#con fuoco

[cactifish]

This is something I've been wanting to draw and talk about for a while! I've always been fascinated by how much can be told through a character's hands, so symbolism using hands is very heavy in my Con Fuoco fanfic. Wheedle has very distinct hands (his gesturing and his pinky ring) and Fiore hides her hands with gloves. Judgements on their characters could be made on how they present (or don't present) their hands to the world. More below:

Fiore's X-shaped hand scars will always be painful, but she doesn't complain or let on that she is in pain. She chooses to hide this aspect of herself, much like her past, with a mask (her gloves). That's why I feel that her and Wheedle's handshakes are some of their most intimate moments, at least early on. There are moments when passing his tobacco pipe back and forth where their fingers may graze each other too. Their handshakes and the way they both move their hands demonstrate to each other who they are - Wheedle's handshakes are confident yet crooked, and Fiore's are reluctant but she still follows through. I like to draw particular attention to Wheedle's pinky ring because I think that says more about his character than even his bowties or belt buckles. During one performance in my fanfic, Fiore snatches her hand away from Wheedle when he attempts to remove her glove in front of the crowd. She sees it as him exposing her vulnerable, inner core to the delight of an audience. Realistically, her scars wouldn't be that out of place since scars aren't an uncommon trait in Mistria (but they may elicit a curious glance). But her overprotection of her hands is what Wheedle finds intriguing - the mystery aspect. When she does eventually show her hands to him, it's the ultimate form of trust. Wheedle does recognize this. Before Mistria, a nun patched up Fiore's hands at a convent in the Capital (since I hc the game to be late 1800s/very early 1900s this is around the time free medical care could be received by nuns). The nun was the last person to touch her hands. Post-Mistria, no single person has touched her hands as much as Wheedle has. He doesn't know it, but he has been helping her get used to the idea of someone touching her hands again. I do think I write Wheedle a little more serious than how he is in canon, but learning more about how he and Fiore interact and grow closer as I write them both has been so much fun! I think their more subtle moments like when their hands touch are more interesting and romantic than if they were to fully embrace each other (but this of course comes later too).

[that-twink-composer]

Person: That building is on fire

Me, an intellectual: That building is con fuoco

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Con Fuoco Chapter 10: The Bathhouse

More below:

This is another chapter that I think may be my favorite so far. Fiore's humiliation begins as she puts herself out there more, but this is where she starts to shift too. I'm also adding a song for every chapter moving forward, since I usually listen to songs that fit the theme as I write!

[cactifish]

Con Fuoco: Chapters 13 - 16 ~ Love Theme Intro, Love Theme Farewell, Wallpaper, ???

These conclude Act II. These chapters were a labor of love (the common theme between them!), but also the chapters I dreaded writing the most. All together, they took almost a month.

Excerpts below:

Chapter 13 ~ Love Theme Intro

Elsie leans forward over the table. “Do you care for her?”

“I… I suppose I do. Yes.”

“And does she care for you? Do you find that you enjoy spending time with her? Does it feel like an equal friendship? Do you find yourself thinking about her throughout your day?”

Fiore is overwhelmed by the numerous questions. She’s unsure which one to answer, so she simply says, “yes.”

“Has she done anything to hurt you?”

“No…” Fiore pauses. “At least, not since we’ve settled into our living situation. But she still can be quite bothersome.”

Elsie leans back in her chair. “How do you feel when you think of Rena?”

“I feel…” The first thing Fiore pictures is Rena's smile. It’s as if she tries to show every single tooth. It’s quite funny how that big of a smile can fit on her face. It’s almost gotten Fiore to smile herself on a few occasions. What is that called? Contagion? For some reason, when she pictures Rena, she’s always being pulled along somewhere. The image of Rena looking back at her and laughing comes to mind, as she pulls Fiore along by whatever she can grab hold of. When they stand outside of the General Store, she’ll look down at Rena who may or may not be eating whatever thing she’s treated herself to. Like always, she looks up at Fiore with a smile. “I feel like smiling when I think of her.”

“Now, would you still say things are different with Rena? Or do you think this could be platonic love?”

Fiore’s eyes move from Elsie’s, choosing to instead focus on a spot just behind her head. “I suppose it could be.”

“And now, Wheedle …”

Fiore’s body goes rigid at his name. Sure, she could admit it to herself - she does care for Rena. But Wheedle?

“No, not him.”

A laugh escapes Elsie. “I haven’t even said anything yet, dear!”

Chapter 14 ~ Love Theme Farewell

“You’ve never purchased a single thing from me. You even knew my docked pay stipulation was to exploit you… Which you then exacted revenge upon me in subtle ways! Not even the temptation of seeing the one of your dreams in a bathhouse was enough to entice you to throw a few tesserae my way. Your loud-mouthed friend couldn’t resist my soap.”

Fiore crosses her arms. “So, you find it to be a good thing that I’ve never purchased anything from you.”

“Why would I personally associate with someone I take for a fool? It’s not a difficult thing to butter someone up with niceties so they hand over their money. … I have come to respect you more than I anticipated. Even as evident by the stage comment, you think of things that I don’t. Likewise, I think of things you don’t. We make a balanced team! The fact of the matter is: we could make far more in profits by re-framing how we work. Think of it as… a fresh start! No more docked pay. In exchange, I would hope you take our arrangement more seriously. As if it were a real business.”

As Wheedle stares at her, anticipating her reaction, the threat of a blush emerges. She recalls her conversation with Elsie, and how she commented on his staring. … Why is she thinking of this conversation now? Fiore perseveres, remaining impassive. “If we truly are a joint business, then a contract is in order.”

Wheedle snaps his fingers and then points at her. “You’ve read my mind!”

Chapter 15 ~ Wallpaper

I said that if I’m Songbird, then he must be Music Lover.

[cactifish]

Interior drawings for settings in my fanfic Con Fuoco! I've been meaning to draw these for some time now, especially since smoking together is a very important part of Fiore and Wheedle's dynamic. Fiore's bedroom drawing ended up becoming more symbolic of her fear of being 'seen'. The two of them are also very maximalist when it comes to their interior design. Please do not use or reference these in any way. 🙏 These are my setting designs for my own personal story and ship dynamic.

[cactifish]

Con Fuoco: Chapter 12 ~ Sotto Voce

A new chapter of Con Fuoco is finally finished! I've been chipping away at this one for a few weeks now. It's my first ever time writing Balor, so I hope I did him some justice. Excerpt from the chapter below:

“My, my. Color me impressed, busker girl. I hadn’t taken you to be the loyal type.” He does seem satisfied with her answers. “I think I may need to do something about this horrible gossip as well.”

Loyalty was not something Fiore expected him to interpret from her story, but she chooses to let him believe this. She does find it amusing when he inflates his own ego. Moreover, she is satisfied that she’s distracted him from the topic of her dream.

“I was going to suggest that we should start on next week’s planning,” Wheedle leans forward, a new exuberance flowing through him, “but this is far more interesting to me! Now, what would happen if you were to leave a bucket of water sitting atop his door?”

Fiore folds her gloved hands together in her lap. “I have heard that cats hate getting wet.”

There is a glint in Wheedle’s eye at this. “Yes. I’ve heard that as well.”

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Con Fuoco ~ (How We Became) Scam Likely [Chapters 5 - 7]

Three new chapters of Con Fuoco are live! Arguably, these may be the most important chapters so far because they fully flesh out Fiore's dynamic with three central characters. They are all very dialogue-heavy chapters. Fiore and Wheedle are VERY mean to each other early on. I haven't portrayed this in drawings (yet) but it's absolutely integral to their early dynamic. Starting off bitter and feeling contempt for one another makes their eventual cooperation and even more eventual domestic life feel much more deserved in my opinion. They are adults with their own forms of baggage so I like to portray them that way, while also trying to balance it with some comedy at their expense.

[cactifish]

A few weeks ago my mom asked me what I've been getting up to lately, and I told her I've been focused on writing a story to help process something from my life. She knows this period from my life so she understands the weight of me exploring it through art, so naturally she then asked if she could read it….. I reluctantly send her my Con Fuoco fanfic (while hiding my face with my hands) and explain to her in a fast talking crazed way the entire plotline from start to finish, what the symbolism means, and what I hope to learn from writing it (I made a visual too of all the characters so she knows what they look like). And since then she keeps asking me when I'm going to update it next. She even said she saved all of the songs I picked for the chapters in a playlist that she listens to 🥹 She's Fiore's and Scam Likely's #1 fan