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ABOUT
Nicola Francesca
NAME
Piofiore
CANON
Male
GENDER
Human
SPECIES
June 28, 1897
BIRTHDAY
28 (Fated Memories); 29 (Ep. 1926)
AGE
5'10" (177cm)
HEIGHT
AB
BLOOD TYPE
Falzone Family's Underboss
OCCUPATION
Ryohei Kimura
VOICE
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A witty and charismatic Italian man. He is always well-dressed and has a pleasant, gentle disposition, however his smile often doesn't reach his eyes. Used to dealing with women.
PERSONALITY
FRIENDLY
Nicola tends to get along with most people easily, and is especially kind towards women.
LOYAL
He is unwaveringly loyal to his boss Dante and his romantic partner (Lili in his own route, or whoever he ends up with in RP).
CARING
Being a caring, brotherly figure is a natural part of Nicola's personality. He even calls his favorite people his brother or sister. Nicola also suffers quietly whenever his orders result in a subordinate's death and always tells them whenever they go off on a dangerous mission that he'll look after their family. He does indeed ensure that the families of his deceased subordinates live comfortably and safely for the rest of their lives.
MISCHIEVOUS
Nicola likes to tease people, usually in a good-natured way, and occasionally play harmless pranks.
WORKAHOLIC
He is constantly working long hours almost every single day, often late into the night or early morning, even when he is under the weather or injured.
PICKY EATER
He doesn't like to eat anything that's unfamiliar to him (basically all non-Italian foods) and even within Italian cuisine, he has a lengthy list of things he won't eat, lardo being at the top of the list. However, he'll eat anything that his special someone makes for him.
LIAR
Nicola can lie as easily as he breathes and does so quite often, especially when it relates to personal or sensitive information. He doesn't even like to reveal his likes or dislikes. He'll also lie to Dante and go behind his back to accomplish tasks that he wouldn't approve of when Nicola deems it necessary for the sake of the Family.
UNORTHODOX
Unlike Dante, Nicola is not pious and strongly believes that adapting to the changing times is key to survival rather than clinging to outdated traditions.
CALCULATING
He is always thinking multiple steps ahead and formulating elaborate plans to accomplish his goals.
RUTHLESS
Despite his natural kind and caring nature, Nicola will resort to any means necessary to achieve victory, even if it means sacrificing his subordinates, friends, or innocent people. If one of his loved ones is killed, he will stop at nothing to avenge their death.
DISTANT
He is used to being feared and/or hated when people see his ruthless side, and he doesn't like to show his true emotions either, so Nicola is careful not to let most people get too close to him.
BACKSTORY (WIP)
During those days, his parents often visited the Falzone manor and brought Nicola with them. He found the visits boring until at the age of four he met the only child living at the manor at the time: the nine-year-old younger brother of the Key Maiden named Henri Lambert. The Falzone Family had taken him and his sister Chloe in after their parents passed away so that the Key Maiden could live under their protection. The two quickly became close as they both had no one else in their lives they could play with. Sometime in between these visits, Nicola's father fought Silvio to the death in an attempt to succeed the position himself and lost, however his mother, Vittoria, continued to visit the manor with Nicola as she was determined to see her son take over the Family one day. Nicola didn't feel much towards his father's death because the two were never close and continued to enjoy his days playing with Henri. The older boy even told him that he would be Nicola's big brother if he wanted him to, which he accepted very happily.
On September 17, 1902, Silvio's wife gave birth to a boy named Dante, making him the new next in line to become the heir and boss of the Falzone Family. Nicola was demoted to an ordinary member and his frequent visits to the Falzone manor came to an end, losing his big brother in the process. By the time he stepped foot in the manor again, Chloe had passed away and Henri had been sent to live with another branch family outside of Burlone. Nicola's early childhood memories would eventually be locked away and forgotten, but the words Henri spoke when he said he would be Nicola's big brother never left the back of his mind.
Dante's mother passed away shortly after that experience, and it was after her funeral that Nicola witnessed his younger cousin become emotional for the first time. As he watched the boy cry after putting up a strong front during the funeral, Nicola realized how much pressure Dante felt to not show any weakness in front of others as the next boss to be, which was no doubt enabled by Silvio's incredibly strict treatment of him. It was then that he wanted to be someone Dante could rely on and told him to think of him as his older brother, similar to what Henri did for him before. Although they both agreed that Dante calling him "brother" was too embarrassing, Dante admitted that he had always wanted to be better friends with Nicola. From that day forward, Nicola fully dedicated himself to becoming the best underboss Dante could ever ask for.
Sometime afterwards, Dante had an outburst following a heated argument with his father, telling Nicola that he didn't want to become the next boss. These words were spoken in the heat of the moment and didn't actually reflect his true feelings, however Nicola took them very seriously and kept them close in his mind.
One day, Vittoria told Nicola that she had gathered accomplices to kill Dante for his sake. He had started seeing Dante as his little brother by this point and wanted to protect him, but he also didn’t want to bring any harm to his mother. In his naivete, he went to Silvio and asked if he could arrange for her and Dante to meet sometime, thinking that if he showed her how great Dante was, she would agree that he was the rightful heir of the Falzone Family and call off the assassination. Silvio simply smiled at Nicola and agreed, but a few days later, Nicola returned home to find Vittoria on the living room floor, covered in blood. With the last of her strength, she extended a bloody hand to her son and told him to get help while spitting hateful, homicidal curses towards Silvio and Dante.
Knowing that she would stop at nothing to kill Dante if she survived, Nicola found himself unable to move despite his mother's pleas for help and watched her die. He wanted to save both Dante and Vittoria, but he knew deep down his mother was too far gone for salvation. He came to believe that the words he spoke to Silvio the few days before had brought about her death; that he himself was his mother's killer. This event caused Nicola to become wary of sharing information with others, and as he grew up, he became an adept liar.
However, not everyone in the Falzone Family gave the new boss a warm welcome. Those who opposed Dante made attempts on his life in broad daylight wherever they could find him, but rumor spread across Burlone that the young boss himself was the one behind the chaos. The aggressions continued until gunfire had become a daily occurrence in the town, so Dante decided to purge the Family of bad blood in order to put an end to it. Nicola helped him orchestrate the execution of Dante's opposers, inviting them all to a banquet where they were mercilessly slaughtered. This event came to be known within the Family as the "Blood Purge."
Little did Dante know that Nicola also began laying the groundwork for his own personal mission that may or may not bear fruit in the future: to set Dante free from the shackles of the Falzone Family and their outdated traditions, all based on the outburst Dante had when they were children, his disapproval of how Silvio treated his son, and his own resentment of the Family's sacred mission that had festered over the years.
In 1925, the third of the Burlone Mafia Families and the only one not of Italian heritage, the Lao-Shu, the Burlone branch of the Chinese Mafia organization known as the Liu Huang Hui, began to escalate tensions between the Families. Their leader, Yang, found out about Lili's significance to the Falzone and the Church after bribing a high-ranking member of the Church for information. Eager to obtain a valuable bargaining chip, the Lao-Shu attempted to abduct Lili from the town's neutral district of Arca. The Burlone Mafia upheld an unspoken rule to not cause any trouble in Arca, but with the rule broken by the Lao-Shu, the other Families were forced to take action.
From this point onward, Nicola's fate, as well as the fate of Burlone itself, became entwined with that of Lili's. How his story played out from here depended entirely on her decisions.
BRIEF INTROS OF CHARACTERS NOT PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED
Orlok: A highly skilled informant that Nicola has worked with for years. Friend.Gilbert Redford: Leader of the Visconti Family. Friend.
Leo Cavagnis: A lower ranking member of the Falzone Family. Friend.
Dominico: Consigliere of the Falzone Family. Ally.
Giulia: Head housekeeper of the Falzone Family manor who has been with them since before Dante and Nicola were born. Motherly figure.
Bartolo: Head butler of the Francesca Family manor and Giulia's husband. Annoying fatherly figure.
Oliver: The Visconti's lawyer and chief advisor. Respected.
Sister Sofia: Head nun of Burlone's church. Ally.
Elena: Lili's best friend who also lives in Burlone's church. Neutral.
Marco Calderoni: Police detective who has worked closely with the Falzone Family for decades. Ally.
Roberto De Feo: Marco's subordinate who openly disparages Nicola and the Burlone Mafia. Nuisance.
Sebastiano "Direttore" Gallier: The manager of Burlone's government-run casino, where the Burlone Mafia hold meetings. Nuisance.
Raul Ghirlandaio: Distant relative who lives in Rome. Enemy.
NICOLA ROUTE
(Best/True Ending Status: Alive)TBA
DANTE ROUTE
(Best/True Ending Status: Alive)TBA
YANG ROUTE
(Best/True Ending Status: Deceased)In an effort to locate Lili, the Lao-Shu abducted young women without families from Arca. Once they were discovered to not be the woman they were looking for, they were sold into slavery and shipped back to the Lao-Shu's homeland of China. One fateful day, they finally managed to locate Lili while she was walking with Elena, resulting in the abduction of both of them. While Lili was sent to the Lao-Shu's base, Elena was sent to the residence of Yang's right-hand man, Lee.
Upon learning that Lili was in the Lao-Shu's custody, Nicola speculated that Yang had discovered that she was the Key Maiden and sent his informants to investigate. However, the Lao-Shu's abduction activities were not the only problem that the Lao-Shu caused for Burlone. They also began circulating a highly addictive drug known as red peony in the form of caramella (candy), which caused its victims to feel intense pleasure and become physically unable to survive without it, eventually leading to death from withdrawal or overuse. This drug was also given to the abducted women to keep them in line, including Elena.
Their distribution began in the Lao-Shu's territory but quickly spread into the territory of the Falzone and the Visconti, however Yang was not actually the one who was responsible for acquiring and distributing the drug; Lee was doing it behind Yang's back on orders from the Liu Huang Hui. Lee was secretly plotting to get rid of Yang and become the new head of the Lao-Shu, and once Yang decided on a whim to take his place in a red peony deal, he sold the details of the deal to the Falzone and the Visconti, framing Yang as the one responsible for selling red peony in their territories. With both Families now having reason to want him dead as well, they falsely promised Lee that they wouldn't attack the Lao-Shu anymore once he was in charge.
Armed with Lee's intel, Nicola, Dante, and Gilbert worked together to bomb the boat the deal was taking place on in an attempt to kill Yang. What they didn't know was that he had brought Lili on board with him, causing her to get caught up in the blast as well. The operation ended bittersweetly with Yang jumping off the boat with Lili as it sunk, who were rescued by Yang's strongest subordinates, two twins named Lan (female) and Fei (male). The Falzone and Visconti eventually learned of their plan's failure and began formulating a new one instead.
Lee soon enacted another scheme by kidnapping Lili and bringing her to his residence, forcing Yang and his most powerful subordinates to leave their base to rescue her. He informed the Falzone and the Visconti of this ahead of time, allowing the Falzone the opportunity to take advantage of the weakened security and move in to occupy their base. Having stupidly pissed off Yang, Lee was killed by him during the rescue.
BEST END
Yang and Lili encountered Dante, Nicola, and other Falzone members as they were all on their way towards the Lao-Shu's base. Dante told Yang that he would spare his life if he handed Lili over peacefully, but he refused. He then attempted to appeal to Lili, telling her that it was the Falzone's intention to protect her, but her time with Yang and witnessing the Falzone and the Visconti's cruelty when they mercilessly killed innocent women in the boat bombing caused her to lose the faith she once had in the Falzone Family. With both Yang and Lili refusing to cooperate, the Falzone moved forward with their plan and initiated a fierce battle against the Lao-Shu. As Yang moved in on Dante, he carried Lili with him to force Dante to prioritize Lili's safety over slaying his opponent. Once he was close enough, Yang threw Lili down on the ground and plunged his blade in Dante's chest in the same motion, resulting in his death. The Lao-Shu went on to slay many more of the Falzone's men, with Nicola being one of the few to escape with their lives.
Desperate to avenge the man who was not only his boss but his precious little brother, Nicola enlisted Gilbert's help in one last attempt to destroy the Lao-Shu. The Falzone Family was too weak to make any moves, so he had no choice but to rely on the Visconti in order to kill Yang as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Yang abducted Elena from Lee's residence to fulfill Lili's wish to save her. She was suffering symptoms of red peony withdrawal, but Lili successfully nursed her back to health and brought her to the church with the Lao-Shu escorting them. One of Nicola's men informed him of this and he quickly hatched a plan to draw Yang out from his territory. Bringing ten of his men, Nicola held the entire church hostage and told one of them to deliver a message to Lili: bring the leader of the Lao-Shu by noon, or else he'll kill everyone. Elena volunteered for the job and carried it out faithfully, begging for Lili to save them. Yang criticized Nicola's plan and refused to go, so Lili decided to take action herself with the assistance of the twins and Elena.
After arriving at the church, Elena and Fei went to find the hostages while Lili and Lan remained in main hall. Nicola confronted the two girls, mocking Yang for sending his woman in his place and telling them that he would kill Lili and send her body to Yang. With Dante dead, Nicola no longer had any reason to protect her, as he had only been attempting to do so for Dante's sake. Despite his earlier refusal, Yang showed up during their heated discussion, agreeing to battle with Nicola. As their battle began, Nicola chose to shoot at Lili instead of Yang, wanting him to feel the same pain that Nicola felt after losing the only person that truly mattered to him. However, Lan's quick reflexes allowed her to tackle Lili to the ground before the bullet hit her.
Unfortunately for Nicola, he was unable to overpower Yang and died by his hand as well. The remaining Falzone members joined with the Visconti to continue the fight against the Lao-Shu, but Gilbert also lost his life to Yang, causing both Families to fall apart and the Lao-Shu to gain full control of Burlone.
GOOD END
TBA
BAD END
TBA
ORLOK ROUTE
(Best/True Ending Status: Deceased)TBA
GILBERT ROUTE
(Best/True Ending Status: Deceased)TBA
FINALE / 1926 ALTERNATIVA ROUTE
(Best/True Ending Status: Alive)TBA
HENRI ROUTE
(Best/True Ending Status: Alive)TBA
ABILITIES
POWERS?
Nicola is an ordinary human with no magical powers.
COMBAT
Nicola is an incredibly skilled fighter who typically fights with a handgun and small knives; one he keeps in the pouch on his leg and another he keeps hidden behind his belt. However, he is capable of using other kinds of weapons as well as no weapons at all.
TORTURE
Not only is he good at killing people, Nicola also knows just how to put someone in absolute agony while ensuring that they are denied the sweet release of death.
NEGOTIATING
Nicola has a decent amount of experience negotiating with clients, business partners, and politicians.
PLANNING
One of the skills he's most praised for is his ability to come up with and properly execute plans for almost any situation, even before anyone else has thought it would be necessary.
LEARNING
He is an excellent learner in general, having been admitted into one of the most renowned universities in the world. Nicola is well-educated in a variety of subjects.
LANGUAGES
Nicola's native language is Italian, but he is also fluent in English and French. I headcanon that he also picked up a handful of Chinese phrases from the population of Chinese immigrants living in Burlone, but he can't read or write Chinese at all.
SURVIVAL
Nicola's time in the army has taught him valuable wilderness survival skills, though especially in harsh winter climates.
HOUSEHOLD CHORES
Despite usually being waited on by housekeeping staff, he is also capable of flawlessly completing household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and picking out the finest pieces of produce from the grocery store.
PERMISSIONS
BACKTAGGING
Yes, though I can only handle juggling a very small number of threads at once so I will drop ones that I'm struggling with usually after a month or two to make room for new ones or if I feel like the thread has served its purpose, but otherwise I will keep tagging as long as there's interest. If I've dropped a thread with you and you'd like me to pick it back up or work out the outcome of the thread so we can continue our CR, you're more than welcome to contact me about it.
THREADJACKING
Yes in public network posts, otherwise please ask.
FOURTHWALLING
No
CROSSCANON
Very few people RP from Nicola's canon so I need crosscanon! I am strongly biased towards canons/characters that I'm personally into but I will give every character a shot and gratitude for taking the time to tag my obscure mafia man (it'd be hypocritical of me not to lol). However, please don't take it personally if I end up losing interest, just as I won't take it personally if you aren't interested in or lose interest in threading with Nicola. If we aren't in contact OOCly and you drop our thread I will assume you aren't interested in threading again, so if that's not the case and you would like to thread again, please let me know or tag me if you see me somewhere else!
I generally prefer jamjar or isekai-Nicola-into-your-canon scenarios for crosscanon meme threads but occasionally I can do AUs too. For reference, I'm not into any live-action fandoms at all; 99% of my interest lies in Asian video games and 1% anime (LA characters are still welcome to tag me of course!). If you'd like to know which specific canons/characters I'm currently interested in, click below:
* - I have already have an AU backstory for this canon prepared
Characters listed in () are characters I'm particularly interested in threading with
9 R.I.P.
Ace Attorney
Baldur's Gate 3
Collar x Malice
Final Fantasy XIV
Genshin Impact (Childe)
Honkai Star Rail (Aventurine)
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy*
Like a Dragon/Yakuza
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Persona 3/4/5
Pokémon
Professor Layton
Star Ocean 3/4
Tales series [Abyss, Arise, Berseria, Graces, Symphonia, Vesperia, Xillia 1/2, Zestiria]
Wuthering Waves* (Brant, Carlotta, Scar)
Zero Escape
I generally prefer jamjar or isekai-Nicola-into-your-canon scenarios for crosscanon meme threads but occasionally I can do AUs too. For reference, I'm not into any live-action fandoms at all; 99% of my interest lies in Asian video games and 1% anime (LA characters are still welcome to tag me of course!). If you'd like to know which specific canons/characters I'm currently interested in, click below:
CROSSCANON LIST
Bold text - strong interest* - I have already have an AU backstory for this canon prepared
Characters listed in () are characters I'm particularly interested in threading with
9 R.I.P.
Ace Attorney
Baldur's Gate 3
Collar x Malice
Final Fantasy XIV
Genshin Impact (Childe)
Honkai Star Rail (Aventurine)
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy*
Like a Dragon/Yakuza
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Persona 3/4/5
Pokémon
Professor Layton
Star Ocean 3/4
Tales series [Abyss, Arise, Berseria, Graces, Symphonia, Vesperia, Xillia 1/2, Zestiria]
Wuthering Waves* (Brant, Carlotta, Scar)
Zero Escape
PHYSICAL AFFECTION
Yes
FLIRTING
Yes - he is a playful flirt himself, particularly towards women.
KISSING
Yes - if your character is 20+. Same limit applies to the next two sections.
SMUT
Yes - Nicola is canonically attracted to women, however I am personally biased towards m/m so that means I play him as a closet bisexual, since his circumstances don't allow him to be openly attracted to men (may play him as an open bisexual in appropriate AUs). As for kinks, the only no's are pregnancy, inflation, vore, bathroom stuff, and anything with characters under 20 years old. Everything else is fair game.
SHIPPING
Hell yes! I live for shipping, plus Nicola is an otome love interest so he was quite literally made to be shipped. It'll be a challenge regardless of your character's gender, but if you're up for a slow burn and our characters have good chemistry, please don't be afraid to ask me about it. (Of course, we can skip the slow burn for memes and PSLs.)
VIOLENCE
Minor injuries are okay, but please ask first for serious injuries or death. I don't enjoy writing combat threads so I'd prefer to handwave long, drawn-out fights.
OPT OUT
If you'd like to opt out of CR with Nicola for any reason, please comment on this post listing your journals so I know not to tag you. All comments are screened for privacy.
PLAYER
NAME
Ori
PRONOUNS
She/Her
TIME ZONE
EST
CONTACT
TAGGING STYLE
I use brackets and present tense by default, but if you're a log and past tense user I will match you. My tags vary in length; if there isn't much happening externally or introspectively then it'll be on the short side, but if there is a lot happening then it'll be long. I don't expect your tag length to match mine at all, but I like to include introspection and insight on my character's thoughts and actions whenever possible unless it's a texting thread (though I might throw some in if I feel it necessary) and would prefer if you do the same. Basically I don't do ECATS.
TAGGING SPEED
My typical tagging speed falls on the slower side. It can take anywhere from a few days to a month for me to tag back, occasionally longer. You're welcome to nudge me if it's been at least a couple weeks and I can attempt to boomerang upon request, though note that my personal definition of boomeranging is tagging back within 24 hours. I tag in order of whichever tags come easiest to me first, not in the order they were received, so please don't take it personally if you see me tag other threads more quickly than yours.