Destati Hayati

-i hope you find that.

-i think i have.

And yet, it’s also not a utopia where stereotypes about queer people and homophobia (the things that ultimately fuel those kinds of jokes) don’t exist - they do! But every time somebody tries to make them funny, it falls completely flat. It steps outside the acceptable bounds of the genre and the characters react to it in that way. Homophobia isn’t a central obstacle, it’s a faux pas. It’s not allowed to be funny and it’s also not allowed to take up space in the narrative by being the thing the characters must overcome to get their happy ending. Which is a hell of a balancing act.

That scene with Izzy trying to mock Black Pete and Lucius is absolutely crucial to this tone. These characters know they’re in a comedy and they react to things like they’re in a comedy, but they don’t react to his mockery like it’s a joke OR like it has power to shame them. They react like Izzy is embarrassing himself by failing to read the room - like he’s a bully, but a pathetic one. You can be evil in comedies and still be funny, but Izzy is committing the cardinal sin of failing to be funny…and what that does is draw very clear boundaries around what the show is going to allow as a legitimate joke. Homophobic jokes can only be funny when the people making them have consensus from the rest of the group that they’re funny. Instead, in this show, it is clear instead that they are acts of violence and (attempted) control. Which defangs them, because the ultimate power in a romantic comedy always comes from acts of comedy. I find it extremely powerful for a queer romcom to look homophobia in the eye like this and say “nah” than either to ignore it completely, or to make it a central problem.

I had this post planned for some time now, since I’ve read some mix-ups in quite a few fanfiction. I’m not the kind of reader who comments pointing out languages errors (doesn’t that feel rude, somehow?), so I hope this post reaches all the authors confused by Italian translations.

Basically, there’s a difference between “bene” good and “bello” good.

In the kill floor scene, when Andy asks how the others are (physically and emotionally), Nicky replies in Italian the equivalent of “all good”.

“Bene” is the ‘right’/’well’ good, as opposite of “male” = bad. It’s superlative form is “benissimo” (”Come stai oggi?” “Benissimo, grazie!” - “How are you today?” “Very good, thank you!”). You can also use it to describe someone appearance (”You look good!” - “Ti trovo bene!”) but in the ‘well’ sense, as in you find someone healthy/in good shape.

“Bello/a” is the ‘nice’/’beautiful’ good. Superlative form: “bellissimo/a” (”Sei bellissimo, Yusuf.” - “You are beautiful, Yusuf.”). It’s used to describe mostly someone’s nice appearance or a good view, a good feeling. NB! This is an adjective word so remember it has to follow the same number and genre of the subject you’re using (”Bella scoperta!” - “Good find!”, “Hai degli occhi bellissimi” - “You have beautiful eyes”).

There’s also “buono/a” and “buonissimo/a”, the ‘delicious’/’kind’ good. (”Sei così buona con me” - “You are so good to me.”). Used to appreciate food  as well as the kindness of people. NB! Also an adjective.

Opposites time!

When the food is bad we don’t say it’s ‘male’, but it’s cattivo/a (still bad, but in the ‘evil’/’nasty’ meaning) or we can say it tastes bad (ha un cattivo sapore) or basically that it sucks (fa schifo). Same when someone is bad/evil, it’s cattivo (”una persona cattiva”  = a bad person).

The opposite of bello/a is brutto/a, the ‘ugly’ bad. Also used to describe the weather.

A list of examples:

“Feels good” = sto bene/mi sento bene, che bello, è una bella sensazione

“This pasta is very good!” = questa pasta è buonissima!

“I’m all good, don’t worry” = sto bene, non preoccuparti

“Today the weather is good” = oggi è bel tempo

“Tomorrow there’s gonna be bad weather” = domani sarà brutto tempo

“Bello/a mio/a!” = my friend/buddy (same as “caro/a mio/a” NB! It may feel like an endearing term, but it’s kind of a playful/awkward word to describe someone you love. Reading Nicky call Joe ‘caro’/’bello’ all the time has me laughing, sometimes. It fits since it sounds like something an old man would say, but it doesn’t if the fanfiction is a Modern Setting AU. Anyway, it’s better like this: ‘mio caro’ = darling, basically… still funnily old-fashioned, like our Nicolò. Please never write ‘(il) mio bello’ tho, it’s just an antiquated way to say ‘my boyfriend’ lol)

Here are the links to my previous Italian language for fellow writers posts:

Terms of endearment

Swear words

Nicolo fucking di genova be like “draw me like one of your french girls”. that french girl is booker

Bonus bc @plrks told me to draw this: