The Boitano/Pirone Cousins

Carlo Boitano is the oldest cousin and the wisest. He is a high-spirited, jolly man whose values revolve around his family and his good friends. Carlo is the type of man that many children love to be around. Not only does he work as a puppeteer in the town square, he also likes to tell stories to young children (especially stories of his adventures in the military).

During his youth, Carlo always wanted adventure and to make people happy. He often engaged in imaginary adventure games with his baby sister, Annabella (his favorite sibling). Carlo also taught his sister many golden values, including that giving brings more happiness than receiving. The two often performed good deeds, such as giving money to the poor and helping their neighbors with outdoor chores. Carlo's selfless-service played a very important role during his years in the British Navy. He (as well as his sister) fought in the 1st Ashanti War, The Zulu War, the Transvaal/1st Boer War, and the Arabi's Revolt. He served in the Navy for eleven years and made the rank of Chief Gunners. After Carlo left the service, he met and married his wife, Adelaide. As for his civilian lifestyle, he dedicated his life as a puppeteer and a storyteller. His gift for story telling attracted the ears of children and adults alike. Even his second-cousin, Fidget, found pleasure in listening to his stories.

Carlo is a man who enjoys life to the fullest as well as visits with his family. He is also one who makes sure that his younger brother, Fabrizio, stays out of trouble.

Carolina is the second oldest and the meekest of the Boitano cousins. Unlike her younger and older siblings, Carolina is rather shy and prefers the plush house environment. She is nervous, tense, clumsy, and has a habit of making careless mistakes. Rather than engage herself in family conversation, Carolina has a tendency to withdraw in her room. She has had these problems ever since childhood.

During her early school years, she experienced frequent mental lapses and seemingly nervous impulses that prevented her from paying attention in class. At first, her parents thought it was typical child behavior. However, these problems continued throughout Carolina's middle-school years as well. Her parents didnt know what to do. They spoke with priests and doctors, explaining Carolina's problem. All of them concluded that her problems were the result of a brain malfunction. It was something that would affect Carolina both academically and socially for the rest of her life. Learning this made things hard for her, resulting in shyness.

Despite her mental (and physical) faults, Carolina found that she could use her habits to her advantage. Her impulsive drives led her to a career in the culinary arts (which happened to be her number one passion). She found work as a cook in a restaurant. Although her frequent forgetfulness almost got her fired, Carolina managed to keep her job. Her parents explained her disability to the boss and he agreed to keep her working. He kept a good eye on her to make sure she didnt forget anything. Carolina also practiced her cooking skills when serving dinner to the family.

Today, Carolina still works in the cooking field. Her anxiety has slightly wavered since her youth, but it still lingers. However, there are two members of the family who are able to calm her down with a gentle touch on the face: her youngest sister, Annabella, and her second-cousin, Fidget.

Fabrizio Boitano is often referred to as the delinquent of the Boitano family. He has a bad temper that often gets him into trouble and a tendency to argue and complain over the tiniest things, making him impossible to live with (and often scares his sister, Carolina). Fabrizio also gets annoyed easily with the bumbling habits of his second-cousin, Fidget, and sometimes the two get into an argument. It is most likely that Fabrizios behavior was influenced by his uncle Lucio (who was a member of the Sicilian mob). However, his behavior in the past was worse.

For the most part, Fabrizio had always been a difficult child. He often got in trouble for fighting in school (even if he didnt start them) and found himself in situations with delinquent friends that nearly resulted in punishment by the law. One of the worst was during his high school years when Fabrizio was thrown into jail for a fight in a tavern, encouraged by gambling and drinking. His parents made many attempts to keep Fabrizio in-line. Even his father, Giuseppe, warned him that his temper would get him into serious trouble. As expected, Fabrizio didnt want to listen because he was so intent on proving to his friends that he was no weakling. Nevertheless, his fathers predictions eventually came true.

Fabrizio fell in love with and married a woman named Angela. At first, his marriage seemed to go well. However, Fabrizio eventually discovered that his wife was having affairs with other men, causing him to go into a frightful rage. He beat his wife in an nearly fatal matter. As a result, Fabrizio was sent to jail once again for attempted murder. Only then did the advice of his father sink in. From that point forward, Fabrizio made every attempt to learn self-control. Fortunately for him, his wife recovered, but the two bats divorced and never saw each other again. For the remainder of his youth, Fabrizio found work in a factory in hopes of repaying the damage he caused.

Annabella is the youngest and bravest of the Boitano cousins. She is a natural tomboy who craves adventure and proves to her family (and strangers) that she is not one to do typical female jobs.

Although she was born in Sicily, she was raised in Liverpool, England (after the Boitano and Pirone family fled Sicily in fear of the mob). Throughout her childhood, Annabella was close to her eldest brother, Carlo, who believed that she was capable of doing more than just handmaids work. Annabella learned many things from her brother and took those lessons to heart. At the age of seventeen, she enlisted in the British Navy (with great persistence) as a sea-farer. Alongside her brother, Annabella fought in the 1st Ashanti War (1873-4), The Zulu War (1879), the Transvaal/1st Boer War (1880-1), and Arabis Revolt (1882). She served well and made the rank of Chief Boatswain (being a bat certainly helps). However, Annabella received serious injury to her right knee that crippled her walking. As a result, she was sent home from the Navy on a medical discharge. From that point forward, Annabella had to walk with a crutch for the rest of her life.

Despite her unfortunate incident in the Navy, it never stopped Annabella from seeking challenges. She went to study at a technical school. After she graduated, Annabella got a job as an inventor. During her spare time, she read books (mainly topics concerning ancient history, science, exploration, and inventions) and worked on her own personal inventions (such as her strange-looking insect trap).

Nowadays, Annabella spends most of her time looking after her next-door neighbors children. She is also the type of female that Fidget has the most respect for.

Linda Pirone is the sole daughter of Giuliana Pirone. She normally dresses like a school-teacher, wearing her hair up in a bun and odd-looking spectacles. If one were to name her biggest pet peeve, it would be disorganization. Linda is a very serious woman who is obsessed with organization. She is often seen organizing shoes and clothes in the closets, furniture in the house, food in the pantries, jewelry in jewelry boxes and EVERY little thing, both imaginable and unimaginable. She also has a tendency to be very vain with her book-smart qualities, making her a very hard person to deal with. She never smiles and she gets uptight at the tiniest things.

No one knows how Linda became this way. However, it is believed that her odd behavior began after her parents divorced. Her mother knew that Linda was always a tidy child, making sure to clean her room and sweep the floors (it was her mother who raised her that way). But once Linda lost her father (whom she used to admire) to the Sicilian mob, normal tidiness turned into an obsession. Linda believed that a neat and organized house would "make it easier to find a weapon when protecting oneself." It couldve been that Linda had seen too much mess (particularly bloodshed brought upon by the mob) and resorted to cleaning/organizing to help her forget. Whatever her real reason was, Linda's behavior remained that way ever since (especially after settling in Liverpool, England with her family).

Aside from Linda's strange behavior, her best interest is in books. She loves to read a lot, particularly on history and geography. Her obsession with books eventually led to her position as librarian. Linda is a very diligent worker who takes her job seriously and with pride. She makes sure every book is organized in alphabetical order and according to subject matter. She also makes sure that the library grounds remain silent at all times, as she is a strict disciplinarian.

References:

No references used.

Character model(s):

One of the biggest challenges I faced in creating The Boitano Cousins was figuring out how I wanted each character to be. Instead of making them complex (with lengthy biographies), I decided to keep them simple. However, I didn't want them to be too generalized either. Therefore, I gave each character a brief history to add some dimension to their personas.