emilio could handle his alcohol . after all , he was italian and his asshole of a father was a raging alcoholic . tonight ? maybe he took it too far . in his defense , he had won the karaoke contest he so desperately wanted to win , and to celebrate , he had drank more than he could take . the only problem is that he didn’t notice it was a bit more than he could handle until he was stumbling out in the snow , unaware of where his cabin was . he was so out of the loop , and in his drunken state , he spots none other than jupiter . the guy he swore was the love of his life at one point , the guy he thought he was going to grow old with and raise dog after dog . in any other circumstance , he would simply stare at him and be on his way . he knew they didn’t work out , but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt him . now ? instead of walking the other way , he finds himself walking towards him , again , basically stumbling , until he comes face to face with a guy he was once so infatuated with ( and admittedly , still kind of is ) . “ hey youuuuu ! ” he slurs , giving him a toothless grin at first , before he breaks out into a smile with his teeth . those bunny teeth he had always been secretly insecure about . “ guess what ? i won the karaoke contest ! aren’t you so , so happy for me ?! ” he knew he would regret this later , but now , all he could see was him . without thinking , he wraps his arms around his neck and comes even closer to him . “ hiiii . ” he says sweetly , unable to help his smile as he stares at him with the most drunken , yet fondest expression . “ i’ve missed this . ” he says , a lot more quiet this time . “ i’ve missed you . ”
“I assume we’re splitting the prize money evenly?” She double checked, somewhat intrigued by the idea. Despite developing an aversion to all the events and distractions the town strung together, Lila found herself among those partaking in the annual winter celebration. As expected, it was harder to feel at ease at this sort of thing than she originally thought, so this was a much needed distraction. “Sure, why the hell not. It’s probably the most exciting thing happening around here at the moment.” And who knew, maybe she’d ended up swiping a few valuables while the pair wasn’t preforming so it wouldn’t be a giant waste of time even if they ended up losing. “The boa is a hard maybe though.” Her tone was somewhat teasing, suggesting she wasn’t completely against them. “Do you have a winning song picked out?”
“ no actually , i was thinking a 70 / 30 split , ” he rolls his eyes playfully , “ of course we’re splitting it evenly , silly . we just have to win . i mean , i’m determined to win . ” when emilio set his mind to something , there was no stopping him . when she agrees , he jumps up and down and claps his hands excitedly , green painted fingernails on display , obviously christmas themed . “ anything involving a determined italian is exciting . i was also thinking that we could probably take a bottle or two and they wouldn’t even notice . most people get shit faced during these events anyways . ” that wasn’t a lie . he’s noticed lots of events that are attended by rich or upper class people tend to have lots of hammered guests , or high guests , or both . emilio would take advantage as much as he could , considering most of these people didn’t have to work for anything . “ well , maybe something christmas themed or upbeat . either something christmas related because these suckers will eat it right up , or something people can dance to . i’m trying to put myself in a very drunk person’s shoe’s and trying to figure out what they would rather listen to , and those are the two main ones that come to mind . ”
“i’m not saying it’s bad luck not to build a snowman before christmas, but… it’s bad luck not to build a snowman before christmas.” annie had already grown tired of being stuck inside for the winter activities, so now it was time to brave the cold and do something snow-related outside before she got restless and did something reckless like try her hand at skiing once again (she hadn’t faceplanted too badly, but had been far from graceful). “do you have anything we can use for the snowman? i’m volunteering my scarf and… scrunchie? i guess a snowman can have a half ponytail somehow. we’ll figure it out. why the hell not.”
“ is it really ? ” he asked , wondering if that was an actual superstition or not . now that he’s heard it though , he knows he’ll never forget it . while he was well aware that lots of those weren’t real , he was a fan of superstitions . he taps his fingers against his thigh in thought , trying to remember some things he had laying around . “ i have a few buttons we can use as eyes , but for a nose , i don’t have any carrots , but .... the only thing i can think of using is this miniature dildo all employees received at come what may for christmas . don’t worry though , it was never used . ” he promises it wasn’t . “ or .... maybe you have something more appropriate . ” was emilio even remotely embarrassed about anything he just said ? of course he wasn’t .
“oh, i love fun,” fynn said, although his voice did not exactly match his words. it was not that he was being sarcastic or dishonest. who didn’t love to shake some boredom away, but fynn’s idea of fun was rarely ever anyone else’s. he was sure emilio’s was not about laying in bed, drinking warm drinks and watching cartoon christmas specials. “what? karaoke contest?” fynn raised his eyebrows before they fell over his eyes in a concerned frown. he was so bad at saying no, he was already seeing himself with the fucking boa around his neck. “i- two hundred dollars? do we get half and half?” he couldn’t believe he was actually considering it. “what do you even plan to sing with these?” he reached for one end of the feather boa and wiggled it in his hand as if it were some kind of live worm.
“ oh , i know . especially with that enthusiastic tone . ” emilio teased , keeping a straight face for half a second , before he bursts out into laughter . “ i’m kidding . ” he admits , hoping he knew that before he had to actually clarify that it was a joke . emilio nods his head . “ yes , a karaoke contest . ” emilio was more than determined to win . even though most people don’t know this about him , but he has a great voice – a soprano , meaning that if he concentrates hard enough , he can shatter glass . he was more than ready to sing his heart out and win , even if the other did little to no work , he knew he could have this in the bag if he tried hard enough . “ of course we get half and half . unless you’d like to give me your half because i’m cute . ” he’s teasing again , smiling with his teeth this time , the top front bunny ones on full display . “ i’m thinking something christmas related , something upbeat and fun to sing to , something ... worthy of winning . i just know i have to win . i mean ... we , of course . ” he pauses , licking his lips with anticipation . “ so ... you’re in ? please ? ”
“uhh, not necessarily?” right off the bat, adam knows it’s not gonna be a good idea. nothing personal, no offense to the other, but it seems pretty clear the two of them aren’t exactly on the same wavelength when it comes to the concept of fun. the first sentences only confirm the theory, brows furrowing in displease at the mention of rich people, only for the whole proposition to go even more downhill with the introduction of a karaoke contest. as expected, absolutely none of that sounds enjoyable. he doesn’t even try to hide it, the expression across features a clear indicator he couldn’t be any less intrigued. “man, i don’t-” begins, but despite the protests, the other remains awfully persistent, whipping out a feather boa that in no way comes close to changing adam’s mind. “jesus, fuck.” can’t help but cringe at the thought of himself wearing anything other than a frown accessorized with a worn out baseball cap. “yeah, uhh, thanks for the opportunity and all, but i’m gonna go with no. good luck, though.”
emilio had a strong feeling that adam would pass . of course he knew that , the other practically hated anything fun . still , that didn’t stop emilio from signing them up , very well aware of the fact that the other would wear that scowl on his face no matter what , but he already had a whole plan for that . whenever emilio wanted something , he worked for it , even if what he had to do was ridiculous . right now , he really wanted that money , and no one , not even adam the grump , was going to get in the way of that . “ okay look , i know you hate anything fun , but you should still do this for me . come on , please ? because i’m cute ? ” to get his point across , he playfully pokes his stomach , hoping to annoy him enough so he’ll cave , unable to help his giggling . “ come on ! you’re gonna look so fucking sexy up on that stage , frowning like your life depends on it , your chiseled abs poking through your shirt . so , so hot , ” he wasn’t lying , but he was mainly kissing up , “ you don’t even have to do any work ! just leave it all to me , you damn barbarian ! ” his soft hands playfully mess up his hair , hoping adam knew he didn’t plan on stopping until he agreed . with emilio , it’s his way or the highway , especially now considering he’s a bit tipsy . when he hears people clapping , he turns around to realize that the couple was done with their duet , instantly turning back to adam and squealing excitedly . “ okay , so funny thing is , i might just be a little tipsy and signed us up anyways . i knew you were gonna say no but i really want the money , so ... come on ! ” and he’s dragging him towards the stage ( literally ) .
“ hey , you wanna do something fun ? ” emilio asks to the poor bystander , quirking one of his brows . he doesn’t even let them answer before he’s continuing . “ so i met this rich out of state couple and they’re hosting a karaoke event in their ski cabin . the winner gets two hundred dollars . there’s drinks , food ... typical rich people with too much money on their hands . anyways , i’m determined to win . the only problem is you can’t enter by yourself so i’d need someone else ... you in ? ” god , please say yes . “ come on , please ? i even bought feather boas , look ! ” he reaches into his leather satchel and pulls out one of the two he had , wrapping the rainbow colored one on his neck like the fabulous gay he is . “ okay , you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to , but it would be rad if you were on board with this . ” he’s talking about the feather boas and them being karaoke partners , obviously . @shrikestart
federico cesari , gay , male + he/him ― hey look, it’s emilio gatti ! they’re twenty three years old , they’ve lived in shrike heights for thirteen years , and they’re currently working at come what may . i heard they’re pretty bratty , but i think they’re so determined at the same time . can they make it out alive ?
tws for brief mentions of abuse , hospitals , injuries , inappropriate relationships , self harm , mental illness , homophobia ( internalized too ) , possibly more ?
basic info
✹ full name : emilio alessandro gatti
✹ nicknames : usually just goes by emilio , but his older sister calls him emi . he has to really , really like you to let you call him this
✹ birthday / zodiac : november 5 , scorpio sun , sagittarius moon , leo rising
✹ right handed or left handed : right handed
✹ height : 5 ‘ 9
✹ three things he likes : any tiramisu dessert , meeting a fellow italian , elton john
✹ three things he dislikes : people making fun of his hair color/freckles ( basically any and all redhead jokes ) , waking up early , anyone making him feel small
✹ eye color : brown
✹ hair color : auburn ( reddish brown , or dark ginger )
✹ place of birth : positano , italy
✹ languages spoken : italian ( native tongue ) , english , very basic portuguese
✹ five aesthetics : barely noticeable freckles until you come close enough , bunny teeth , accidentally sleeping through your alarm , cake batter milkshakes , a worn out jean jacket he can’t seem to throw away
background story and headcanons
emilio was born in southern italy , in a village called positano . he’s the youngest of two , his older sister elena being born four years before him
his father , who he was ( unfortunately ) named after , was what you would call a ‘ functioning alcoholic ’ . functioning in the sense that he could drink a shit load and still show up to work as if nothing happened . besides that , his father wasn’t the nicest guy out there
in fact , he had impeccable standards for both his kids . he wanted his daughter to always look her best , as he stated that a girl is only as good as she looks , basically claiming that’s all elena had going for her – the fact that she was a pretty redhead , discarding her intelligence and personal feelings about his thoughts completely
for emilio , it was all about being the man of the house . he wanted him to play soccer ( or calcio in italian ) , he wanted him to be completely detached from his feelings as he always stated that ‘ men don’t cry ’ , he wanted him to be the biggest womanizer out there , basically ? toxic masculinity at it’s finest . gross , close minded thoughts and principals that he forced his kids to follow
his mother , yolanda , was the sweetest person ever . so sweet , she kind of let her husband walk all over her out of fear of upsetting him . she didn’t agree with any of his ideas , but she was too meek , too soft spoken , to actually speak up about it . at the time , no one knew it was actually because she was depressed
emilio wanted to please his father . he doesn’t know why considering he’s a drunk asshole , but he just really wanted his approval . he wanted him to be proud of him , so , he tried doing all the things he knew would make him happy . he joined the soccer team when he was six , he tried his hardest to hang out with the guys and get into as many sports as possible , he would discreetly point to girls when he was out with his father and claim ‘ she’s really pretty ’ , even though honestly ? all of these things made emilio very unhappy
he hated sports of any kind , he didn’t know why , but he felt no attraction to girls ( at the time of course , he didn’t know it was because he’s gay ) , he thought boys his age were immature and he had no interest to play with toys that were aimed for boys . the only time emilio felt like he could be himself was around his older sister
when no one was around , they would play with her dolls , she would jokingly put lipstick on him , and they would even model around the house wearing his mother’s jewelry . these were times where emilio genuinely felt happy and free , but as soon as his father would come home , it was back to doing things he didn’t like , but pretended to
and with his father’s ideas , he felt backwards . he didn’t understand why he couldn’t just be normal and actually like all the things his father wanted him to like . he felt like there was something seriously wrong with him for liking things that were aimed for girls because of all the bullshit ideas his father would put in his head . there were days where he desperately wanted to cry because he hated being the way he was , feeling the way he did , even though he wasn’t aware of his sexuality but he just knew that he was .... different , and he hated it
and then one day , the day before his ninth birthday , his parents are out and his sister is in her room . emilio starts wandering through his parents room , looking for a radio he knew they had stored somewhere in there . instead , he finds a large box filled with his mother’s make up , wigs , accessories , and all the nice things she uses to go out . really , he doesn’t know what comes over him , but he finds himself taking the box towards his parents’ bathroom and using the things that are in there
he starts by putting on his mother’s dress , then one of his favorite wigs that she owns , then he puts on a few accessories , and finally , he starts putting on her make up . her eyeliner , mascara , lipstick , the whole look , and once he’s done , emilio stands there , looking at himself in the mirror , and like the times where he genuinely smiles when it’s just him and his sister , he starts to genuinely smile while looking at himself . he felt alive , he thought he looked so , so pretty , but that moment of pure happiness doesn’t last too long
he doesn’t hear the front door unlock at all . the only thing he manages to see is the bathroom door swing open , his father standing there behind him , a look of horror and disgust on his face when he see’s what his son has done
! tws for brief mentions of abuse , homophobia , passing out , injuries and hospitals for the next 2 bullets , please skip over this if such things trigger you or proceed with caution ! the next few minutes seem to happen in slow motion for emilio . he starts stuttering out apologies , but before he can fully explain himself , he feels several punches being thrown his way . the last thing he remembers is hearing his mother and sister screaming at his father to stop , before the room turns completely black
the next day , emilio wakes up in the hospital . his injuries are bad , but what hurts the most is when he breathes . turns out , his father had fractured three of his ribs in the process of hitting him . the first person he see’s is his sister , and he can feel her holding his hand incredibly tight and he can clearly see the tears in her eyes . his mother is beside her , with the same expression on her face , but his father is nowhere to be found . right at that moment though , he walks through the door and asks for a moment alone with his son . emilio , terrified of what he would do , tries his best not to shake . the only thing his father does then is run his hands past his sons hair in the least comforting way possible . after that , he says ‘ i’m sorry for doing that to you , but what do you expect me to do when you pull gay ass shit like that ? no son of mines is gonna turn out that way ’ . to wrap up a sad story , they tell the hospital staff that his injuries are from kids at school rather than the truth , and emilio ? spends his ninth birthday in the emergency room crying ( literally ) ! end of tws !
after that , emilio makes sure to hide every bit of who he is , even when only his sister is around . the only good thing about being injured was that he could get out of soccer practice and he missed a few days of school , but besides that , the atmosphere at the gatti household has never been more tense
around this time is when his father gets a job promotion in denver , colorado . despite being an abusive alcoholic , he’s always taken his job very seriously . without much question , his family moves half way across the world
emilio is actually excited about this move because he thinks that this can be a huge chance to reinvent himself . maybe in a whole other continent , he can be a different person . maybe all the thoughts that his father so openly disagrees with could disappear here in america ( you can’t ungay yourself emilio but ok sjkdnvjfd ) , little does he know , it’s a lot easier said than done
for starters , he struggles a lot with the language . he’s only spoken italian all his life , so learning english is very difficult for him . on top of that , the thoughts he so desperately wants to get rid of only seem to get stronger in denver . everything is so different and he finds himself so lost , it makes him depressed , because on top of not speaking the language , the older he gets , the more he starts realizing that his feelings aren’t going away
the move to america only seems to make his father’s attitude even worse as well , and he starts drinking even more , becomes even more verbally abusive , up to the point where emilio feels like he can’t even breathe around him . he knows that with one wrong move , that verbal abuse could turn physical real quick , so he does everything he can to get on his good side
thankfully , his mother becomes fed up with his father’s shit after a while , and after much convincing from his sister , they leave him like the scum he is , yolanda taking her two children and moving to the small town of shrike heights when emilio is ten ( we love to see it )
for a while , things seem to look up for them . emilio finds himself understanding more and more english each day , actually making a decent amount of friends thanks to his spunky and out going attitude , his father is no longer around , which of course , is a huge plus , his grades are better than they were before , it all seems to be working out for them , of course , until it isn’t
fast forward a few months and his mother meets a man she soon marries after three months of knowing him . there were some upsides to this , as larry was nothing at all like his father , and thanks to him , his family manages to gain american citizenship , but .... his mother becomes very , very attached to him . at the time , no one knows it’s because she has chronic depression . emilio is skeptical about larry , but all he knows is that he makes his mother happy and that’s really all he cares about
this dream bubble doesn’t last long because one day , when they come home , larry’s things are gone . surprisingly ? his mother smiles and claims it’s all okay , that’s she’s perfectly fine with him leaving , but later that night , it’s obvious that she’s most definitely not okay
! tws for brief mentions of self harm , mental illness and blood , please skip over this if such things trigger you or proceed with caution ! emilio is in the living room doing some homework and listening to music in low volume when he hears something fall to the ground from the kitchen . curiously of course , he walks over there to find his mother sitting on the kitchen floor , her wrists gushing with blood , and she’s shaking and crying . his stomach falls instantly and he screams for his sister . obviously , they call 911 . unfortunately , his mother needs to be held for evaluation for a minimum of three days . even more unfortunately , three days turn into a week once she’s evaluated and they realize she is most definitely still not okay . emilio and elena are told their mother is depressed , and apparently has been depressed for a very long time – her husband leaving her just happened to be her breaking point , as she thinks it’s karma for leaving her husband , the father of her kids ( even though he was an awful person , but yolanda is convinced this is the reason larry left ) ! end of tws !
thankfully , she’s released after exactly a week and three days , but emilio still has the traumatic memory of seeing his mother that way . even though she appears to be a lot better mentally , he suddenly feels like it’s him and his sister’s job to take care of her , even though he’s struggling with his own issues ( school , his sexuality , etc ) . at the time , he was fifteen , and his sister was nineteen
after so many ‘ days off ’ from work , the gatti’s fall behind on rent , which forces his sister to get a second job to help make ends meet . emilio gets a part time job after school to help as well , so on top of the trauma he holds , both from his mother and his father , he also has to worry about being kicked out of their home
it’s a silly part time job at a bakery just a few blocks away from his house . emilio isn’t expecting much of it , basically just getting the job to help his family , but there , he meets ... a guy
he’s sixteen , a year older than him , and remember those feelings emilio keeps trying so hard to push back ? well , they just come pouring out of him , because he develops such a huge crush on this guy , even though he deeply denies it at first . surprisingly ? this guy becomes his first ever boyfriend . literally cute , pure , high school love
despite his father not being in the picture anymore , emilio doesn’t feel like it’s his time to come out . his father’s words , unfortunately , have been practically welded into his brain , convincing him that being gay is wrong , but at this point , he’s no longer in denial . he knows he’s gay , he just doesn’t want everyone else to know ( at least not now , with all his problems going on at home )
the next year consists of attending visits to the psychiatrist and psychologist with his mother , helping make ends meet not just for rent , but for his mother’s medication , and juggling school as well . the first person emilio comes out to is his sister , when he’s sixteen , and her literal response ? ‘ i know , silly ’ . afterwards , he comes out to his mother , and thankfully , they’re both very accepting , even though he himself is still struggling with who he is , but he starts learning to accept himself more and more each day
emilio really finds himself in high school . not just with his sexuality , but his personality develops a lot more . he realizes he can be a huge brat when he doesn’t get his way , as he hates hearing the words no . starts experimenting with narcotics and alcohol , though he really only sticks to basic stuff like weed and cigarettes ( actually left traumatized with alcohol after his father , though he will have a drink every once in a blue moon ) . basically just .... coming of age things . maybe things are kind of okay now ( as okay as it could be for the gatti’s , at least ) , but of course , do things ever really stay okay forever when it comes to this family ? not quite
! tws for brief mentions of inappropriate relationships ( student/teacher ) , bullying and slut shaming for the next three bullets , please skip over this if such things trigger you or proceed with caution ! finally , his senior year of high school . emilio feels like he’s changed so much . came out of the closet , gained a lot more confidence , really , really found himself , and he’s ( finally ) legal , meaning he can buy all the packs of cigarettes he wants ( gross emilio , but whatever djkvnfjv ) . the last thing emilio is expecting is to have a thing with his chemistry teacher of all people . a man who is married to a woman but claims to be ‘ straight just curious ’ . to be fair , he’s barely thirty five , but it’s still super inappropriate and obviously ? kept under wraps . and truthfully , emilio doesn’t genuinely like him . he just likes the attention he gives him
call it daddy issues ? his unspoken traumas ? the fact that he’s kind of a hoe ? but emilio loves the attention he gets from this older guy , attention that he’s never received before . he loves the presents he gets him , loves the whole ‘ forbidden ’ thing they have going on , basically just .... loves the validation he gets from him , but he feels no genuine feelings for the guy , and he knows what he’s doing is wrong . getting with a closeted married man , who is his teacher of all people , but he doesn’t care enough to stop until things start to actually get scandalous
to this day , emilio has no idea how the news came to light . one day , he just walks into school and he can see and hear people whispering about him , pointing at him , clearly gossiping about him . he gets to his locker and the first thing he notices is the word ‘ slut ’ written in red spray paint . as if that isn’t bad enough , the second he opens the thing , at least a hundred condoms fall to the ground , along with another hundred pictures of said chemistry teacher . needles to say , it becomes a huge scandal . the teacher gets fired , obviously wants nothing to do with him , and emilio is slut shammed and bullied so bad , he’s forced to finish the rest of his senior year at night school ( yikes ) ! ends of tws !
after high school , his life has been kind of ‘ normal ’ you could say . he took a gap year then got his aa at 22 , and is currently going to school for psychology as he really wants to be a psychologist to genuinely help people like his mother . he’s taking care of her and his sister moved to back to denver , and , despite having a decent amount of savings to get his own place , emilio doesn’t have it in him to leave his mother , kind of afraid that she might do something crazy . he takes care of her
started working at come what may about three months ago . emilio ? just happy as hell he can be around sex stuff and actually make money while he’s at it ( we hate him but what else is new ) literally will flirt with customers so they can buy something and he gets commission 😀
he’s actually a very ambitious person . like , very , very ambitious . when he wants something , he sets his mind to it and gets it , whether it be a guy , an expensive shirt he saw and really liked , whatever the case is , what he wants , he gets . very , very determined guy , definitely , for sure getting the fuck out of shrike heights eventually if you know what i mean
he can be very surprising , as he shows one face to everyone but has a completely different one when he’s around people he trusts . you never really know what to expect with him
he plays piano ! a habit him and his sister picked up from their grandfather when they were younger . he’s actually very , very good , but very few people , if not no one , knows he has this hobby . very big hidden talent , but he likes it that way , as he plays because he likes the instrument , not because he wants attention
he loves attention and validation , maybe because he never received any growing up
huge flirt . sometimes he won’t even notice he’s flirting , it’ll just come naturally and he’ll be like woops vjkdnvjdfn
kind of a stubborn brat . it’s his way or the highway
he has the tiniest , most unnoticeable scar his on his upper left cheek that his father gave to him on that day that shall not be named . tells people his dog did that to him despite the fact that he’s never even had a pet fish before , let alone a dog
he’s low key insecure about his teeth but you’d never guess it . his top two front teeth are bunny like ( view first gif for reference ) so it’s always been a secret insecurity of his
he has a cigarette habit ? it’s gotten a lot less intense since high school , but it’s still there . just call him a typical italian LMFAOO
i’m gonna end this here because it’s already pretty long , but below are some wanted connections !
wanted connections
i don’t know how but they found me : this is open to multiple people , but people he went to school with that recognize him as that guy who hooked up with his teacher . they could have been someone who participated in bullying him , or a simple bystander , but they know all about his fling . how they feel towards him is entirely up to the mun
i remember you , but you don’t remember me : okay , hear me out .... someone he gave a drunken blow job to but he doesn’t remember doing it ? plot twist though , your muse does ! they could be talking one day and mid conversation it’s like wait .... didn’t this guy give me head one time ? meanwhile emilio ? clueless djkfvjdfv
you’ve got a friend in me : his first ever friend in shrike heights please ? someone who has been there for him since the start and doesn’t judge him for his actions ( even though there’s low key a lot to judge )
this is all that’s coming to mind now , but , let’s plot !
