Just pinning this here to say: Thanks for watching and being such an awesome community of people for us to geek out with over all the stuff we love!

I just thought that maybe his dad was a sea monster, was spotted by people and killed without Alberto knowing. He's left thinking his dad abandoned him, but his dad never had a choice, and probably didn't want to leave his son.

Pixar: Makes a cute movie about sea monsters are just people too SCB: Bruno, from Cars, is a dad to a sea monster, and everything is connected. Just think about the NET. Pixar: Stop.

My take on Alberto’s father: He was a human (maybe he was only planning a vacation in Portorosso) but fell in love with a sea monster (aka Alberto’s mother) and they had a child (Alberto). But soon after when Alberto was just a baby she died and Alberto’s dad didn’t want to take on the responsibility. He loved his mother, not him. But yet he couldn’t really just leave Alberto on his own yet so he took him to the island to keep him protected from the humans and continued living life as best to his ability. Sometimes coming around to the island to check on Alberto. Maybe his son reminded him too much of his loved one that it was tough for him to see him. Then when Alberto was “old enough” he left. He left to start again somewhere far away. But hey! That’s just a theory. A FILM THEORY!

What if "Silencio Bruno" is just a saying that Alberto heard in the town, similar to when he heard the word "el stupido"?

Who else would totally watch a series based on Luca and Giulia's life at school?

Alberto's dad is Mephisto, of course.

His dad being french actually makes sense because he doesn't know how to speak Italian even tho he's been living on the surface with his father.

I always thought “Bruno” was Albertos interpretation of the word brain

Doesn’t matter how crazy it sounds, you always make me believe it

The idea that Alberto's dad is human is way more interesting, sense Alberto says his father told him he's old enough to be on his own. I always took it as his dad was just... tired of being a dad. He probably didn't even LIVE on the island with Alberto, just came by once a week with food and trinkets from the human village not far from there. That's my take anyway. The idea he's a hopeless romantic car is one I will take into consideration tho.

Alberto’s father was probably a sea monster in exile or something, perhaps for his interest in humans or something. What is interesting is that for all Alberto’s reckless impulse, the one thing he won’t do is go to Portorosso. For all his recklessness, it’s this line in the sand that stands out as he only crosses it when he’s got someone hanging on his every word and thus someone to not disappoint.

I genuinely believe his father was just a bad father who got bored and left. I think the lack of information surrounding him was intentional. Since the story is mostly "through" Lucas's perspective and Alberto was very hesitant to share more information. I think his father is just another sea monster who was very curious about life on land. I do agree with the theory surrounding his mother but I don't personally support this theory. it was fascinating to hear.

The biggest hole in this theory is the fact that Alberto collects human things, but has very little knowledge of what they're called and sometimes what they do. "Singing lady box" and "sleeping under the fish" being the first two examples I can think of. I feel like if his father were human, there wouldn't be such a wide, little mermaid-esk disconnect

It's just sad how Alberto had been living alone for a while since his dad abandoning him, saying that he's old enough to be on his own. Gotta show alot of respect for Massimo for accepting Alberto to their family and having a father figure that Alberto never had in a long time. 💙🇮🇹

That's a very crazy but epic theory- I just watched Luca yesterday and loved the movie so I was excited to see this theory. I find it a little weird that Alberto didn't pick up any French from his father, accent or phrase wise - it could also depend on how long Alberto was without either parent, because it was a lot longer than the tallies on the wall because he said he stopped counting. Or that he took reference from the fishermen that he may have overheard

Alberto's father: Well, my romantic partner is dead, guess I'll take care of our child. Alberto: (constantly does things his father tells him not to do). Alberto's father: Screw this I'm going back to my job as a crew chief for racecar drivers! At least those people listened to me!

His dad just wanted to be a Disney parent.

Funny story about the name Bruno; So somehow, my brother accidentally picked the wrong confirmation name bc he thought it was just a report, so he picked the name "Bruno" which I thought was a funny name bc the main character in the book I was reading (The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas) is named Bruno. We're also MCYT fans so the song "That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars is funny to us. So to annoy him, I always call him Bruno, and so do my parents. So when we heard "Silencio Bruno" in the movie, we all just cracked up.

I think Alberto's mom died when he was too young to remember, because he never brings her up. He doesn't seem to care that she's gone, almost like he never knew her. I think if she was killed by the hunters, Alberto's father would keep him on the island away from humans for his safety, and maybe lived in the town and just went to the island to visit him. I also like the idea that he didn't leave on purpose, maybe too many people noticed him going to the island and got suspicious, so he couldn't go back in fear of them finding Alberto

I found it odd that Luca didn't already know about Alberto, seeing as how the underwater village seemed small and close-knit, just like the town of Portorosso. Alberto's father must have been human and his mother must be dead, and the sea monster village must have known Alberto's mother, but must not know that Alberto even exists. If the sea monster villagers knew about Alberto, his aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. would have taken care of him when his mother died. If they did know about him and had shunned him somehow, Luca would have gotten the warning to "stay away from that Alberto, his father is a land monster." Also, Alberto's father couldn't have been a local, or the villagers would have known about him and his son, so the explanation that he was a Frenchman visiting Portorosso makes sense.

I've always thought that "Silencio, Bruno" was just his way of saying "Be quiet, brain!". Whenever Luca wanted to walk or do something outside of his comfort zone, Alberto told him "Silencio, Bruno!" as a way to cope with anxiety. I hope that makes sense but ye.

I want to know the history of Alberto's tower Was it a lighthouse? Why was it abandoned by the humans who built it?

Going along with the idea that Alberto's dad is human, it makes sense to me that his dad did attempt to help Alberto live on the island knowing the risk of him being a fish given their reputation. However, it got difficult for him to continue helping him (probably after Alberto's mom died), eventually leaving Alberto behind to figure things out on his own. That or Alberto's dad was also a fish that in attempts to keep his son safe, he was the one to make the trips to the city to provide for him, eventually getting himself killed without Alberto's knowledge, leaving him behind.

I think this was a pretty fun theory, but in the end is incorrect because we know Alberto's last name is SCORFANO. While there are theories that Alberto is not his real first name (I disagree with those but regardless), I'm guessing Scorfano is because it means scorpionfish. A perfect last name for sea monsters, especially since Luca's last name means hermit crab. I would say it is more likely that his father was a sea monster too but was discovered while racing. I would love to see a follow-up movie that explores his history more, but honestly, Massimo is his father now and that is important to recognize too.

Sooo this means there has to be a little Alberto Vespa hanging out in the Cars universe just waiting to be reunited with his dad Bruno, right???

Waiting for the theory that Luca actually takes place in the 1950s POST-WALL-E, and the Monsters from Monsters Inc begin to evolve after the sea monsters start to live on land at the end of Luca.

Ben: “I was a serial ki-“ Me: “Whaaaa?!” Ben: “-kid growing up.” Me: “Ohhhh, 😅”

AND! ...the song played on the gramophone (before it sinks) is "O Mio Babbino Caro," the lyrics are about a girl in love asking her dad to go buy a ring so she can be married, and if he won't, she will throw herself into the Arno river WHICH LEADS TO THE OCEAN

This one kind of seems like a stretch, but it’s a fun idea anyways

I say Bruno left his son elberto for school or even college, maybe that’s why Elberto has a grudge about schools

Going off of the theory: Portorosso is stated to be based off of Cinque Terre in La Spezia, which is about 135 kilometers from Corsica, a French island. If we go with the same theory that Cars' Bruno is Alberto's father, then it is easy to believe that he could have been born in Corsica, where they are so close to Italian territories while remaining "French". In Corsica, it appears that they speak Italian, Corsican, and Italian, which explains a couple of comments asking about language. I believe that perhaps Alberto's mother died quite early on, but I wouldn't go as far as to believe that she was killed by the people of Portorosso. How my brain theorizes is that Alberto's mom trusted Alberto's father, while still remaining distasteful of humans in general. Alberto's father was different, and she told him that Alberto would have to remain separate from Portorosso. She knew the tales of the island and didn't want her child anywhere near there. After dying (early on again), Alberto's father respected that wish, but now had to raise his son isolated from everyone. He was probably genuinely frightened for Alberto doing things, overly cautious because he never really got to know how sea monsters really worked. Alberto always brushed him off, which led Bruno to believe that sea monsters were just /different/. After however many years, Bruno told Alberto that he was old enough to live on his own (thinking that sea monsters matured differently or something) and then ended up leaving him. Alberto never listened to him anyways. I'd like to think it was always his intention to come back, but the longer he stayed away, the harder it was for him to come back.

Wouldn't Alberto maybe know more about human things if his dad was human. He was like the little mermaid making up names for things.

Alternative theory; Alberto's mother was kinda crazy and whenever she would go out to the water to do things Alberto's father would tell her not too because she could get killed. Alberto's mother would say " Silenzio bruno" as Bruno was Alberto's father, this would be where Alberto got his catchphrase and when Alberto's mother was killed the police went to the island she came from to search for more sea monsters, and Bruno left with the police to save Alberto

"His mother is eventually killed by the local townspeople, which ultimately breaks his fathers' heart and 'DRIVES' him away!" MIND BLOWN!!! 12:21

Conspiracy: Albertos mother was a sea monster. His dad was a human. His dad met his mother posing ad a human. When they gave birth to alberto. They would have needed to clean him, showing his sea monster form. He abandoned his mother and took alberto. Until he was old enough, his father left him.

The backstory of Bruno needed like 5-10 more minutes and this movie would have been probably my favorite Pixar? At least way up there! I have a theory about Albertos father but doesn't especially tie in inside the Pixar theory or the "Moreau and Seine" theory... It's just proper to the movie! Anyway, here's what I was imagining: For me the statue in the centre of the town portrays the begin of the sea monster hunting! It portrays the fight between Bruno and Massimos father, Giulias grandfather and through his victory, he became the greatest sea monster hunter of all time! The reputation faded when Massimo is born with just one arm and could never live up to the expectations of everyone which will lead him to become a fisher but not having the same mindset as his father! Before this happening, sea monster were just a legend... Now the realtionship between Alberto and Bruno. I see Bruno being a very bad father! Being a lets say "very free minded" guy that doesn't pay much attention to his son, maybe he became like this after the dead of Albertos mom! (shoutout to everyone who watched the anime Evangelion) and this created the "Silenzio Bruno!" which Alberto uses when he's insecure because he always got the negative response from his father but by saying this phrase he puts those thoughts away and lives his life! So Bruno rather goes to land and eventually meets Massimos father, even though he didn't intend to find a friend, they eventually became inseperable! (Just like Luca and Giulia in the movie) Until the day Giulias grandfather found out that his new best friend from outer town actually is a sea monster but unlike Massimo and Giulia, he won't be as accepting and kill him like he learned from old legends... (that would also make the viewer think twice with old mindsets of racist people vs our real life society that tries to get rid of racism) So over time Alberto accepted the fact that his father won't come back (maybe he died maybe not) he won't know until he enters Portorosso for the first time with Luca and then sees the mindset of the people and of course the statue that shows his father being killed!!! Oof Throughout the movie Alberto does that suspicous look to Giulia when he sees her and Luca getting along together. So he makes the connections with his father (being betrayed, caught wathever by humans) At the end of the movie (and like we see in the credits) we see that Alberto lives with Massimo now, that would be weird following my theory BUT like in a lot of other stories and in real life and in The legend of korra season 2 episode 3 you know the scene with Tenzin, you're are you no matter what your bloodline tells you, you're unique and can make your own decisions! So Massimo is not like his father since he accepts Alberto the way he is and Alberto sees him as a great father figure!!

I thought "Luca" was a pretty good movie! I watched it when it first came out!

Theory: there might be a Luca 2 and in that Luca will find out that one of the teachers is also a sea monster and soon finds out it’s albertos dad and his dad tried to get back to Alberto but he got taken by people and escaped and couldn’t go back to the town so he becomes a teacher hoping his son will come to him

PLOT TWIST: the statue is Albertos father killing his wife/Albertos mother! The townspeople tried to kill Albertos mother, the father interrupts them and well "does the job" to still be the towns hero (since he's a fisher in this theory right? So he's like the best fisher/monster hunter or something and he puts his pride in front of anything else) The people from Porto Rosso even created the statue in his honor maybe. And then he couldn't look Alberto in his eyes anymore so he left. Alberto then is so disappointed in his father and so the "Silenzio Bruno!" will be his go to phrase! No one is going to tell Bruno what to do!! Even darker version would be that "Bruno" never knew his "wife" is a sea monster until Alberto is born and then tried to kill his child and his wife. He obviously never got to get Alberto but maybe there was a real fight in the place where the statue has been build oof

Something I noticed is that Albertos eyes don’t turn red underwater or when he gets wet like Luca and all the other sea monsters, meaning that he is not fully a sea monster.

Waiting for the " how Luca fits in the Pixar theory " video

Me the whole video: “BUT BRUNO IS A CAR!”

I think that Alberto’s dad didn’t knew that Alberto is sea monster and when he notice… He just left him..!

Couldn’t his mom be the human, his dad a sea monster. Dad knows of the dangers on land, but loves the woman. Hides Alberto’s mom’s identity so that Alberto never seeks land. While going to visit his love, their love has been found out, mom is sent away in shame, dad is captured and/or killed, Alberto only knew dad was going out, and never returned. Alberto finds the island through a story dad tells him when a young man wandering a mystical land crosses paths with a beautiful woman in a castle, and that story is what Alberto has left to start searching for his dad. Ben what you came up with was great. I saw during the end credits of the movie a note saying something to the effect of the story was dreamed about while in their slippers, and if you think of the timing this was happening around the BLM height and COVID, so perhaps the hatred toward sea monsters is an allegory for all people who are “different” and simply Alberto’s dad was killed for being someone different. Bruno could just be a made up name, doesn’t have to be related to anything; although it’s fun when things connect. Thanks for you videos! I watch almost all of them!

We need MatPat X SuperCarlinBrothers video The title would be: Undyne is Alberto’s mom?!

Alberto's dad still at the grocery store getting milk.

But if albertos dad was human then why did Alberto not know more about the human world. Like what stars really are

0:28 the moment he said this it was obvious he abandoned him

is it just me or could the weird villain in this movie (a like 14-year-old, dreamworks animation lookin boy) looks like a younger SKINNER from RATATOUILLE????? the more i think about it the more i realize it couldnt be true.

I love you guys & how in-depth your theories always are, it's so impressive where you pull stuff from to connect & I totally eat it up every time. But sometimes I have to wonder what the people at Pixar think when/if they see these theories... like do they go "wow, they figured it out!" or "wow, they connected THAT!? yes yes, that's totally what we were going for, not at all an accident, yes Pixar Universe yay..." LOL.

When I first heard Alberto say "Silencio Bruno" I thought of "Silence, Brain".

What if Alberto’s father DIDN’T abandon him? What if he went away and his explanation was that Alberto could “manage on his own” now that he was… X age. What if he always intended to return but died while he was away? IDK, was just a possibility in my head.

Did Alberto's father possibly enter a door in the human world and was sent to the monster world, perheps even being traped there?

maybe Alberto wanted a vespa to find his father, it wouldn't be bad for him to have a friend while Luca is at school with the girl

Raoul’s last name literally translates to “it rolls”

It’s Bruno, I’m calling it.

My theory is this - Alberto and his dad were just talking about stuff or hanging out just doing something together maybe eating dinner BUT their both in tower or near it while the two are hanging out alberto decided to ask if he could have what he really really wants that being a up vespa Alberto goes and talks about how amazing it is and maybe he says something like this "dad if we get a vespa we could ride anywhere in the world and not be stuck on this island going from sea to land it wouldn't that be amazing" his dad though isn't pleased with this idea because of humans he would then maybe say something like this "Alberto that is a fantasy we are 'sea monsters' we can't just walk into a human town and go get a vespa and drive off even if we did we can't risk the chance of us being seen as 'sea monsters'" Alberto then continues on saying "but what if we did and no one finds out just think about it we won't be stuck here" his dad rases his voice towards Alberto and says "drop it we're not getting a vespa we're not traveling we are stay here on the island and that's final" Alberto then gets mad as well and says "what's so bad about humans and what is so wrong about leaving this island" his dad says still in a raised voice "you'll know when your grown" Alberto still mad because he really wants a vespa and travel and rises his voice and says "I am gown and if you won't go with me I'll go by myself" to which his dad said in the heat of moment yells "if your gown enough to that then your grown enough to live without me" and he leaves to the ocean only to cool off though Alberto stays in the tower and waits for his dad to come back he knows that they didn't mean was said but as his dad was swimming he was spotted by some monster hunters and was killed but because Alberto is in the tower on the island and has no way getting news from the humans he lives unknowing his dad is dead and waits from his arrival that never happens it also helps makes sense of why the vespa and leaving is so important to Alberto

Albertos mother could be one of the old “ladies” living on the island.

I think his dad is Bruno bc he says “don’t do that” and he never said why that’s his name

I think Luca takes place in 1954 according to 2 movie posters in the town. So the timelines don’t really line up.

Plot hole in this theory: If Luca is before Monsters Inc. when humans were starting to transform into monsters, Bruno existed after Cars 2. How would The Bruno car be Bruno (person)'s car if Bruno (person) is from the future?

I think the sea monster at the begging game isn’t Alberto, but it was his father. He was also a sea monster and I think that Alberto’s father didn’t try to abandon him, but he got killed off by a fisherman.

What if Alberto's mother was a decedent of Ariel because he likes collecting human things.

A few things. 1) Seine is pronounced "sen", like what Chihiro's name is changed to in "Spirited Away". 2) The French "c" with the funny tail on the bottom makes it a soft "c", so the car's name would be pronounced "sa-Roule", not "ka-Roule". 3) The story of Alberto's family seems like classic mermaid/selkie stories, where the human man captures the non-human woman and takes her to be his wife, willing or not. Then she either withers away and dies due to depression and missing home, or she is freed somehow and returns to the ocean. Often she has hybrid children with the man that choose to either go with their mother or stay with their father, effectively choosing to either be human or to be the sea creature. It seems that Alberto has chosen to be a sea creature, but lives as a human because of the village of creature hunting humans nearby, and it's possible that his father just couldn't handle the stress of it. He couldn't live underwater, and he couldn't bring his son into town. But there's also the possibility that Alberto's father did mean to return, he went into town, or at least on the mainland, for something, and ended up in an accident that either took him far away or killed him without Alberto knowing. 4) When I watched this movie, I felt it was more a story about two trans kids looking for a place they could be accepted as the are, but approaching it from two different common stories. Alberto's dad "disowns" him because he's trans (a sea creature), and leaves. Lots of trans kids are abandoned by their unaccepting parents. And for Luca, his parents know he's trans and love him, but are afraid of what the outside world (village of humans) would do to him because of it. He gets curious, so they try to send him away with the weird (queer) family member, but he fights back by leaving. As boys, they meet Giulia and her father. Giulia accepts them right away because kids are kids and just like to make friends, and Massimo accepts them at the end because he's a father that's willing to give love to those who need it. Also he only gets to see Giulia during the summer, and she doesn't share his passions, so that must make him sad. Having a son around that would be able to help him, Alberto, would make him happy, so he accepts the little orphan trans boy. Massimo likes Luca to, but understands he wants to go to school like Giulia. Also, Luca has parents. But he's willing to give Luca a place to stay on land if he needs it.

well i disagree about the circumstances of his departure. I think it was an argument between bruno and alberto about doing dangerous things which led bruno to tell alberto "if you think you're so smart, than you can take care of yourself" which is kinda what alberto says

By far, this is the most far-fetched theory, and yet it makes the most sense to me…

Wrong, the director confirmed that bruno is not alberto's father, they thought of it but bruno is just a name :v

His father probably thought Alberto was old enough to take care of himself. I don’t know Alberto exact age but he’s probably teenager. Dad probably wanted more out of life and left Alberto to his devices.

.....I really hate doing this because I'm a fan but...I think the Pixar Theory has actually made it harder for you to make good theories about Pixar movies.

Crazy idea! What if there’s a part 2 to Luca and then there is a two way story that follows Luca in school and Alberto finding clues about his really father?! Okay, I know it’s crazy but it’s just an idea…

Am I the only one that thought Bruno means brain, like “silence brain”

I was seriously expecting Alberto to mention something about one of his parents being human because it was too weird that his father had obviously been on the surface with him but in the end he never did so perhaps he didnt even know?

I really want a sequel to Luca to give more backstory to the characters and to see what Luca is doing in Genoa. Also more Italian scenery which is always a win. Oh and I’d love to learn more about the fish people.

I just assumed that Alberto's father was the sea monster from the beginning of the movie. He told Alberto that he was old enough to take care of himself for a while. Little did he know that he would get captured by humans and killed.

If Alberto’s mom was killed, wouldn’t Alberto have a bit of hatred towards humans? Even with his personality, that knowledge is bound to strike enough fear to drive him away from humans and maybe even his own father before he left

small question about the Cars in the Pixar "timeline" why would we ever make vehicles with *organs!!!* ever notice they never open there doors? that is because there brain is behind it, a big gray fleshy mass

As a French major Ben’s pronunciation of “Seine” is K I L L I N G M E 😭😭😭

I recently got interested in this movie and came across this video by chance. I'm extremely impressed by the well thought-out storyline focus and appreciate his dads possible background story! this was an amazing take on his past!

The fact that you have this much time is amazing

Sad thought, but do you think that the dream of Alberto wanting the Vespa so he could travel the world was part of a greater dream of maybe finding his dad along the way.

If only they made flashbacks for Alberto’s childhood, the movie could have been so much better.

Mind blown! I always love your additions to the Pixar theory!! I don’t know if anyone else mentioned this here in the comments, but one of the races in Cars 2 is in Porto Corsa which seems kind of similar to Portorosso, not sure if that’s another connection, but I found it interesting especially after all the connections to cars you made in this video.

The absolutely mental gymnastics you do every time a new Pixar movie comes out just to shoehorn it into your connected fanon. Pretty entertaining.

"I was a cereal ki....." Stop right there, sir!

My theory is Alberto is the child of Uncle Ugo.

"Silencio, Bruno!" would have been something Alberto had heard his Mom say over and over.... since people rarely talk to themselves in the third person. This means we can presume there was some kind of conflict between them quite frequently, with mom demanding Bruno be silent as an end all to whatever the issue had been.

My only question is wouldn’t Bruno be in his 70s or 80s in Cars 2 as Luca takes place in the 1960s.

As soon, as SOON as I figured out that his father was gone, I knew that someone would do a theory on it.

It’s a little concerning why they released it 4 days before Father’s Day and there is only one good dad.....

And maybe because Bruno (Alberto's dad) is human, Alberto would mostly stay on land because of him. But hey! That's just a theory. A FILM THEORY-!

This theory doesn't even tell us what happened to him. You told us his backstory and why he left Alberto but not where did he go to or what did he do after that. After all, he didn't become Bruno from Cars even by this theory, Bruno from Cars just woke up with his memories because he was his previous owner.

Basically the cars imprint people memory Film theory: nop nerp it evolved insects

I want to see Luca 2 focuses on find “Bruno”

To add to the link between France and Italy in the theory, the village is a fictional rapresentation of the so called "Riviera Ligure" (both in terms of appearance and the various references to the pasta with pesto), a region of Italy which is basically attached to the French riviera.

My best theory is that his father had a similar mindset to Luca’s mother, but a different execution of punishment. Luca went to the surface, disobeyed his parents, and his punishment was to be sent with his uncle to the bottom of the sea for two seasons as a means to protect him from land monsters. “You know I love you right?” Even when sending him away, she wanted to make sure he knew he was loved regardless of her anger with him. Whereas Alberto only had a father and Disney as a whole is famous for killing the mothers off in self sacrifice. Alberto’s father may have gone through something similar by what happened in Finding Nemo, his mate sacrificing herself to protect their baby. Alberto is super curious and a bit of a daredevil, he may have gotten too close to fishermen and nearly gotten himself hurt in doing so or became too curious about the very creatures that took Alberto’s mother, that his father decided it was survival of the fittest and left him to find out curiosity would kill the cat, but satisfaction brought it back- A family that wants him that just happen to be human and sea creatures alike.

this is the longest stretch I've ever seen

My theory I think his father abandoned him because his mother died and he couldn't raise him alone. I think Alberto's mother was a sea monster and his father a normal human and so abandoned him because he couldn't live with the fact that his son was a sea monster and they had to hide him his entire life. Maybe he had a grudge for the rest of the monsters, maybe they killed his wife, because..... I think Giulias dad is also alberto's dad. He's hunted seamosters and fish his entire life, then suddently he meets 2 seamonsters and he just accepts them, like that, boom, no arguments, fear, or anything. it has to be true.

But if his dad left & mum isn't there, as she died then why doesn't he live with the other sea monsters or why didn't bruno take Alberto with him when he left?

Albertos father ;omg ru ok Albertos mom : yes yes wow do u play the accordion Me such a lovely story