#(quit your therapy. join my band) (i. i dont play any instruments well) (fantastic you already fit in perfectly)

[slocumjoe]

usually when people apologize for something being long its like...two paragraphs, but i admire that you actually come through on that

I personally lay hexes on people who post very long text blocks without a readmore, so I did have to go through and just copy+paste so I could put a readmore. Also, I italicized quotations/parentheses and italicized+bolded+colored the names, as I usually do, just because it’s easier for me to read. sorry for like, hijacking your stuff

anyway, @dontletyourchildrenwatchthis’s band au

Sole: is the director of the band. It’s more of a community band that they formed up after being medically discharged from the marines. Always wanted to be in a concert band/have their own band, and was in college for music education before enlisting due to financial disparities. Allows anyone and everyone who has a passion for music to join, and is a very open and free director, does their best to be friends with everyone in the band so the members don’t just see them as a director. Has even reached out to many people (some of the companions) to join. Though they’re fun, they take the band very seriously. If someone doesn’t take the band seriously with their commitment/dedication they very firmly ask them to consider their involvement. Does their best to help out anyone in need (practice, transportation, etc). Does their best to put together community concerts to raise funds for charities or funds for the band so they can travel/have music or instruments. Will put together specific pieces to show allow people to show off their skills.

Cait: I think she would be a trombone player. She used to be a trumpet player throughout grade school, as it was one of the only escapes from her abusive home life. After school practices, concert nights/trips, spending time in the practice rooms after school to avoid going home. Though it was originally a tool to escape home, she grew to love playing in a band, the support of her director and the friends in her section/bandin general. Though, when she was in high school her parents stole her instrument (which was loaned to her by the school since she couldn’t afford one of her own) in order to buy drugs. This made Cait very understandably upset, and it caused her a lot of trouble since the trumpet belonged to the school, so she wasn’t allowed to play anymore despite it not being her fault. She never forgave her parents for that, and without the support of the band, and her lack of stability at home caused her to fall off, much like her parents. Drugs, fights, etc. It took several years of her life, but after one-too-many arrests, she was forced to join NA (narcotic anonymous), and saw a flier for Sole’s community band. She wanted to pick up trumpet again, but too many fights ruined the dexterity of her hands, but Sole helped her pick up trombone, since it doesn’t require finger movements, and since she had past experience with a brass instrument, she didn’t have to learn an entirely new embouchure, just adjusted it to the new instrument. Being in the band has helped her stave off any relapses, as she knows Sole relies on her to be the principal trombone player, and she’s also grateful of all the help they offered her when she was at one of her lowest points.

Curie: I think she would primarily play violin, but her eagerness and desire to learn has caused her to attempt to pick up just about every other string instrument. Though, her primary job as a pharmacist already makes it difficult to dedicate a ton of time to the band, which has caused her much grief and has even caused a minor break-down, because she wants to dedicate herself to your band, and wants to learn so many new instruments. Sole, doing their best to be a good friend and director, allows her to learn on the donated instruments they’ve gotten, or the few they've bought and restored themselves. This allows Curie to try a new instrument every few concerts, which involves months of learning while they practice the new pieces. So far, Curie has picked up viola, and cello. Though, Curie is more than happy to play the violin if Sole really needs her for a specific piece or two.

Danse: Is also a veteran, in fact, it was through the service that he met Sole. They were under his command for the first few years of their service before being transferred to put their skill elsewhere. He was medically discharged after a mission went wrong. Danse entirely blames himself, because he believes it was his decision making that led to the deaths of his entire team, sans himself for being in power armor, despite the fact that his mission was doomed from the start. He completely lost his self-confidence and his purpose in life after his injuries made it impossible for him to rejoin the service. He reconnected with Sole at a veteran association, where they told him of their band. Sole offered Danse to join, as there were a few other veterans from the community in. He refused at first, since he didn’t know how to play a single instrument, but reluctantly accepted their offer to be taught one. I had a bit of a hard time choosing which instrument he would play, since I think he would be either a french horn or euphonium player. Sole let him try out both, and since I’m more partial to him playing french horn, that’s what I’m gonna go with him choosing. Being in Sole’s band has helped him regain his self confidence, and has given him a purpose. He is a dedicated and quick learner, which has made learning the instrument very easy for him, though he has a tendency to over-play when practicing. He was also a little hard to get along with at first, since he treated his section like a unit of soldiers, barking orders and sharing his not-so-nice opinions towards players who weren’t as dedicated as he thought they should be. Though,after a meeting with Sole, he became more mindful of his behavior. Speaking of Sole, he is extremely proud of them, growing into a leader/director/teacher, as he remembered how they were when they were first under his command years ago.

Deacon: Deacon is adaptive, and loves to move around, which is why I think he would be in percussion. He is a sort of jack of all trades, knows how to play most instruments that involve mallets, drum sticks, chimes, etc. If it involves a stick and something to hit, he’s on it. This may involve him having to move around to different instruments throughout a concert or even in a single piece, but he’s got it under control. He moves so fluidly and quietly you sometimes don’t even see him transfer instruments. He is just suddenly playing when he comes in. He can even play piano in a pinch, though he isn’t a fan of being that close to the edge of the stage, so far in the front of the band, which is why he is particularly fond of percussion, because they’re in the back. He is sort of hidden back there, that’s something he very much vib(raphone)es with. He will also lightly make fun of Sole for the faces they pull while directing after practice/concerts. He has even made faces back in the middle of practices, which has caused Sole to get distracted more than once, to which they will lightly scold him afterwards.

Hancock: Saxophone. When I think of Hancock, I think of smooth, really mellow and slow jazz. He is an amazing player, but prefers slower songs, songs that don’t require much technicality or any strong concentration/practice. He is a very lax person, not much of a fan of hard and rigid genres of music. He much prefers jazz, pieces that have interpretive solos/duets up to the players. I think at first he didn’t take the band seriously, would occasionally not show up for practice and a few concerts, because he either didn’t care or got too high (more than just weed with this guy, he does harder drugs usually). After Sole had a talk with him though, he initially quit. He originally joined the band because he liked how fun and free Sole was, and how loosely they managed the band. When Sole had that talk with him about needing more dedication from him to be in the band, he initially was upset, believing that went completely against the “freeness” of the band. But, he very much missed playing for Sole’s band, and worked out an agreement with them. He helped Sole form a full jazz band, which was much more lowkey, and comprised a smaller section of the band, purely for those that wanted to play full on jazz pieces. The smaller band had less practices and would usually play 1 or 2 pieces at the end of a normal concert. Out of respect to Sole’s dedication to the band (and to Cait’s triggers) he no longer shows up high, and doesn’t not mention his drug use/habits during meetings.

MacCready: I see Mac as a violinist as well. He played throughout most of grade school, but had to drop out of school when he accidentally got his girlfriend pregnant. He had to drop out of school and drop the cello in favor of working to support himself and his son. His girlfriend’s parents thankfully watched Duncan while Mac went to work, but that stopped after his girlfriend died. They blamed it on him, and in a way, he blamed himself too. She had been on her way back to her parents when she was in a car accident, which she unfortunately passed away from. This resulted in Mac almost falling apart. It was a really tough time for him, and became even harder when Duncan became seriously ill. This is how he met Sole, through one of their charity events. Sole’s charity raised a ton of money for the families of sick kids, helping them afford treatment. Once Duncan got better, Mac felt like he had to thank Sole personally. This is where they offered him to join the band. He was hesitant at first, since he had very little time as it is, and thought he needed to find extra childcare for Duncan, but Sole encouraged him to bring Duncan to practices, and has even helped him with childcare, offering to watch Duncan for free while Mac was at work, and Sole even started teaching him how to play piano. It was very difficult for Mac to make friends as a single father, especially since his girlfriend died, but joining the band has given him a chance for friends, even some around his age with kids of their own.

Nick: When he was younger, Nick was a very good trumpet player. Though he hadn’t picked it up in many many years by the time he met Sole. As a retired detective that suddenly had a ton of time on his hands, he looked for ways to occupy himself. He heard about Sole’s band through the paper, and when he read that it was an open community band that required a little more than light commitment, he pulled his old trumpet out of storage and showed up to practice. Though it took some time to get used to it again, and after a few cleanings and tune ups, he was back to the star trumpet player he had been back when he was younger. Though he makes jokes about how difficult it is to keep up with the younger members, he is constantly impressing everyone with his range and speed. Nick has taken a very strong liking to Sole, due to their kindness and dedication to the band and the members of it. He tries to take them under his wing, helping them manage the band and concerts and charities and everything else. He worries Sole will overwork themselves, much like he had during his job, so he offers his help where he can, and reminds them to take breaks, both physically and mentally.

Piper: Played the flute and also picked up the piccolo throughout grade school, though it was more of a hobby and hadn’t played either since high school until she joined Sole’s band. She found the band while reporting on it during one of the charity events Sole put on, and liked what she heard so much she decided to pick up her hobby again. Her being a journalist for the local paper has its benefits, because she will write articles about the band, upcoming concerts, etc (she may or may not include how beautifully the flute section played, and write about how one unknown flutist in particular played so beautifully, it moved the crowd to tears). Her contacts and connections through her job have elicited larger donations for the band and the charities it supports, but has also gotten them very prestigious concert opportunities. Piper herself is a wonderful flute player, and since her job requires a lot of typing, technical pieces where her fingers are flying over the keys are her specialty.

Preston: Clarinet and assistant band director. Also a veteran, and was in an army band before his enlistment contract ended. He enjoys marches the most, but is also a fan of jazz pieces, which has allowed him to explore his confidence a bit more with all the interpretive pieces. Joined Sole’s community band for his love of playing clarinet. He offhandedly mentioned wanting to learn how to direct to one of his section-mates, to which Sole had heard and taken seriously. He was extremely unconfident throughout his life, especially in leader roles, but has slowly grown much more confident under Sole’s direction. They will switch out during concerts, with Sole picking up their own instrument and joining the band while he gets to direct. Sole has involved him in deciding the theme of the concert, picking out songs based on what strengths the band had/things they wanted to improve. Sole even handed the reins entirely over to Preston so he could coordinate his own concert and direct it entirely on his own. Preston has excelled with directing, but has unfortunately fallen victim to Deacon’s light bullying over his “director faces”.

Strong: Strong is a huge man, in every way. There aren’t many big-person friendly instruments besides the tuba, though he still manages to make the tuba look small. Strong had a somewhat rough upbringing, and very rarely had kindness in his life. So when he meets Sole, someone who is genuinely kind and does their best to offer help, not only to the members of their band, but their entire community, Strong is immediately transfixed. He has not known kindness like Soles’s someone who just gives it out, whether or not the person deserves it. And according to himself, he was not worthy of kindness for the things he’s done. As an ex-con, he struggled greatly to find places that would accept him, which is only strengthened by the way he looks. Big, intimidating, mean. But Strong is also kind at heart, and only wants to learn how to be able to give his kindness instead of the cruelty given to him and expected of him. When he heard of Sole’s band, he really wanted to join, but didn’t even know how to play a single instrument, though that has never mattered to Sole. They offered to teach him some instruments, starting with the tuba since it was the easiest for him to play, size wise. But then someone donated a harp to Sole, hoping they could put good use to it. Strong was mesmerized by the beautiful and large instrument, and was the first to volunteer learning it for the band. He fell in love with it instantly, to the point where Sole gave him an extra key to the practice room so he can come in and practice when he pleases. Sole does their best to find pieces that include harp, but Strong still plays tuba when needed.

X6-88: Growing up, his guardians brought him up playing piano. He was forced to play the instrument for the majority of his life. Practices almost every day, concerts, school band, church band, etc. His guardians were very strict, and didn’t let him quit or have any of his other hobbies. They told him he was made for piano, he had a gift. He was naturally quite good at it, and through the rigorous routine and harsh punishments of his guardians, he excelled at it. A prodigy, if you will, winning competitions, playing in state, etc. He even got a scholarship for a prestigious music school for it, and he went through with it because that was what was expected of him. That is where he met Sole. The college was near their community, and they were looking for students wanting to play in concerts, as many college music students were constantly on the lookout for opportunities like that. He took Sole up on their offer, because he knew it would be expected of him were his parents there. He did his role perfectly, playing piano, but Sole was able to pick up that it wasn’t something he particularly wanted to do. And it was through Sole X6 was finally able to explore different hobbies, different interests. Sole also helped him gain the confidence to stand up to his parents, accept that he was his own person, an adult at that, and that he could choose his own hobbies and interests. He changed his major in college and has decided to pursue an entirely different degree, but he still plays in Sole’s band as their pianist. Now that he was able to pursue his own interests, he found that he did like piano, and was now playing as a choice instead of an expectation.