The Story of Apollo, Daphne and Luca: An Italian Tragedy is a Luca fanfic written by ethereal_butterflie.
With his innocent, caring and sweet personality, Luca has become quite popular at school, especially with girls (even if he's not very aware of it).
This earns him the jealousy of Vincenzo, the best-looking and most popular boy in school, who thinks that Luca's kindness is only a façade.
Vincenzo also harbors a massive crush on Giulia and can't bear the thought of seeing her having such a nice relationship with Luca at all.
The thing that Vincenzo isn't aware of, is that Luca's and Giulia's relationship is purely platonic, being Giulia not interested at all in finding a romantic partner and Luca being gay and being head over heels for his best friend Alberto.
Once Vincenzo finds Luca's secret Love Letter for Alberto, he decides to use it to his advantage and blackmails Luca by threatening him to tell everyone about his crush on Alberto if he wouldn't get him a date with Giulia no later than the School Festival.
However, the fate has other plans in store...
The fic can be read here
on Archive of Our Own or here on Wattpad.
The Story of Apollo, Daphne and Luca: An Italian Tragedy provides examples of:
A-F
- Abhorrent Admirer: Downplayed with Vincenzo and Sofia towards their respective objects of their affections, Giulia and Alberto, who are at best indifferent towards them.
- Aborted Declaration of Love: In the first chapter, Vincenzo gets promptly interrupted by Luca just when he was about to ask Giulia to become his girlfriend.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Luca is an adorable young boy who is also quite sensible and emotionally intelligent for his age.
- Affectionate Nickname: Vincenzo calls Giulia "Giulietta".
- In Chapter 4, Alberto starts calling Luca "Bubble".
- All Love Is Unrequited: From Chapter 4 onwards, Vincenzo slowly starts to develop feelings for Luca, who is already head over heels for Alberto.
- All-Loving Hero: Just like in Canon, Luca. In spite of being literally being blackmailed and undermined by Vincenzo, he immediately forgives him after the latter's Jerkass Realization.
- All the Other Reindeer: Downplayed. While not heavily bullied by her classmates because of her lack of desire for a romantic partner, Giulia strongly feels weird and different because of most people's obsession with crushes, romance and dating.
- Aloof Ally: Bianca, being her not very active in the plot and quite indifferent towards.
- Aloof Big Brother: Alberto acts quite distant and uncaring towards Giulia.
- Always Someone Better: How Vincenzo sees Luca.
- Amazon Chaser: The reason why Vincenzo fell so hard for Giulia is because of her strong-willed, blunt and bold personality.
- A same sex example with Luca being head over heels for the bold and adventurous Alberto.
- Ambiguously Gay: Bianca seems to have no interest in boys and in Chapter 5 sighed in a dreamy manner when she talked about Rosa.
- Also Carlos, who shows no romantic interest towards girls and seems to have a thing for Alberto.
- Amicable Exes: Implied with Massimo and Caterina.
- In Chapter 6 it's revealed that Vincenzo and Rosa used to date for some time back and are still in good terms with each other.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: How Alberto sees Giulia.
- Ascended Extra: Giulia's mother, named Caterina in this fic.
- Badass Boast: Vincenzo gives one to his love rival, Alberto in Chapter 6.
"That's fine." Vincenzo said in a low voice, waving at Luca. "Because I don't want to be just his ( Luca's) friend."
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: A Rare Male Example with the three most prominent male characters Vincenzo (Beauty), Luca (Brains) and Alberto (Brawn).
- Beauty Is Bad: Vincenzo is the most handsome boy in school, but is also an arrogant jerk who treats Luca like dirt just because he's best friends with Giulia, the girl of Vincenzo's affections. At least, until later Chapters, where he starts taking a level in kindness.
- Berserk Button: Nothing makes Alberto angrier than Vincenzo spending time with Luca in order to make him his boyfriend.
- Betty and Veronica: A subversion when Vincenzo sees himself as the Betty to Luca's supposed Veronica to Giulia's Archie, since Luca and Giulia are Platonic Life-Partners with incompatible orientations (Luca is gay, while Giulia is implied to be aromantic and/or asexual) to boot.
- Played Straight in latter chapters, with Luca as the Archie to Alberto's Betty and Vincenzo's Veronica.
- Another (but short-lived) example, in Chapter 4, with Alberto as the Archie to Luca's Betty and Sofia's Veronica.
- Better as Friends: Rosa is perfectly happy with being just friends with both Luca and her ex boyfriend, Vincenzo.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Rosa is a very sweet and kind girl, but is certainly no pushover, demonstrating it when she gave a push to Sofia when she tried to steal Alberto from Luca or when she threatened Carlos with physical violence if he dared to tell everyone about her past love story with Vincenzo.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Bianca may be very reserved and introverted, but is never afraid to call out Vincenzo on his selfish and oblivious behaviour with a good dose of Brutal Honesty.
- Big Jerk on Campus: Vincenzo is the most handsome, popular, charismatic and wooed boy in the school, but is also quite petty, vain and arrogant, especially towards Luca. At first...
- Bi-Wildered: In Chapter 5, Vincenzo, while still slightly crushing on Giulia, slowly understands he's falling in love with Luca.
- Blackmail: Vincenzo threatens Luca about telling the whole school about the love letter he wrote for Alberto if he doesn't get him a date with Giulia.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The story's main deuteragonists: popular and charming blond Vincenzo, spunky and free-spirited brunet Alberto and brash and Hot-Blooded redhead Giulia.
- Brainless Beauty: Vincenzo is a very handsome young boy, but is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box, being him often steeped in his delusional fantasy of his Imaginary Love Triangle, which prevents him to have a good reality check, especially regarding his budding romantic feelings for Luca.
- Brains and Brawn: A romantic example with nerdy and scholarly Luca and physically active and outdoorsy Alberto.
- Brainy Brunet: Luca has brown hair and is very smart and studious.
- Break the Cutie: In Chapter 5, both Luca and Giulia sink into a deep depression due to their fight.
- Brown Note: In Chapter 7, in a fit of rage and jealousy when thinking about Vincenzo, Alberto exclaims a undefined swear word.
- Brutal Honesty: Bianca isn't the kind of person to mince or sugarcoat her words.
- The Bully: Vincenzo acts like a massive jerk towards Luca because of jealousy and a slight sense of entitlement towards Giulia, at least when he discovers that he was more in love with the idea of being with Giulia than the real Giulia and realizes that he was being in love with Luca all along.
- Bully Hunter: In Chapter 1, Giulia promptly defends Luca from Vincenzo's accusations about him playing with Rosa's feelings.
- Bully Turned Buddy: In Chapter 6, Vincenzo feels regret and remorse for mistreating Luca, and tries to become a better person in order to gain his friendship (or something more than a simple friendship...).
- Celibate Heroine: Giulia is much more interested in exploring space and discovering its mistery instead of finding a romantic partner.
- The Charmer: Alberto, whose bold, carefree and extroverted personality instantly makes him very popular and well-liked by Luca's classmates and even gains him an admirer in Fille Fatale Sofia.
- Chick Magnet: Vincenzo is very popular with the girls. Luca, on the other hand, is more of a Clueless Chick-Magnet.
- Childish Villain, Mature Hero: Vincenzo lives in delusional fantasies, has a selfish mindset and has no qualms blackmailing Luca in order to make Giulia his girlfriend, while Luca is humble, intelligent, respectful and selfless.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Implied with Sofia, who, when Alberto was about to home along with Luca, immediately grabbed his arm and pleaded him stay with her for another while while coyly flattering her eyelashes and got very disappointed when Luca managed to free Alberto from her grip.
- Closet Key: Luca eventually becomes this to Vincenzo.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Rosa, who's often immersed in her own world because of her obsession with romance.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Vincenzo is quite mad that his crush Giulia has such a good relationship with Luca (even if it's purely platonic in spite of what Vincenzo thinks and, in the first chapter, even tries to make Luca look back in front of everyone just because of a misunderstanding with Rosa. Then, in the fourth character, he blackmails poor Luca to get him a date with Giulia by threatening him to tell the whole school about his crush on Alberto if he wouldn't do what he has been told.
- Crush Blush: Luca and Alberto are very prone to this.
- Vincenzo is also quite prone to this once he slowly realizes his crush on Luca.
- Crush the Keepsake: In Chapter 2, Vincenzo tries to rip to pieces Luca's Love Letter for Alberto thinking it was intended for Giulia, but gets stopped in the nick of time by Luca himself.
- The Cutie: Luca's sweet and innocent nature is why he's so well-liked and popular with his classmates.
- Death Glare: After officially becoming love rivals for Luca's affections, Alberto and Vincenzo never hesitate to send one to each other whenever they meet.
- Demoted to Extra: Massimo has a less prominent role than in the original movie.
- Defrosting Ice King: In Chapter 6, once Vincenzo fully realizes to have fallen in love with Luca, he becomes more warm-hearted and polite towards the young sea monster.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: In Chapter 3, Alberto, after taking Luca to school and giving him a hug before going back to Caterina's home, receives a Death Glare from Vincenzo, the most popular boy in the school. Alberto, being the bold and fearless young boy he is, doesn't hesitate to return the scowl.
- Ditzy Genius: While a very brilliant student, Luca is quite naive.
- Driven by Envy: Vincenzo is very jealous of Luca's popularity and strong bond with Giulia and often act quite rude and spiteful towards him because of this.
- Dumb Blonde: While certainly not lacking in street smarts and charisma, Vincenzo isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box, especially regarding his own crush on Luca.
- Energetic and Soft-Spoken Duo: A romantic example with Luca and Alberto and a platonic one with Carlos and Bianca.
- Enraged by Idiocy: Downplayed with Bianca, while not prone to anger, always gets pretty annoyed by Vincenzo's obliviousness to his own crush on Luca.
- Entitled to Have You: Downplayed with Vincenzo since, while he sees Giulia as destined to be with him because she's the only girl in school who is not attracted by him, is quite chivalrous and respectful towards her.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Both Alberto and Vincenzo are completely head over heels for Luca.
- Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: While extremely friendly and forgiving, Luca strongly dislikes Sofia since she tried to steal the boy he's in love with, Alberto, away from him and, obviously, Ercole.
Luca (when talking to Giulia after he talked it out with Rosa regarding the misunderstanding about Rosa's question): Yeah she (Rosa) must have thought I didn’t
like her or something. But I can’t think of anyone I don’t like except maybe that catfish from Porto Rosso (Ercole).
- Everybody Hates Mathematics: While a very brilliant student in her own right, Giulia absolutely despises math.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: The blond-haired Vincenzo is the school's resident Chick Magnet.
- Evil Is Petty: The reason why Vincenzo hates Luca and ever blackmails him? He's best friend with Giulia, the girl of Vincenzo's dreams, that's all.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Downplayed with Caterina and her daughter Giulia. Caterina, while not overtly feminine, has a milder, more soft-spoken and gentler personality compared to her Hot-Blooded, adventurous and brash daughter,
- Fille Fatale: In Chapter 4, Sofia (one of Luca's classmates) acts shamelessly flirty towards Alberto, much to Luca's dismay and jealousy.
- Fire and Ice Love Triangle: From Chapter 4 onwards, Luca becomes contended by the energetic and Hot-Blooded Alberto and the aloof and icy Vincenzo.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: The leading ladies of the story.
- Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Vincenzo is the Cynic, Bianca the Realist, Rosa the Optimist and Carlos the Apathetic.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Luca most prominent classmates.
- Another example in Chapter 7 with the Underdogs themselves plus Vincenzo.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed with Carlos, who, while not utterly disliked, is still seen as quite annoying because of his cheeky and meddling attitude.
- Friend Versus Lover: After getting blackmailed by Vincenzo in getting him a date with Giulia otherwise he would tell the whole school about Luca's Love Letter for Alberto, Luca gets thorn between saving his friendship with Giulia and thus losing Alberto or declaring his love to Alberto and thus losing Giulia.
- Feud Episode: A Played for Drama example in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, where Luca and Giulia stop to talk to each other after that Luca played along with Rosa's questions about love, romance and dating, thus making Giulia think that he wanted to set up a date for her and another boy against her will.
- Foil: Vincenzo is one to Luca. They are both popular, cute boys who are quite successful with girls, but while Vincenzo is arrogant, quite cruel and hot-headed, Luca is kind, humble and gentle. Also, Vincenzo is a blond, while Luca is a brunet.
- Vincenzo is also a foil to his love rival, Alberto. Vincenzo loves in a big city, while Alberto comes from a small rural seaside town. They are both head over heels for Luca, but while Alberto is very open with his feelings and always treats Luca with kindess and gentleness, Vincenzo Cannot Spit It Out and treats Luca harshly because of his inability to properly show his feelings. Vincenzo has a cold, aloof and haughty personality, while Alberto is exhuberant, boisterous and always wears his heart on his sleeve.
- Giulia and Rosa. Giulia is a brash and outspoken Fiery Redhead with zero interest in romance, while Rosa is a sweet and bubbly Ingenue who hopelessly believes in true love.
- Carlos and Bianca. Carlos is mischievous, outgoing and loves to gossip, while Bianca is level-headed, introverted and has no interest in meddling in other people's business.
G-M
- The Gadfly: Carlos is a cheeky and mischievous young boy who take pleasure in meddling in other people's personal lives.
- The Ghost: Ercole, Daniela, Lorenzo, Grandma Paguro and Machiavelli only get mentioned in the story.
- Gentleman and a Scholar: While very smart and brilliant, Luca never feels superior to anyone and always treats everyone with kindness and respect.
- The Gentleman or the Scoundrel: Subverted with Vincenzo and Alberto. Vincenzo appears gentlemanly, but is actually ( while only initially) a jerk and a bully, while Alberto, in spite of his snarky and reckless personality, is a kind and caring boy at heart.
- Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: When helping Vincenzo becoming more aware and open regarding his budding romantic feelings towards Luca, Rosa acts as the caring and encouraging Gentle Touch, while Bianca acts as the blunt and stern Firm Hand.
- Girl Posse: Rosa's group of friends, who briefly appear in the story's first chapter, are a rare heroic example, being them sweet, kind, supportive and open-minded.
- Girly Bruiser: Rosa may be sweet and feminine, but she also packs a pretty mean punch.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: In Chapter 6, is revealed that the sweet, romantic and girly Rosa has a bossier and more authoritative side of her personality and isn't afraid to threaten Carlos to punch his face if he keeps acting like the busybody he always is.
- Good Is Not Nice: Even after his Jerkass Realization Character Development, Vincenzo still retains a bit his stubborn and abrasive personality.
- Good Parents: Massimo and Caterina are both caring and supportive towards Alberto and Giulia.
- Gossipy Hens: Carlos absolutely loves gossip.
- Graceful Loser: Rosa holds no animosity towards Luca after he rejected her because of his Incompatible Orientation.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Alberto didn't take very kindly the fact of having found a love rival in Vincenzo for Luca's affections.
- Jealous Romantic Witness: In Chapter 2, Vincenzo, while still unaware of his infatuation with Luca, suddenly feels a strong sensation of pain and jealousy when he sees how happy and in love Luca is with Alberto.
- Jerkass to One: While mostly friendly and cordial, Alberto is quite cold and hostile towards Vincenzo. Justified since Vincenzo fell in love with Luca, thus becoming Alberto's love rival.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Vincenzo is stubborn, haughty and a bit of a bully, but deep down he's not a bad kid since he was just very confused about the strong turmoil that he felt in his soul whenever he thought about Luca, which revealed to be a huge crush on him. Once he apologised to Luca for blackmailing him, he started to act, while still a bit abrasive and impatient, kinder and more caring, except, justifiably, to Alberto, since he's also madly in love with Luca and has thus become Vincenzo's main love rival.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Luca and his rival, Vincenzo. Luca is a sweet and shy brunet, while Vincenzo is an arrogant and prideful blond.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Rosa has golden blonde ringlets is a sweet, kind, romantic, caring and innocent girl. Inverted with Vincenzo, who is an arrogant and prideful Big Jerk on Campus. He gets better, though.
- Has a Type: Vincenzo has a soft spot for girls and boys who are unabashedly themselves and never care about other people's opinions. That's why he fell for Giulia and then, for Luca.
- Headbutt of Love: Luca and Alberto have one in Chapter 7.
- The Hecate Sisters: Rosa, Bianca and Giulia, respectively. Rosa is sweet, innocent and naive (the Maiden), Bianca is mature, stern and level-headed (the Matron) and Giulia is brash, outspoken and quite abrasive (the Crone).
- Hopeless Suitor: Vincenzo is one to Giulia. Justified since Giulia has no interest in finding a romantic partner.
- Also, Sofia to Alberto.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: When solving the mystery regarding Vincenzo's strange feelings whenever he's around Luca, Bianca proves to be cleverer and more sharp-witted than Vincenzo.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: The reason why Vincenzo wants so much (at least, at first) to make Giulia his girlfriend: she is the only girl in school that resisted to his charm.
- Imaginary Love Triangle: Vincenzo imagines that Luca is his love rival for Giulia's affections.
- Incompatible Orientation: Rosa hits on Luca unaware of the fact that he's gay.
- Innocently Insensitive: In Chapter 7, Alberto says how much better Luca looks without "that dumb school uniform", making the brunet a little mad.
- The Ingenue: Rosa. Luca is a Rare Male Example.
- Insecure Love Interest: Downplayed with Luca in Chapter 1 who, while not insecure and aware of his strenghts, wishes to be as brave and adventurous as his best friend/crush Alberto.
- Intergenerational Friendship: The teenaged Alberto and the adult woman Caterina immediately become good friends.
- Interspecies Adoption: Young sea monster Alberto is Happily Adopted by human fisherman Massimo.
- Interspecies Romance: Vincenzo, a human boy, falls in love with Luca, a young sea monster.
- Irrational Hatred: Once Alberto comes to Genoa, Vincenzo takes an immediate to him, but doesn't understand why. Subverted in Chapter 4 where he slowly starts to understand that, due to be in love with Luca, he hates Alberto because he's very close to Luca.
- Kidanova: Vincenzo is quite a ladies' man.
- Kick the Dog: In Chapter 2, Vincenzo cruelly mocks Luca for his Love Letter that thought he wrote for Giulia (when it was actually intended for Alberto), even going as far as calling it "a complete joke".
- Knight Templar: Vincenzo is ( at first) a prideful, self-righteous Jerkass who thinks that he's doing the right thing by trying to make Luca look bad both because of his delusional fantasies of Luca being a villainous Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who manipulates teachers and students alike with his sweetness and cheats on innocent girls and his slight sense of entitlement towards his crush Giulia, who plays the roles of the Damsel in Distress brainwashed by Luca's charm that Vinenzo must save.
- Ladykiller in Love: Vincenzo, the school's local hearthhrob, falls genuinely in love for the fist time with the boy he considered his arch rival, Luca.
- Last-Name Basis: Vincenzo always calls Luca by his surname, Paguro.
- Light Feminine Dark Feminine: Sweet and romantic Rosa and snarky and aloof Bianca.
- Little Miss Snarker: Bianca has a pretty dry wit for such a young girl.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Implied with Sofia. She is a bit haughty, implied (mostly by Luca in a fit of jealousy) to be quite shallow and not caring about school and grades, quite coy and vain and shamelessly flirts with Alberto. Otherwise, she seems quite nice.
- Lovable Nerd: Luca is an adorable young boy with an endless thirst of knowledge who manages to soften his classmates with his sweet and innocent personality and his endless curiosity.
- Giulia is no slouch either, being her an adventurous dreamer whose biggest wish is to discover the many mysteries of outer space.
- Love at First Sight: Once she lays her eyes on Alberto, Sofia develops a huge crush on him.
- Love Letter Lunacy: When Vincenzo blackmails him to tell everyone about his Love Letter for Alberto if he doesn't get him a date with Giulia, poor Luca suddenly becomes a complete Nervous Wreck.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Played for Drama with Alberto, whose strong love for Luca makes him very oblivious and insensitive to his sister's problems and fear of abandonment.
- Love Triangle: A subversion with the Vincenzo/Giulia/Luca one given Luca's and Giulia's Incompatible Orientations and a Played Straight example with the Vincenzo/Luca/Alberto one.
- Loving a Shadow: It's implied that, for the whole time, Vincenzo was more in love with the ideal of Giulia than the real Giulia.
- Loving Bully: In later chapters, Vincenzo slowly starts to show a more bittersweet side towards Luca.
- Manipulative Bastard: Vincenzo towards Luca in order to force him to convince Giulia to date him and become his girlfriend. At first...
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: A platonic example with Giulia and Luca, being the former blunt, Hot-Blooded and outspoken, while the latter is much meeker, more soft-spoken and non-confrontational.
- Mistaken for Cheating: In Chapter 1, Vincenzo accuses Luca to cheat on Rosa with Giulia unaware of the fact that Luca thought that Rosa asked him to become her platonic friend, not her boyfriend.
"Have you no shame?"
"Huh?" Luca stopped trying to drag Giulia away and turned to meet a furious stare.
"Don't act stupid with me." Vincenzo leaned down and gave Luca a dirty look. "I see through
your little act."
"Erm- what are you talking about?" Giulia intervened, raising a brow. Oh this poor girl was
falling right into his trap!
"I'm talking about how this scoundrel has been playing with your feelings!" Vincenzo pointed an
accusatory finger at Luca's confused and worried face.
"What?"
A small chattering crowd began to form around them.
"Um, did I do something wrong...?" Luca asked.
“Did you or did you not accept Rosa’s confession? Now you’re running around, holding hands
with another girl? A true gentleman would never do such a thing! You should be ashamed of
yourself.”
- Morality Pet: Luca eventually becomes this to Vincenzo after the latter feels genuine remorse for his actions.
- Muggle and Magical Love Triangle: In Chapter 7, Luca becomes courted by his fellow sea monster best friend Alberto and Vincenzo, a normal human boy.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Discussed by Alberto and Giulia in Chapter 3.
Alberto: No seriously I- Giulia stop laughing and listen! I swear that I punched the shark straight in its dumb face like this! *winds up his fist in the hair and stumbles over himself*
Giulia (dismissively): With those spaghetti arms? Yeah right!
Alberto: I do not have spaghetti arms! You see these babies? *does a Pec Flex and a Bicep Kiss* Pure muscle!
- My God, What Have I Done?: From Chapter 4 onwards, Luca and Alberto realize how much they had excluded Giulia and feel a deep remorse.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Implied with Alberto.
''As a matter of fact, he (Alberto) also didn't want Vincenzo around Giulia. He really didn’t like that guy."
N-R
- Named by the Adaptation: Giulia's mother is named Caterina in this fanfic.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Luca's three suitors: the sweet and innocent Rosa (Nice), the arrogant and haughty Vincenzo (Mean) and the stubborn yet friendly Alberto (In-between).
- The Underdogs themselves are a more downplayed example being all three kind and well-behaved kids, but Luca is clearly the gentlest, most polite and least confrontational of the trio (Nice), Alberto often tends to be quite selfish, hot-headed and stubborn (Mean) and Giulia, while sweet and friendly most of the time, also has a more abrasive streak that especially shows towards Alberto (In-between).
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: Subverted with Vincenzo (who appears gallant and well-mannered, but is actually a petty and arrogant bully) and Alberto (who, while cocky and slightly mischievous, is a caring, loyal and genuine friend).
- Not Like Other Girls: The reason why Vincenzo is so head over heels for Giulia.
She (Giulia) was a charming young girl with a
very excitable nature. Most importantly, she was also the only girl that never paid him any attention. She was never bashful or flustered in his presence like the other girls. Other girls quickly
batted their eyes and giggled when he spoke. Not that he could blame them for such behavior;
afterall, he was the most popular, handsomest boy in their school. Unfortunately, they were too easy
for Vincenzo’s liking. Giulietta was perfect.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Vincenzo starts out as a cocky buffoon with comically delusional romantic fantasies regarding his crush Giulia, but later proves to be quite cunning and ruthless when he finds Luca's Achilles' Heel (his Love Letter for Alberto) and use it to threaten the poor little boy to get him a date with Giulia if he doesn't want that he tell the whole school about his crush on Alberto.
- Oblivious to Love: Zig-Zagged. Luca seems quite unaware of Rosa's and later Vincenzo's crush on him, but is slightly more aware about Alberto's feelings.
- Alberto himself is a Zig-Zagged example since, while perfectly aware about the crush that Luca harbors on him and viceversa, in Chapter 4 was extremely unaware that Sofia developed a huge crush on him, mistaking it for a simple friendly interaction instead of flirting.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Caterina gets very worried when her normally lively and cheerful daughter starts to uncharacteristically act so dour, depressed and abrasive.
- Odd Friendship: Bianca and Carlos.
- Oh, Crap!: At the end of the third chapter, Luca goes in a total state of panic once he realizes that Vincenzo found out about his secret crush on Alberto.
- Only Sane Woman: Bianca acts as the main voice of reason between the various characters.
- Opposites Attract: Shrinking Violet Luca Paguro and Hot-Blooded Alberto Scorfano.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: In Chapter 7, Alberto almost gives life to one with Vincenzo, since he has become his rival for Luca's affections.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Implied with Alberto who, in Chapter 3, brags to Luca and Giulia about one time where he punched a shark straight in the face.
- The Pollyanna: Caterina often has a pretty optimistic and positive outlook.
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: Luca has one in Chapter 4, after Alberto kisses his hand all of a sudden.
- Also in Chapter 7, when Luca rapidly kisses Alberto on the forehead, leaving him completely stunned.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Luca and Giulia. Also, Bianca and Carlos.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Carlos, whose cheeky nature and his comical obsession with gossip give the story a more lighthearted note.
- Popular Is Evil: Vincenzo is the most popular boy in school, but also a petty jerk and a nuisance who torments our hero, Luca, by making fun of him and even blackmailing him by threatening to tell everyone about his Love Letter for Alberto if he doesn't get him a date with Giulia.
- Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: From Chapter 7 onwards, Vincenzo and Alberto, with the former being quite gallant, gentlemanly and well-mannered and the later being blunt, snarky and cocky.
- Pretty Boy: Alberto. Best emphasized in this part:
"He (Luca) swallowed thickly as he took notice of how Alberto’s long lashes rested flushed against his freckled cheeks, the charming grin that spread across his lips [...]"
- Prince Charming Wannabe: Vincenzo when he tries to win Giulia's heart.
- Proud Beauty: Vincenzo is the most attractive guy in school and he knows it.
- Puppy Love: Luca and Alberto.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Alberto is a boisterous and adventurous young fisherman and lifeguard who loves cooking (even if he still has a long road ahead) and is a bit of a hopeless romantic.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: A romantic example with Alberto and Luca. Alberto is outspoken and boisterous, while Luca is mild-mannered and soft-spoken.
- A platonic example with Carlos and Bianca, with Carlos being a cheeky and outgoing Gossipy Hen and Bianca the reserved, snarky Only Sane Woman.
S-Y
- Sarcastic Devotee: For all of her snark, Bianca acts quite helpful towards Vincenzo in order to help him realize his crush on Luca.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Shy, level-headed Luca and bold, outspoken Giulia.
- A Gender-Inverted, platonic example with perky Carlos and aloof Bianca.
- School Festival: There is an upcoming one at Luca's and Giulia's school.
- Secretly Selfish: While Alberto went to Genova to have fun with both his sister and his best friend, deep down all he wanted to do was to stay with Luca in order to impress him, unaware of the suffering that he would cause in Giulia.
- Also Luca, since he was longing to see Alberto in order to spend as much time possible with him without realizing that would have excluded Giulia.
- Sensitive Artist: Just like in Canon, Caterina works as a painter and is a very kind and caring woman who always wants the best for Giulia, Luca and Alberto.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Luca and Alberto. Luca is soft-spoken, timid and gentle while Alberto is outspoken, bold and impulsive.
- Luca is also the Sensitive Guy to Vincenzo's arrogant, brash and womanizing Manly Man.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: In Chapter 7, Vincenzo can't help but be left in awe when he sees the normally tomboyish and unkempt Giulia wearing a pretty bright yellow dress.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Vincenzo thinks that Luca's kindness is only a façade to manipulate both students and teachers alike, but he's dead wrong since Luca's kindness is genuine. He even ends up falling in love with him.
- Shipper on Deck: Massimo for Luca and Alberto.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: It's perfectly obvious how head over heels are Luca and Alberto are for each other, much to Giulia's slight annoyance and fear of being excluded by her older brother and her best friend once they start dating.
- Silk Hiding Steel: In later chapters, the naive, gentle and romantic Girly Girl Rosa shows to have a pretty strong and authoritative personality.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Rosa briefly developed a crush on the sweet and kind Luca.
- A same sex example with Luca being madly in love with the cheerful, friendly, fun-loving and kind-hearted Alberto.
- Another same sex example with Vincenzo, who slowly falls in love with Luca because of the latter's gentle and caring heart.
- Slobs vs. Snobs: A Love Triangle version with the haughty Vincenzo and the rough-and-tumble Alberto developing an intense rivalry for Luca's affections.
- Smug Snake: Vincenzo is a very proud and arrogant young boy with a really high opinion about himself.
- Sore Loser: In contrast to Rosa, Vincenzo doesn't take defeat well at all and is very prideful and stubborn.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Since Alberto's arrival at Genoa, Giulia becomes grouchier and more aloof because of her fear of being abandoned by her brother and her best friend who have started to develop romantic feelings for each other.
- Stern Teacher: Professor Gallo. He has no patience for nonsense and inappropriate behaviour, but is nonetheless a calm, fair, kind and affable man. He even praises Luca for his interpretation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: A platonic example with calm, serious and level-headed Bianca and cheeky, mischievous and gossip-loving Carlos.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: While reserved and aloof, Bianca is a well-meaning and caring friend.
- Swear Word Plot: A minor Played for Drama one in Chapter 7 where Alberto, furious that he found a love rival in Vincenzo for Luca's affections, exclaims an undefined swear word in spite of having been warned many time by Massimo to never use it or other similiar insults.
- Sympathy for the Hero: In Chapter 5, In spite of being a haughty jerk and a petty bully, Vincenzo feels genuinely concerned about Luca's emotional state after his fight with Giulia.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Vincenzo is quite resentful of Luca's popularity with the other kids and the fact that he became more beloved than him; in Chapter 1, he accuses him of cheating on Rosa with Giulia in order to make him look bad.
- Team Mom: Besides being Giulia's biological mother, Caterina also acts as a surrogate mother figure to Luca and Alberto.
- Third Wheel: A Played for Drama example with Luca and Alberto unknowingly make Giulia feel like one, thus increasing her insecurities regarding her lack of desire in finding a romantic partner.
- Those Two Guys: Bianca and Carlos.
- Token Non-Human: Luca is the only sea monster in a school that is primarly attended by human kids.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In Chapter 6, after becoming more and more aware about his own romantic feelings about Luca and regretting having treated him so badly, Vincenzo gives up his blackmail plan and starts treating Luca with more respect.
- Town Girls: Luca's three most prominent female classmates: Fiery Redhead Giulia (Butch), sweet and romantic Rosa (Femme) and level-headed Deadpan Snarker Bianca (Neither).
- Troubled, but Cute: the adorably charming Alberto still struggles with the concept of family and his jealousy management, especially regarding his Dark and Troubled Past due to his biological father abandoning him and the fact of suddenly having a love rival in Vincenzo.
- Tsundere: Vincenzo is a classical Type A Tsundere: brash, hot-headed and bull-headed, but with a bittersweet side reserved to the people he cares about.
- Turn the Other Cheek: Even though Vincenzo tried to literally blackmail him, Luca holds no grudges towards him.
- Twirl of Love: In Chapter 2, Alberto picks up Luca in his arms and start to spin, complete with Laugh of Love.
- Understanding Boyfriend: While still not officially dating Luca, Alberto is very caring and protective towards him and often worries for his well-being.
- Unknown Rival: Luca to Vincenzo, at first.
- Uptight Loves Wild: The haughty and proper Vincenzo is strongly attracted to the exhuberant, outspoken Giulia.
- A same sex example with the mild-mannered Luca being head over heels for the free-spirited Alberto.
- Villainous Crush: Downplayed with Vincenzo, being him a more of petty and arrogant nuisance than a full-fledged villain, but it's clear as day how infatuated he is with Giulia and how determined he is to make her his girlfriend.
- Villainy-Free Villain: Vincenzo technically counts as the story's main antagonist since he often acts as an adversary for Luca, but tends to be more of a bullying nuisance than a genuinely threatening villain.
- Virtuous Character Copy: Vincenzo can be considered one of Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Just like Gaston, he's popular, handsome, successful with the girls, has a crush on the plucky female heroine because she's the only girl to resist his charm and tends to be quite persistent in his pursuit of her. However, unlike Gaston, who never repents for his bad actions and becomes more and more unhinged regarding his crush on Belle, Vincenzo feels genuine remorse for acting like a petty and entitled bully and tries to become a better person. Also, Vincenzo doesn't share Gaston's misogynistic views and never looks down on girls.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Bianca and Carlos. They tend to argue a lot, but are nonetheless good friends.
- Weakness Turns Her On: A Rare Male Example with Vincenzo, who can't help but feel attracted by Luca's sweet, innocent and naive nature.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: In Chapter 4, Vincenzo can't help but admire how beautiful and sparkly are Luca's fawn eyes.
- Wise Beyond Her Years: While she's quite young, Bianca often proves to be a very sensible, clever and wise girl.
- Women Are Wiser: Bianca is much more level-headed and thoughtful than the meddling Carlos and the hot-headed Vincenzo.
- Women Prefer Strong Men: Sofia is very impressed by Alberto's brave and bold personality and his job as both a fisherman and a lifeguard.
- Yawn and Reach: In Chapter 2, when the Underdogs are at a movie theater, Alberto uses this move to be closer to Luca.
