliment him. If he makes good food for them, they get happy and let it show. If they’re happy, they aren’t afraid to smile. You could say that in a way, Romano is actually envious of girls’ ability to be so openly friendly and affectionate; he knows he could never show his feelings to anyone like that. Of course, all of this is pretty heavily based on gender stereotypes, which Romano is indeed guilty of believing in. He doesn’t mean any harm by it however.
Romano has a short temper and the list of things that annoy him is an infinitely long one, so trying not to get him irritated is a very difficult task. Doubly so because even Romano himself doesn’t quite know what he wants most of the time. He isn’t honest to others and even less to himself, never admitting he might like someone’s company or the things they say. He thinks it’s safer to hate on everything and be mean by default, as it saves him from having to try and be nice to someone who’d just end up being an asshole anyway. By default, he assumes everyone out there is a jerk just trying to hurt him, and acts accordingly. It’s a mindset he’s gained over time, partly due to the things he’s been through, partly because… well, some people just are inherently more negative than others. No tragic reasons and explanations behind that.
So, basically, being mean is a defense mechanism to protect him from getting hurt, from placing his trust on the wrong people and getting abandoned or disappointed in the end. Yet, even after he realizes the other’s intentions are good, he often finds himself unable to change his behavior regardless; it’s scary to be friendly to someone. It’s scary to show them your real feelings. He feels much more comfortable being a jerk, even if he sometimes does feel guilty because of it.
Also, to add on the point of him not knowing what he wants: you shouldn’t always blindly believe his words when trying to discern what he really thinks of you or wants from you. He might call you the worst idiot he’s ever met despite thinking of you as intelligent, and he might tell you to leave him the hell alone the moment he needs someone to be with him the most. So what are you to do? You can’t exactly go act directly against his apparent will and go hug him when he tells you to scram, now can you? Well, the answer is to look for little clues, patterns in his behavior, stresses in his words, the direction of his gaze and the behavior of his curl. Romano is difficult to read for anyone who doesn’t know the language, but those who have spent a little more time with him know how to read him better than even he can. That’s a good thing, too, because despite not knowing what he wants himself, Romano expects everyone else to know and act accordingly. He will get mighty pissed if you leave when he wants you to stay, even if he just told you to go to hell. It’s all your fault for being stupid and not realizing it.
Another reason behind Romano’s meanness is the firm belief that people just plain don’t like him, and they won’t start to like him no matter what he does. So, he might as well be an asshole, not like he has anything to lose. He’s certainly not going to kiss anyone’s ass! …That behavior is reserved for when he’s really, really afraid. See, when dealing with scary situations (which there are plenty of to him), Romano has three basic strategies. First, run the hell away. Two, in case running doesn’t work, insult the scary thing or person until it gives up and goes after someone else. And, finally, if everything else fails, number three; kiss ass, kiss it good and if possible, roll the blame on someone else. They’d do the same to you if they ever got the chance anyway. Normally Romano hates change and he hates his pride getting hurt, but fear is the thing that can cause him to do strange things. Fear for a loved one, fear for his life… Sadly enough, fear is one of the only motivators he has, and it’s a powerful one.
As is probably clear by now, it’s easy to make enemies with Romano. You only need to fuck up big a few times to land yourself too deep into his hatelist to ever be able to crawl out. Of course, this might not actually be as bad as it sounds. Romano rarely hurts anyone physically (really, he’s more dangerous when embarrassed than when angry in that department), and although he often plots against those he hates… Well, his plots aren’t exactly scary, and rarely even work. He can come up with multiple ways to get back at people, but most of them are childish, bizarre and sometimes even counterproductive. He does feel the urge to hit the people he hates and make up more malevolent plots at times, but more often than not, his scaredy-cat personality prevents him from carrying out any of that out of fear of revenge. Still, those he hates better prepare to at least be insulted more times than they can count a day, and any cooperation from Romano is out of the question.
Romano is also, to an extent, possessive; once he’s managed to find people he holds dear, he wants to make sure nothing takes them away from him. His lack of self-confidence makes him constantly fear that someone better than him’s going to waltz in and steal everyone from him, and so he’s very wary of any other friends the people important to him have. He isn’t hostile towards them (most of the time), but he’s bound to be even meaner to them than to others and get angry whenever he hears his friend is meeting with the person. You should also know that if he suspects anyone hurting their friend, using them or just plain being “bad influence” he will try to get the two to break up. Assholish as that may be, his intentions are good.
Despite all of that however, Romano isn’t without his good sides.
First off, although he’s potentially an even worse a coward than his brother, he can display surprising amounts of courage when defending those he cares about. It’s difficult to become close to him, but if you manage to do it, he won’t let go. It doesn’t matter what happens, or if you grow to hate him, he will stay true and be there for you, even if he’s still insulting you every chance he gets. He’s loyal, partly because of sheer thankfulness; he knows he’s difficult, and hell, he wouldn’t have the patience to deal with someone like himself either. So when someone takes the time to be there for him and accept him for all his faults, he feels grateful. He might not show it, but it’s the happiest feeling out there for him, being accepted and recognized by someone.
Romano also isn’t as lazy as people often make him out to be. It’s true that many people often catch him loafing around, skipping work and refusing to move his behind, but he doesn’t avoid work because of laziness. Rather, he does it because he’s afraid of even trying. He’s been disappointed in his own skills on more than one occasion, and so he fears to get serious and work out of fear of failing anyway. He’d much rather be considered lazy than stupid or incompetent. If he doesn’t do anything in the first place, nobody can say he’s bad in anything. Society doesn’t shun the brilliant but lazy.
However, whenever Romano gets the motivation and will to work, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more devoted than him. If he has to stay up all night working, if he hast to skip breakfast and lunch and dinner to make sure the work gets done, he will. He doesn’t think of this as anything special however, and isn’t one to brag about how much he’s worked. That’s mostly for two reasons; one, if he doesn’t admit he’s done his best and he fails, he can always say he could have done better and save face and two, he thinks it’s only natural for people to do their best when working, and doesn’t see the need to gloat over something like that. Not anymore, at least; he used to gloat a lot more when young. Guess even he can grow out of some bad habits.
So yes, surprisingly enough, Romano is quite modest. He could have made the best dinner in the world, but will be satisfied with a simple remark of “it’s delicious!” He loves compliments like mentioned, and is happy to just get even some sort of positive feedback, since he didn’t get much of it when growing up. Any small indication he did well is bound to make him gleeful – even if it doesn’t show, and even if he still insults you for not “realizing it sooner” or something else.
Romano also has a sort of a soft spot for people that remind him of himself. That is to say, if he sees someone suffering from the same problems he does (and actually admits it and doesn’t try to deny everything), he will start to feel a certain sense of kinship. He might help someone out if they’re struggling with their weakness like he does, for example, though even then you better not expect him to be nice to you about it.
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I'm the hero!
! Note: The history starts after the fall of Rome, and is mainly focused on the southern part of Italy.
489: The Ostrogoths were sent to Italy.
493-553: The Ostrogothic Kingdom was establishes.
535–554: The Gothic Wars.
568: Alboin's Lombards invaded northern Italy.
774: United Principality of Benevento.
836: Andrew II of Naples hired Saracen mercenaries to fight for him against Sicard of Benevento.
846: Muslims raided Rome.
852: The Saracens took Bari and founded an emirate.
878: The Arabs captured Sicily and claim Palermo as their capital
902: Islamic rule over Sicily.
999: The Normans arrived in Italy.
1009: The Lombard revolt.
1049: Richard Drengot succeeded the County of Aversa.
1057: Richard besieged Capua.
1061: Genova and Pisa attacked the Muslims in Sardinia and Corsica. Robert and Roger invaded Sicily.
1066: Richard marched on Rome but failed.
1068: Roger Guiscard defeated the Muslims at Misilmeri.
1091: Sicily was completely under the Normans, much thanks to the siege of Palermo.
1098: The end of Lombard rule in Italy.
1130: The Kingdom of Sicily was founded.
1136: The Kingdom of Sicily was invaded by Henry the Proud and Lothair III.
1155: The Byzantine tried to regain Southern Italy from the Normans, but failed.
1158: The Byzantines left Italy.
1162: Friedrich I raided Rome.
1194: Hohenstaufen Dynasty took The Norman Kingdom of Sicily.
1201: William claimed the Kingdom of Sicily.
1254: Manfred seized southern Italy.
1266: Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy led to Sicily's conquest by Charles I, Duke of Anjou.
1282: Sicily rebelled against Charles of Anjou (War of the Sicilian Vespers). Charles remained as the king of Naples.
1295: Treaty of Anagni.
1302: Peace of Caltabellotta.
1347/1348: The Black Death pandemic hit Italy, starting from the South.
1409: Sicily was ruled as a part of the Crown of Aragon.
1442: Alfonso V conquered the Kingdom of Naples. Unification of Sicily and Naples as dependencies of Aragon.
1443: Siege of Naples and the defeat of René of Anjou.
1494 -1503: Charles VIII and Louis XII, both kings of France, tried to conquer Naples without success.
1701–1714: The War of the Spanish Succession. The Kingdom of Sicily is ruled by the House of Savoy
1713-1720: The Kingdom of Sicily was ruled by the House of Savoy.
1717: Spain attacked Sardinia, and planned an attack on Sicily.
1718: Sicily was occupied by Spain.
1720: The Quadruple Alliance defeated Spain.
1735: Naples and Sicily were attacked by King Philip V of Spain.
1799: Napoleon conquered Naples.
1816: The Kingdom of Two Sicilies is born from the union of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples.
1848: The First Italian War of Independence. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies declared war on Austria. Later the kingdom retired from the fight. Austria won the war a year later.
1859: The Second Italian War of Independence.
1860: A revolt against the Bourbon regime in Sicily. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia.
1861: Fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The South and the West unified into the Kingdom of Italy. The South had a lot of trouble economically after the unification, and poverty and organized crime run amok. A lot of people emigrated out of the country to escape the poor living conditions, either to the North or to another country altogether.
1862: The Mafia carried out a mass killing in Sicily.
1865: Italy’s capital was changed from Turin to Florence.
1866: Italy declared war on the Austrian Empire on Prussia's side (Seven Weeks' War). The Third Italian War of independence. The armies of the two South and the West were not fully merged (South Italy was still bitter from 1861), leading to a loss of military performance. Later in the same year, after quite a bit of heavy losses, Italy gained Veneto and western Friuli (Treaty of Vienna) largely thanks to Prussia.
1870: Italy occupied Roma, which become its new capital soon after.
1882/1889: Italy gained its two first colonies in Africa, Assab (Eritrea) and Somalia.
1908: Europe’s worst earthquake hit Southern Italy
1911: Italy emerged victorious in the Italo-Turkish war and gains control over Libya
1915: Italy entered the first World War.
1919: The March on Rome.
1936/1937: Italy was expelled from the League of Nations. Italy joined the Axis powers.
1940: Italy joined in World War II and invades Greece.
1943: The Allied invaded Sicily. Mussolini’s fall.
1945: Mussolini was shot.
1946: Italy became a republic, despite the South mostly voting to keep the monarchy.
1949: Italy joined NATO.
1950: The Cassa per il Mezzogiorno was put in motion. It was a public effort to try and help South Italy’s development and economy. It didn’t work as well as planned, and was later dissolved in 1984
1964: An attempted coup “Piano Solo” by Giovanni De Lorenzo was defused.
1978: Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigades, and killed later the same year. The Red Brigades are falling apart.
1986: Italy openly fought organized crime and arrested more than 300 Mafia members.
1992: Fall of Christian Democracy and the Socialist party
1999: Italy joined the Kosovo war. Eurozone.
2003: Italy partook in the war in Iraq.
Present day: Nowadays there's still a big difference in wealth and development between the North and the South, with the latter being poorer, with lower employment rates and higher rates of political corruption and organized crime.
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You've got it backwards! Backwards!
Hurry up and throw it! If you don't hurry up and throw it, you'll go "boom"!
OOC:
(A sample post made for a gakuen hetalia rp →)
IC:
Romano fixed the strap of his shoulder bag for what had to be tenth time that morning, nervous and second guessing his decision more than ever now. After quite the distance of walking, running away from an angry dog and screaming at his taxi driver for being too noisy, Romano was finally here, standing at the large, steely gates of Asher Academy. He had seen pictures of the place prior to moving, but somehow it was way more imposing in real life.
The grounds were filled with students, and at the very first sight of them, Romano frowned. It wasn’t so much the actual school he minded, it was the people. Even now, despite not knowing a single soul present, he could tell who hated who, he could tell apart the cliques and the bullies and the bullied. It didn’t matter what school he went to, it was always the same.
And to make matters worse, he was about to attend the equivalent of middle school. Middle school was definitely the worst. Elementary school was for kids, and high school was for old people, and none of those knew how to be mean. Middle school was a breeding ground of bullies and ill will, and the fact that all these people had powers probably didn’t help any.
Romano sighed, feeling butterflies in his stomach. The distant shouts of the children and teens playing outside barely even reached his ears now. He was too mortified to listen, or to move an inch from the gate behind which he still hid. He had tried to avoid coming here for so long. Even succeeded, for over a year now; he had begged and pleaded his parents to let him stay home and finish regular school, saying that his ability to turn into a sheep couldn’t hurt anyone, so it hardly warranted teaching. It had been going so well too, his parents had agreed and everything and then… then he had dropped out of school and they had kinda found out about his other power.
Ugh, it was so stupid! Healing definitely couldn’t hurt anyone, adults were just damn morons. He was fifteen and he knew better, damn it!
And yet, here he was, standing only a few steps from the schoolyard with no chance to turn back now, and somehow he still felt… glad. It was a stupid feeling lingering in the back of his mind past all the anxiety, but it was there and he couldn’t deny it. Much as he hated school and feared the bullies, he felt good to finally set foot in a place with other people just like him. His powers hadn’t been showy and amazing, but they had made him always feel different than his peers in regular schools, even if others weren’t even aware he even had them. And all the hiding… God, he had hated that the most. All of that’d be over now, at least.
Romano allowed himself to raise his gaze from his bag. Yeah, it wouldn’t be so bad, right? All he’d have to do was endure a few years and then he’d get to the high school equivalent, and then everything’d turn out good right?
That was two years ago now.
God fucking damn it, he had been such an optimist back then. Middle school was the worst? Hah. Showed that he was nothing but a kid back then.
Romano, now aged 17, was sitting on the roof of the academy, overlooking the new students pouring in through the gates, small and timid like he had been two years ago. Man, if only he could turn back time, he’d jump down there and go punch little teeny-weeny-Romano in the face and tell him not to expect much. His first impressions of the place had been right, this place was the exact same as everyplace else. The heroes were the popular kids and the sidekicks the ones anyone could boss and kick around at their leisure. The only difference? Here, the goddamn teachers were the ones assigning people these titles. They were the ones who got to decide whether your school years were spent bullying or getting bullied. Freaking fantastic.
And what was that shit about putting people here to learn how to control their abilities? Did anyone actually buy that? Maybe those newbies down there, full of hopes and dreams and cottoncandy and shit, but not anyone with the brains to look at the bigger picture. The real reason they were dumped here was to keep tabs on them. Make sure they graduated to be what the society wanted.
Romano rolled his eyes. ‘Sides, they… still hadn’t managed to help him control his sheepshifting shit. They had wanted to focus on his healing because it was more important instead. Ugh. How was treating some random people’s boo-boos more important than stopping him from turning into a farm animal every half an hour? Freaking shitty logic they got there.
The school bell rang, and Romano let out an involuntary grunt. Oh great. School was back in session, wasn’t that fucking fantastic? His urge to go and punch the daylights out of his younger ‘wahh middle school’ self was rising again. Middle school was nothing. High school was the absolute worst, the grade where all human intelligence died a shitty, rotten death and all that ever mattered was how expensive your clothes were and who you fucked last night. Middle school was bad, yeah, but at least the kids there were too stupid to know how to make someone’s life a living hell. College? College kids were intelligent enough not to make someone’s life a living hell. High school just sucked hairy monkey balls dipped in fuck and catpiss.
Romano threw the remains of his tomato into his mouth and stood up. Well, whatever, he had a class to get to. Maybe this year’d be better than the last.
He let out a dry laugh as he descended the stairs leading down from the rooftop.
Not holding my breath…[/size]
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I Summon thee from far away lands, come forth!
You called?
Timezone: GMT + 2 (Eastern European)
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