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clonesome · 8 months

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I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE ORIGINAL ASK BC ITS LIKE 4AM WHEN IM TYPING THIS AND I HIT THE WRONG BUTTON A C K sorry @kapuchino357 BUT I AM ANSWERING YOUR ASK <3

(AS OF WRITING THIS BIT IN PARANTHESIS I HAVE TRIED WRITING THIS 13 TIMES its not you its me lolol i hust have so much to saaaaay and I feel like it's about damn time I finished it skdkkf)

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SCREAM ABOUT MY OCS !!!!!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Also a thank you to all of my friends who play around with our OCs like it's pretend on the playground <3 thank you for helping me get a few of my OCs out of my head and out where they can be enjoyed.

I think we should start with Leandro, since he takes up most of my brain meats:

♡ Leandro Placido, he is in his late 20s. 1930s-40s eh ish time period wise aesthetic in a somewhat fantasy world i guess lol, he loves to dress in both men's and women's fashions (Loretta being the name he teases others with when he dresses up in typical womens fashion and goes out. But not always, sometimes he really does just want to feel pretty as Leandro and thats fine too <3). "Cleaner", he cleans up the crime scenes and disposes of bodies for his Boss and he's the best one in their Family. Which is so fitting bc his Boss found his sorry ass in a dumpster of all things. He had unintentionally been helping the guys he ran into dispose of a body he thought was regular trash and long story short after helping them they threw him in the dumpster too to get rid of him and that is when the Big Boss was told of him and well.. there he was.

Loud and rowdy, he never really knows when to keep his mouth shut with most things. He also has a quick temper, especially if he's drunk but not always. He's a bumbling idiot with a heart of gold. He plays the trombone terribly on purpose to annoy people, though he is actually a really skilled player. He uses sex, and other things, as a weapon against himself but learns that he doesn't need to do that as he grows in his story. Unfortunately he's also a rat, secretly having infiltrated his Family by the very enemy who wants nothing more than to get rid of them once and for all. Too bad he's fallen in love with the head maid of the House, and when he falls, he falls incredibly h a r d. Only having ever been in one other full relationship with a girl he went to high school with, which he ended in one of the worst ways possible (smh poor Annity), he wasn't sure how to explain his feelings for her. And then he accidentally catches her and one of his best friends in bed together, so after that he doesn't want to get in between two of some of the most important people in the world to him. So he just.. flirts, and really why would she think any different?

He always flirts. With everyone. So they do this tired song and dance of him shamelessly flirting with her, and her being annoyed (and flustered) by it because she thinks he's just teasing her relentlessly. And it goes on.. for a long time. Until... after like A Lot. For instance: him bedding a different high power Underworld Boss while black out drunk and also not even knowing who he was, getting kidnapped (almost four times) and getting most of his tongue cut out on a successful kidnapping to remind him of who he really works for (and if there is one thing he hates is a traitor, boy look in the damn mirror who do you think you are), being sent off to work at the docks for three months after getting into a heated argument with his Boss (over the Boss's relationship bc GASP Leandro has a bit of a lusty crush on him too! Messyyyyy), him having a crush on a dance hall owner (Bruce) bc he taught him how to love the side of him that he calls Loretta (which in turn has him accepting his whole self), Annity showing back up in his life with their son William (double gasp!), his abusive parents showing back up after he gets arrested for the 43rd (to which he is owed 43 phone calls dammit! Lol!), among... other happenings. . . They finally get their happy ending. But, not in the way they expected. And that fits them just fine.

He's messy, in all senses of the word, but cleans up nice. It takes him too long to get his shit together. He's the dumpster fire that lives in my heart lol. Very 'sun coded' or whatever it's called in the ways that he burns himself too bright in a way that will destroy him. he's viciously angry while having so much love for others but almost none for himself. More than willing to take a bullet for anyone, but will also put a bullet in whoever his Boss feels like.

He's also so dense. No book smarts, only street smarts. If anyone he truly loves flirts back with him, like the Head Maid or Bruce, it is seriously like they are talking to a brick/concrete wall. Also the trope of 'love me so much it undooms me' but only after it's too late.

He dies, of course only after realizing just how much he wants to live. And how much he now has to let go because death has always been coming for him. He had so desperately wished for it so many times, except now he wishes for anything but. And that's when his time is up.

He then appears on a beach, which he has dreamed about- so much like the one back home. A home he hasn't seen since he was a child running around wild. And who does he see a little ways down the shore? The love of his life and the promised spirits of their two children that they are lucky enough to have in their next lives. He runs over and embraces her, twiling her around and bringing a trail of waves around them in the air as he does so all while crying into her hair as she clings just as tightly. After he sets her down and kisses her, the children tackled him into the ever on coming surf. And he gets a taste of what his after life is supposed to be- until all of a sudden, after a small talk with his beloved, they all disappear. He can't see or hear them, but they can see and hear him as he calls out helplessly for them. And he thinks, this is it. This is the hell that he had always known he would end up in. He just wasn't prepared for it. He also was not prepared for the heart shaped lock that magically appeared and locked itself unbearably tightly through his chest and into the space where his heart was. Then the beach is gone, where his loving family are just as confused to his disappearance.

He's back to the place where he died, held back by someone who has unfinished business with him. A girlfriend who had never been able to let him go, Annity. Who.. isn't all bad she's just... complicated.

Cursingly haunting the person who is keeping him from moving on, becoming almost nothing more than a twisted rage filled demon. He dooms the person holding his spirit hostage for years until the love of his life (who had died before him, in his arms. Tragic.) uses almost the last of her own spirit energy to save him, oh yeah, and to stop the ghost marriage Annity had been so close to achieving!

With help of course!

From a medium- who turns out to be his Boss' younger sister who he would have done anything for while living (and who after most of his tongue was cut out she taught him sign language). And his own son, who all this time hadn't been able see him, but had sensed.. something was off for the past few years with his mother. He never would have guessed it was something like this.

And only then, when all of his and others wrongs are in some way set to right, are they allowed to live their after life in happiness and love. Because after all of this... he gets his revenge- in a way, he forgives those he feels deserves it... but also he forgives himself for his past mistakes that he didn't even know he learned from.

I just have so many feelings about him and all of the scenarios he could get himself into when he isn't confined to the limits of the story he is doomed by and haunts himself.

Next is Graskogr of Strilgahl and Isabeau, they are a couple of destiny do NOT separate them. let's start with Gras:

♡Graskogr of Strilgahl, 874 years old give or take a few years, 12'9", fantasyyyy so anything I say goes yay =], they speak with two voices (i imagine it to sound like a duet, in the beginning I thought of something like the duet between Ashley Barrett and Daniel Korb from the Hades soundtrack bc their voices together are absolutely beautiful. But not im thinking its something like whatever those two characters from this game my friend plays. One voice is gruff and animalistic while the other is light and serene.) sometimes one voice leads while the other has an overlaying whisper it just depends. Ruler of a kingdom that they had lived in their centuries long life, having overthrown the previous ruler and brought peace and prosperity to their kingdom. Though they are now hated by every other surrounding kingdom, either for how long they've been in power or just becuase of how powerful they themselves are. Having been granted great magical ability from their godlike parentage, they have a fully golden akorhraca (bullshit fantasy metal I made up lol) arm that can transform into any weapon they wish. Though more of a curse than blessing, they need magical energy to survive. And a lot of it. And if they call upon their weapons too often or use too much power the ichor spreads. They have fissures of the stuff all over their body like lightning scars almost. Something akin to a big dark blue broken plate fixed with gold.

They've had so many marriages over their life, most ending with the partner leaving. As a product of whoever not wanting to be with them or being to afraid of them or for whatever reason once the political side of things was secured the partner would end the marriage. And they would let them, gladly. Not really caring here nor there abiut a relationship, until one. Karya, a human, far smaller and fragile than them. It was the first time in their life they had felt something like love. Though that wasn't necessarily what they would have called it, not having the words to describe how they felt. (And honestly neither do I lol) The two lived happily for many years, Gras allowing themselves to dote on this tiny woman and also allowing her to do the things she could for them as well.

But then she got sick. Gras tried everything they could to heal her, but for some reason... nothing they did worked. So unfortunately the beloved queen passed. And they went into a deep grieving, a depression so deep they shut everyone and everything out for a few centuries. At one point in the beginning even closing off the kingdom to anything and everyone other than those who greatly needed their help. Refusing to speak anything more than a grunt or one word answer whenever a steward would ask something of importance to the kingdom.

They even gained a new pronoun during this time, they start using It to refer to themselves as well lol.

Though after their initial grieving, they went into a rage. So terrifying and powerful that it woukd be spoken of for centuries after, and it is also a reason as to why they are so hated. Taking their seemingly unending anger out whatever they felt like. But thankfully it didn't last too long. But it would scar their public perception from other kingdoms forever. Oh they also sort of become an assassin for hire as well during this time. Not even seeing the need to disguise themselves either so everyone knew it was them who was coming for their targets lol. Though instead of being paid in money they would be paid in things that would help their kingdom, that admittedly would struggle due to their absence.

Most of their time, however, after their rage would be spent in the chambers that they had dedicated to Karya.

Okay enough doom and gloom, well not really but whatever, now onto Isabeau!

♡Isabeau, a harpy woman who has lived with her flock in the mountains her entire life. Until she is accidentally cursed by some novice magic user to be a tiny little bird. Unable to speak or transform back, the magic user feels absolutely awful for the wrong they have caused her. Vowing to help return her to her glorious self, the two set out to undo this curse. Eventually being separated by a strong wind that blows Isabeau's tiny form aaaaaaaaaaallllll the way to Strilgahl.

Where the first interaction she gets with Graskogr is they try to shoot her with an arrow from their fantasy metal arm.

Off to a great start.

So she retaliates by trying to use her small but sharp talons to scratch them. But it doesn't do anything, not even leave a mark.

And something stirs inside Graskogr, a light feeling he hasn't felt for many years. Seeing the tenacity of this little tiny thing to live. To not die by their hand. It causes them to laugh, truly for the first time since their beloved passed. Though it was nothing more single chuckle. But still.

It confused Isabeau, who just moments before this hulk of a figure was just trying to kill her. And now it was... laughing. Or almost laughing? She wasn't sure. . . Just as long as death wasn't staring her in the face. And at this point she is so exhausted she just passes out.

So Gras takes care of this little bird, a thing that it's beloved loved so much..

Aaaaand unfortunately that's kind of all I have for sure for them. But there is also some dream stuff, where Gras sees Isabeau's true form in their dreams but all they really see is a person made of light so they think st first that it is Karya guiding them. And maybe in some way it is. Karya may be watching over these two idiots and be pushing them together so that they can be happy.

They teach each other how to love and trust and l i v e again. Despite the harships and curses. Despite everything. The live and they love. And for them, that is enough.

( and also for this Fantasy land Leandro also has a form here where he is a fallen star turned Mortal and Human. Or he thinks he's Human. He has amnesia from the fall and transformation. Lol but other than that and some more magical powers he's basically the same character. )

Aaaaaand that's all I have time for folks. If these characters of mine are interesting for you and you read this far. I love yooouuuuuuu lolol ask me more stuff about them and I may have answers to give.

#clonesome #kapuchino357

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the-hidden-writer · 1 year

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Like music drifting in the air (Invisible, but everywhere...) (1/3)

Summary: Julia, the assistant manager of an esteemed Dutch music hall, notices some odd things about upcoming maestro Sander Visscher.

aka After being rescued from Talon, Siebren convinces Overwatch to let him leave and attempt a second chance at life, choosing to pursue music. It's only a matter of time before it all falls apart.

Words: 4,727 AO3: [Here!]

1. “Sander Visscher”

Tall.

The very first thing that Julia ever noticed about maestro Sander Visscher was probably the same thing that everyone else noticed first, and that was he was giant.

She’d heard about it of course; she’d looked him up as soon as her boss mentioned his orchestra would be taking up the majority of the next classical season, but she had never heard of him before. Her boss had told her that he’d only recently received his MA, but had quickly gained a lot of attention for his “immersive” technique from audiences and performers alike. With this in mind, Julia had expected the search results to show her photos of some young prodigy. Not the elderly man that showed up instead.

And although he had looked big in the pictures, nothing could have prepared her for how impossibly tall he was in real life.

He was standing in the entrance hall, seemingly admiring the ornate decoration, dressed in a navy turtleneck, black dress pants and equally formal-looking dress shoes. His silver hair was tied neatly at the back in a very small ponytail, and a pair of rectangular glasses rested on a large, hooked nose. He had a slightly wrinkled, sharp face, but other than that nothing about his lean figure or straight posture would betray his age. In fact, once the thought entered Julia’s brain, she could swear his arms looked pretty muscular under that sweater.

As her boss, the manager of the concert hall, took charge and moved forwards to greet the maestro and discuss rehearsal arrangements, Julia stayed back and couldn’t help but idly wonder what Visscher must have done before completing his MA to make the old man so buff.

~-.-~

Gentle.

What Julia quickly learned after catching moments of Visscher’s rehearsals, was that despite the man’s size, stature, and stern (often imposing) tone of voice… he was actually very kind and gentle in nature.

The rehearsal was running overtime, and another group was booked in immediately afterwards. Problem was that twenty minutes later, Visscher’s orchestra were so engrossed in perfecting a piece that they didn’t seem to be any closer to leaving. The second problem was that it was her job, being assistant building manager, to kick them out.

It was after Visscher stopped the orchestra when the trombones came in late (poor trombones, Julia was surprised they didn’t start crying at the stone-cold glare they received from the conductor) that she sucked in a deep breath and made use of the quiet window made available to her.

“Excuse me!” She called out just as Visscher opened his mouth to scold the trombone players.

Julia herself startled when the man’s head snapped towards her, carrying its irritation to her direction too. She immediately lost any courage she had built up before, and could do nothing but stare in fear.

To her surprise though, the maestro’s gaze softened after a moment, and he even put out a hand to calm her nerves, as if he knew exactly how much he’d inadvertently petrified her.

“Oh! My apologies. We need to leave, yes?”

Julia nodded, slightly dumbfounded, as Visscher turned back to his orchestra with a small smile. He had some odd angular scars running from his ears to his eyes, she realized for the first time.

“Apologies everyone, we have run out of time. Pack your things quickly and please practice your sections so that we don’t waste time doing this again next session. Dismissed.”

The orchestra didn’t need to be told twice, and they had packed up and put their stands away within five minutes. As they left the rehearsal hall, Julia sighed in relief at how easy and non-confrontational this encounter had been, unlike the experiences she’d had with many more… egotistical music directors.

Visscher himself was the last to leave, and as she escorted him out (and signaled to the dance group waiting outside that they could go in) he did what was practically unheard of with other conductors she knew and made conversation with her.

“I’m truly sorry for running overtime.” He said as they walked side-by-side to the entrance hall, meaning that she had to crane her neck upwards to look at him. He did the same but downwards. “I… sometimes lose focus on things, and other times get so focused on one thing that I lose track of other things, such as time.”

Well, that was a familiar feeling to Julia.

“I’ll try my best,” he continued, “but… it will most likely happen again, so don’t be afraid to tell me so earlier next time.”

Julia didn’t know what to say. Not only was there a swift and peaceful resolution to the issue, but she got an apology too? A genuine one?

“Don’t worry about it.” She said after maybe a moment too long of trying to comprehend the civil interaction between a distinguished conductor and a lowly assistant. “It’s normally not a problem and we leave spaces between booking slots to account for running late, but things are busier this season so we’ve had to try and make more time. I can give you a heads up next time there’s someone coming in after you if that will help, though?”

The relief-filled, grateful expression that crossed his face at her offer was something that relinquished any doubts she may have had that this was an honest, kind man.

“Yes, please. That would be very useful. Thank you.”

“No worries.”

They reached the entrance hall very quickly (Julia had to walk more briskly than normal to keep up with Visscher’s long legs) when the maestro addressed her again.

“Sorry again for the trouble, miss..?”

Again, with past experiences of musical directors, it took her a second to realize that he was asking for her name.

“Oh! Julia, just Julia, sir.”

He extended a hand for her to shake, which she did, trying not to feel embarrassed that her hands looked like a child’s compared to his.

“S-Sander Visscher.” He said in return, as if he wasn’t the subject of most conversations in this building. “It was lovely to meet you Julia, I presume you’ll be here again on Thursday?”

“I’m here every day, sir.” She answered with just a little snark.

“Ah, yes, of course.” He had the decency to look embarrassed. “I suppose I shall see you again then.”

He left through the main entrance with little fanfare, and Julia watched him go, still thinking about their short conversation.

She decided to put down the hesitation of saying his own name to embarrassment over running late again, or maybe he was just more introverted in nature. It was odd for someone with his rapidly growing reputation, but there was no reason to dwell on it.

~-.-~

Introverted.

As time flew by and the rehearsal season passed, Julia came to the conclusion that it must have been the latter.

For as intimidating and strict he was as a conductor during rehearsals (of which she wasn't able to watch that many this season), he was almost an entirely different person outside of them.

She recalled that after his highly successful major concert hall debut, he'd practically disappeared off the face of the Earth once the concert was over. There were many people clamoring in the entrance hall to talk to him (journalists, well-wishers and critics alike) but he just couldn't be found.

She was sent to go find him, and after a few awkward minutes of waiting outside the bathroom to no avail, she knocked loudly on the door to his dressing room.

The distressed shout of "Who is it?!" was enough to alert her that yes, he was in there, but also there might be something wrong.

After the surprising amount of time it took for her to convince him that she was the only one there and that she promised she wouldn’t force him to meet the crowd, he exited his dressing room and they had a conversation that led Julia to a number of revelations:

One, he was introverted. Two, he didn’t like being photographed or filmed. Three, large crowds overwhelmed him. And four, he wasn’t a fan of talking to strangers without being mentally prepared for it.

Julia could understand that to a degree, but she did manage to bite back a comment about how easily he first talked to her. The circumstances were different in that case, she didn’t need to be told.

Since that conversation, she had politely turned away anyone wanting to see Sander Visscher after a performance, spouting an excuse that the concerts tired him out and he didn’t want to be disengaged when talking to people (which was true to an extent- it was one of the things the man himself had told her- there was just more to it than that). Normally that would be enough to send people away, telling her to pass on their compliments when he felt better.

However, one woman, who appeared at the end of the penultimate concert of Visscher’s first season, would not be deterred.

She insisted that she was a close friend of Sander’s, and that they hadn’t met in a while and she just wanted to say hi. Julia was conflicted. Should she break the maestro’s trust and let her talk to him? Or was this just another fan trying a different tactic? After all, she wasn’t giving a name for her to give to him, claiming that he would have forgotten.

The woman must have sensed her inner conflict because she took a metaphorical step back and offered that Julia just describe her to him, and then let him decide if he wants to come out or not. Julia saw this as a good compromise, and left to find him.

As part of their private deal, Julia would knock on Visscher’s dressing room door once the crowds had left, so a part of her felt guilty when the man opened the door with his belongings all packed almost immediately after she knocked.

When she mentioned an old friend, she watched what… almost looked like terror dawn over Visscher’s face. Did he not have good relationships with his old friends? Did he even have any?

Yet when she went on to mention the woman’s description (short, dark-skinned, dark hair, purple dress) the fear gradually melted away and was replaced with pleasant surprise.

“Oh, that is my friend!”

Satisfied with this outcome, Julia accompanied Visscher to the entrance hall. He walked in a hurry, seemingly excited to see the woman. She wondered why on earth he’d looked so suddenly scared in that case? Was there someone he was trying to avoid?

When they reached the entrance, Visscher came to a halt and the woman’s face lit up.

“Hey, viejito. Looking good.”

She looked up to see the man’s reaction, and he just seemed to be in shock. It looked like the mystery woman wasn’t going to press him for a response, and Julia thought that he might be having one of his moments, so she did instead.

“Do you know her, sir? Is everything okay?”

Her words seemed to shake him out of his stupor.

“Yes!” He exclaimed after it seemed like he’d processed seeing her. “My friend! You- you look so wonderful! What are you doing here?”

He didn’t let the woman respond, instead turning straight to Julia.

“No need to worry, everything is okay- Is everything okay?” He looked suddenly frightened again.

Having gained a positive reaction, the mystery woman’s mouth slid into a large grin and she nodded.

“Everything’s okay.” Visscher repeated, more relieved this time.

“Well, um,” Julia said, suddenly feeling like she was intruding, “I’ll let you two catch up.”

As she walked away, she managed to catch hints of their conversation.

“I missed you, my friend! It’s been too long!”

“Missed you too, big guy. I know you said you didn’t want to see anyone, but when I heard how good your concerts are, how could I resist?”

“Oh… that was never directed towards you…”

“I know, I know, don’t sweat it. I’m here, aren’t I? Hey, do you know somewhere we can sit down and talk properly?”

“Yes, of course! I know the loveliest cafe and I believe they should still be open. Oh, I have so much to tell you!”

Their words only made Julia more confident that something must have happened between Visscher and his old friends, but at least the way he spoke with this woman made it seem like he wasn’t completely isolated. She wondered what his relationship with her was.

She decided to ask him about it when knocking on his door after the concert the following night.

“Who was that yesterday?”

The question seemed to catch the maestro by surprise. “Oh, umm…”

He fell into silence for so long that Julia wondered if he had forgotten the question. By this point it was common knowledge among the staff that he did occasionally have lapses in memory. After waiting patiently for a minute or two, she decided to prompt him further. “Sir?”

“She is… an old friend of mine.” He finally admitted, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “I haven’t seen her since starting this career.”

That led Julia to a different question, but she decided to save it for later.

“We are not related but she helped look after me when I was, er… unwell.”

Now that brought up yet another question, but again, Julia kept quiet for now.

“There was a time when it felt like she was the only true friend I had, and I am very grateful for the sacrifices she made for me.” A carer, Julia inferred. “I was surprised to see her at first but then it was as if no time had passed and we had a lovely evening.”

“I’m glad.” Julia said, and she meant it. “She was very determined to see you.”

“Ha, I can imagine.”

“Are you…” She wanted to ask so much more, but also didn’t want to impose. “Still… unwell?”

He smiled awkwardly. “Er… not to the extent that I was.” It seemed like there was more to say, and he even opened his mouth again as if to continue, but then thought against it and closed it to smile at her again.

It was weird.

“That’s good.” Julia replied, stepping away from the doorway so that he could leave for the evening. “If you do ever need help or need me to send people away, then I’m more than happy to.”

“You do an excellent job already, thank you.” He said.

And with that, he was gone, leaving Julia wondering just what had Visscher done before becoming a conductor?

She would look it up later and not find any results.

~-.-~

Engaging.

Julia didn’t see Visscher and his orchestra until rehearsals began for their concerts next Winter, when she crept into the middle of one of his rehearsals (for the first time) planning to say hello, but was immediately rendered speechless at the sight (and sound) in front of her.

Not a single person acknowledged her presence. Not even a cheeky glance from the percussion, who didn’t have anything to do at that moment. There must have been a hundred musicians in that rehearsal hall, and every single person’s eyes were transfixed on Sander Visscher.

The man himself was currently conducting at the front of the hall. She’d never really seen him do it properly, Julia realized suddenly, as she’d never been able to actually watch one of his concerts. He wasn’t using a baton, she noted, but instead used the first two fingers of his left hand (which to be fair, were almost as long as a baton) instead. There did seem to be an unused baton on his music stand though.

He also looked ever so slightly different. It took Julia a few moments to realize that it was because he was lankier. His arms weren’t as enormous, and his figure looked more like she would expect of someone of his age. Despite the weight loss, she couldn’t bring herself to say that he looked unhealthy, either. Just… different. Maybe in a good way.

But that was only an afterthought, because upon entering the hall she was almost struck by this unfamiliar piece, and she found her gaze locking itself onto the conductor too.

The music was… engulfing, was the only way she could even try and describe it. The sound felt as though it was entering her ears but then continuing its journey throughout her body, making her feel light and airy when the flutes had the melody, but heavier and more grounded when the cellos took over, all in the matter of seconds. And all of it was aided by the movements of the large man at the front, almost as if he was pulling the sounds from the instruments himself, his own posture mimicking those effects when the music called for it.

This must be the famous Visscher technique that she had heard so much about. For the first time, she was starstruck.

Once the piece came to an end, part of Julia was surprised how nobody said a word for another minute. Obviously, she was still winding down from that strange, beautiful experience, but wouldn’t the players be used to it by now?

She managed to catch one of the violinists after a later rehearsal when she realized that the strange feeling coursed her body every time.

“Yeah, I feel it too.” The violinist told her. “I think we all do. I even know some people who joined this year because they heard about the way he conducts and wanted to see it themselves.”

“How does he do it?” Julia enquired, genuinely curious.

“No clue.” Was the answer she received. “I think it’s something to do with how big he is? Takes up more of your vision and the way he moves kinda makes it feel like your body’s doing it too? Felt nauseous the first time but once I got used to it I think it definitely improves the emotion you add to the work. Weird that you’d feel it though, since you aren’t playing an instrument.”

It was weird. Julia had sat in on some other orchestra rehearsals expecting to feel the same thing, but it was nothing like the experience with Visscher’s. Maybe that was something to do with how quickly he was rising to fame?

Whatever technique it was, she couldn’t deny that it was addicting, and she decided from that moment to try and sit in on more rehearsals when she could.

~-.-~

Knowledgeable.

Rehearsals seemed to bring out a different side to Visscher. A more fussy and strict side, yes, but also a more… experienced side. As if he had lived all these years and learnt so much, and these were the only people he could pass on his knowledge too. It strongly reminded her of a teacher.

He would take the register at the start of each session, and would politely greet each member in turn as he called their name (which could take a while since there were just over a hundred members).

He’d then inform them what they should start practicing for their next rehearsal, to avoid people getting left behind if they missed one. A polite gesture that also aided productivity.

The conductor was very meticulous with his direction, and it was very clear that he had a very specific vision of the music that he wanted to portray. That being said, he was also very lenient, and would occasionally give players the freedom to interpret bars as they wished. It balanced out in the end.

Julia had mostly caught them rehearsing Holst’s The Planets, which seemed to bring Visscher much joy.

Every now and again he would say some random fact about the planet they were working on. Such as:

“Ganymede is the name of the largest moon in our solar system, belonging to Jupiter. It’s a beautiful name, isn’t it?”

Or: “Even though it’s so close to the sun, there is ice to be found on Mercury!”

And even: “Did you know that Phobos and Deimos have a potato-like shape because of their weak gravity?”

That one had gotten him some blank stares from around the room, so the maestro explained, undeterred.

“Phobos and Deimos are the moons belonging to Mars!” A chorus of understanding-noises echoed through the hall. “Though small, their appearance is fascinating.”

He always seemed so enthusiastic when spouting his little space facts and his eyes would light up whenever someone asked him a question about them. It was very endearing.

Maybe astronomy was a special interest of his, Julia thought, trying to ignore how much heavier her limbs felt as they practiced Mars, the Bringer of War.

~-.-~

Intimidating.

It wasn’t until the orchestra rehearsed one of his own compositions that Julia felt scared of Sander Visscher.

During the year without performing, Visscher had asked her manager if he could perform a couple of his original works next season. Her boss had said yes almost immediately, probably because of Visscher’s rising popularity among critics, and also the fact that he was yet to make his debut as a composer.

The idea had immediately piqued her interest. What sort of genius would be created by such a gentle, enigmatic old man?

The piece was called “Vliegen”, which was dutch for “fly”. He’d explained his vision for the music to make it feel as though you were traveling the world by simply flying over it, and how he expected each instrument to help achieve that. The idea was sound enough, but the instrumentalists were struggling to grasp exactly what Visscher meant in some places.

As a result, he was growing more and more agitated.

“It’s just so simple!” He eventually shouted in frustration, running long, shaky fingers through his hair. “Why can’t you understand? The change in stroke breaks the immersion!”

“I’m doing my best!” The lead violinist argued in response. There were a few murmurs of agreement from the others. “I’m doing my best to play detaché but because of the way you’ve written it, I-”

“The way I’ve written it?!” Visscher bellowed, standing up from his chair suddenly.

The violinist visibly recoiled.

Julia did too.

His height had always been the most intimidating part of him, but as he stood there at his full height, with his eyes red and nose flaring in anger, Julia felt her heart begin to thump louder and louder in her chest.

No-one else said a word.

“I have heard it done before, I know it’s possible.” He snarled. “I was under the impression that I had employed professionals?”

The violinist spoke up again, causing Julia to wince in advance. “I’m trying, sir, but-”

“STOP!” Visscher howled, his face red with rage, the most emotion she’d ever seen from him. “Be quiet!”

He pointed an accusatory finger at them. “You just can’t understand-”

Without warning, he cut himself off and his voice fell away in an instant. Everyone watched in fear and tension as over the next few minutes he just stood there, pupils gradually growing wider and wider, mouth falling open slightly, staring forwards at nothing in particular… until he started to sway on the spot.

The weak “mmmph…” that escaped his lips was all the warning they got before he suddenly slumped backwards and collapsed into the chair.

~-.-~

Weary.

Julia wasn’t the only one to rush forwards as the room exploded into sound.

“Sir, are you okay? Are you awake? Can you hear me?” “Call an ambulance!” “Is he breathing?” “What happened?” “Is he alive?”

To make sure he didn’t damage his neck, Julia was the one to gently hold the back of his head up as more medically-inclined instrumentalists tried to check the old man.

“You’re okay,” she whispered, panicked at what just happened, “you’ll be alright, Sander. You’re fine.”

He was still breathing, which was a relief, but it was considerably slower than normal- as was his pulse. His eyes were also open, but unresponsive to the phone torch being shined into them. He was still staring straight ahead at nothing and showed no sign that he recognised what had happened or that there were people around him at all.

It was as they were waiting for the ambulance to arrive, and Julia rearranged her grip on his head, that she noticed that he had scars under his hair. Very tenderly, she tried to part some of the silver locks to get a better look, and couldn’t help but gasp when she saw not just one, but many scars of different varieties all over his head. Some looked like where stitches had been, others looked deeper and more circular. A part of her felt sick at the sight.

When the paramedics arrived twenty minutes later, they immediately asked everyone to let go of him. Julia was hesitant to step back, especially when she let go and his head fell forwards, but she knew that they needed to do their job.

She hoped he wouldn’t be angry at so many people touching him when he recovered. If he recovered.

There were ten very suspenseful minutes as the paramedic team examined him, and five even more suspenseful minutes when they couldn’t come to a conclusion over what had happened.

They’d questioned if anyone knew what he’d had for breakfast, or if anyone knew if he’d taken any drugs or been injected with anything. The answer was no, as he had been rehearsing for the past few hours.

Julia couldn’t bring herself to mention the scars on his scalp. She had a strong feeling in her gut that it would only do more harm.

Visscher eventually came to, just as the paramedics were starting to argue amongst themselves about a diagnosis.

“...Where am I?” He asked. He didn’t sound like Julia was used to, he instead sounded… weak, and frightened.

Many people answered him, but his eyes (pupils now back to their normal size) looked around the room and seemed to discern that for himself.

“What happened?”

“We were hoping you could tell us.” One of the paramedics said cheerfully. “Do you remember what you felt before you collapsed, Sander?”

He still seemed to be struggling to focus on one thing. “I…”

Looking towards the crowd behind the medics (the orchestra and Julia herself), he repeated: “What happened?”

“You were shouting.” Julia felt herself speaking up. “You were angry and you fell suddenly, we were all very worried.”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat and looked up at the paramedics. “Oh. You don’t need to worry, I’m perfectly fine, this happens sometimes. I… just forgot to take my medication this morning.”

His small, sheepish smile wasn’t fooling anyone.

After most people went home and Sander experienced another hour of probing and prodding (and refused to give a blood sample) the paramedics gave up upon his ceaseless insisting.

He promised them he wouldn’t over-exert himself again and they finally left, leaving the man to lean backwards in the chair with a long, weary sigh.

By that point, they were the only ones left in the room.

“Are you sure you’re okay, sir?” Julia asked just for good measure before she, too, needed to leave.

He jumped a little.

“Yes… I’m fine.” He admitted quietly. “I just can’t get too excited, I... You may leave.”

She really didn’t want to leave him alone, but also knew from the paramedics that he could be very stubborn and would probably hurt himself by arguing with her, so she slowly walked away.

Not without re-evaluating her perception of the man, though.

He was tall and well-built, gentle and understanding, introverted and anxious, engaging and enthusiastic, knowledgeable and creative… but also could be intimidating and spoke forcefully, and had strange episodes where he would forget things, or not be able to hear anything. She’d put that last part down to going deaf in old age, but it was so inconsistent that now she wasn’t so sure. And also… he would become vegetative for short periods of time with no warning.

And somehow, he was all of those at once.

Not to mention the scars on his head and face, and lack of information about his life online.

Sander Visscher was definitely an enigma, Julia decided. One that she was too nervous to unravel.

Thanks for reading! Part 2/3 coming soon, leave a comment if you like :D

#overwatch #fic #sigma #sigma overwatch #overwatch sigma #siebren de kuiper #sombra #olivia colomar #maestro sigma #au #kind of not really #lmdita (iba)

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stereopticons · 1 year

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Phew! Made it just in time for October! I hope your Spooky Season is off to a fantaboolous start. Shall we kick it off with a joke?

Why couldn’t the skeleton go to the party?

Because he had no body to go with.

See you tomorrow, Living Friend 👻

Ghost Friend! I missed you! Welcome back!

Poor skeleton! Maybe he could join the band? I hear he’s a good trombone player.

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photog-crafty · 1 year

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Not much to see here, just a Tornado Custom done up to resemble a certain famous video game car. Wah.

Now this was a hearse that was always nice to see. On top of being based on the Buccaneer, the Lurcher had a unique horn that played old-timey horror movie organ stabs at increasing pitch. The Sad Trombone horn had absolutely nothing on pinning some poor sap to the wall and announcing your triumph with the glorious DOOT.

The charmingly-named Fränken Stange was another perfect candidate for F1 wheels. Balls-out performance and mods really made you want to dig through the ditches and burn through the witches.

When glitches for Benny's wheels started making the rounds, I couldn't help putting a gaudy set on the original Gauntlet in mockery of its sub-par performance. When iFruit still worked, I really should have put a license plate like "SXT" or just "THE V6" on it.

The Viseris was living proof that the developers really did hate fun. When it released, it could hit speeds in excess of 200 MPH, but it was still balanced by poor handling and braking at high speeds. Tearing ass down the highway was pure joy in this car. So much so, in fact, that the developers implemented an absolutely half-assed fix in the form of artificially capping its top speed. The engine and handling characteristics of the car were untouched, and it just magically stopped accelerating somewhere around 125 MPH, even if it was outfitted with low grip tires, going downhill, or otherwise boosted. It was an incredibly lazy and unnecessary patch for something that didn't even need to be patched, and unless you were really a fan of Panteras, there was just no reason to touch this car at that point.

The Tailgater was another curiosity from the launch era, much like the Asea. Despite being one of the main cars in single player, Tailgaters were notoriously rare online, only spawning at very specific locations under very specific conditions. It made for a nice weekend of hunting.

Another car that was formerly exclusive to returning players, this Blista Compact was one of the first cars I ever got. I dressed it up to look like a low-budget tuner car, which I find amusing in hindsight considering that CRXs are all but extinct in the real world by now.

The Elegy Retro Custom was another of the forefathers of modern GTA tuner cars. It had a nice mixture of mods available to resemble different kinds of Skylines, but I was much more clueless about cars when I got it and just gave it whatever options I thought looked cool.

Man, the things we do to satisfy our love of station wagons. The Regina was one of the slowest vehicles in the game, it had almost no mods, and it didn't do anything well, but I couldn't help but bring one in out of the rain.

As much as I like S13s, the Remus didn't get much drive time. It was similar to the R88 in that its role was simply to help other cars glitch low grip tires before they were made available normally.

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quicksilverdaisyday · 2 years

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Ya know i was about to do a whole bit on you about how your banner (the thing at the top of the blog is a banner right with the one person with an eyepatch? Im pretty sure thats a banner) i was gonna do a whole bit about how it reminded me of bobs burgers and if you liked burgers so much maybe you should marry them, but then youre literally out her putting that youre a big fan of bobs burgers on the damn description section like ok alright ive been beaten to my own punch, if this was a school function id be left with no choice but to become the spiker, im bringing in the hard liquor to get these irresponsible fucks drunker than a really drunk person i dont know whose the guy from mtv you know the guy, you probably dont actually i mean what are the odds like zero probably. Anyway bobs bazinga burger? Thoughts? I mean i hate burgers ok ive eaten more burgers than youve learned bug facts which if you dont know a lot of bug facts you should because bugs are cool and also terrifying and knowledge is power but long story short ive eaten more burgers than should be legal, like if you ever watch the movie supersize me i did that for two years straight except usually id only eat once a day because i was too poor to eat real food, this is the deep shoe fuck lore ok you might think im going at this from the pity party direction here but i assure you i am not i am merely validating my street cred when it comes to burgers ok i know burgers inside outside and possibly even inside-out. Anyway listen right he makes the bazinga burger, spicy pickles, mustard, smash burger, special ingredient? A healthy topping of pickled red onions and cabbage. Bam. Thats good eatin. If youre a believer in bobs bazinga burger gimme a bazinga back ya know its free youre not misleading nobody, nothing bad is gonna happen thats a shoe fuck guarantee, cmon you gotta say bazinga i dropped the hot and heavy lore on ya the loyal fans they gotta be appeased this is like a weekly thing now ok im like one of those guys the weekly comedy segment guys i get on i do my lines the crowd laughs we probably have a very charismatic instrumentalist who rarely speaks and when he does its about the trombone and everyone is like ah im so fascinated about the history of trombone. Ive got a good friend like that love that man holy shit though i dont care about the trombone but i just love him so much that im gonna listen with a smile anyway. Maybe you got a trombone enthusiast in your life i dont know but if you do ya know listen to them cause ya learn a lotta life lessons from trombone players. Probably cello players too. I mean chances are that theyre multi talented, people who are good at music stuff normally are, ya know its a passion thing, like youre out here doing art i bet youre real passionate about the art i bet you got lots of multi disciplinary shit going on behind the scenes like a regular pablo picasso or something ya know clay sculptures, get yourself a kiln man, id love to do pottery, make some pots, mugs, bowls, lil rabbits and the fucking special moments porcelain figures that everyones grandma owns, like do they just like them are they the pokemon of old people? Or are those beanie babies? My grandma does bells, weirdest shit ive ever seen woman just loves her bells i love you grandma but you dont even ring them ya know, theyre just little bells she doesnt want you to ring them. I dont know man. Anyway right, bazinga burger, from bob, bobs bazinga burger you know that shit would sell like hot cakes give it a consider in your mind space mull it over, hit me with a bazinga you wont regret it or your money back, its free though also. Just for the record.

Jasper.

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blujayonthewing · 2 years

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my fiance got me a legit set of panpipes for my birthday in 2020 and I always forget until I pick them up to try noodling around with them again that the actual problem with learning to play the panpipes turns out to be not adjusting to the embouchure as someone accustomed to fipple flutes, not adjusting to having to find notes differently than with finger placement, but how much FUCKING BREATH they DEMAND

#HOOOOT......#an ocarina is Fucking Loud with very little effort #I will get no sympathy here from my beloved who is a trombone player but my ENTIRE instrumental experience so fr #has been very casual play with simple fipple flutes #turns out a proper Wind Instrument needs wind to go dgkjhdfjhg #I was actually shocked that the embouchure was literally not a problem at all I've had the damndest time in the past with transverse flutes #maybe these are a little more idiot proof lmao #picking out notes by moving the instrument around has also been? way easier than I would have expected??#obviously getting GOOD at all those things is another matter hard to pick up the speed and still nail the embouchure cleanly #but MOSTLY.... I JUST HAVE REALLY POOR BREATH CONTROL LMAO #oh this is NOT a slouch around and goof off thing I have to Sit Up for this one huh kjhkdhjdgdf #anyway yes I've had them two years and not practiced much yet mostly because Justin's been working from home a lot of that time #and I'm sheepish about it :'D lol #about me

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narancias-headband · 2 years

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Golden Wind - Band AU

This is a long one... Here we go!

Conductor:

Doppio/Diavolo - Sweet and excited... Until you miss the new key signature... Then he's a whole other person. Literally.

Oboe:

Giorno - The new kid. Has been thrust into the role of partial leadership over the band. Talented and quiet. Makes his own reeds.

Bassoon:

Prosciutto - Flaunts how expensive his instrument is. Very classically trained and snobby. Will glare at you if you're out of tune.

Flute:

Trish (covers piccolo when needed) - Quiet, reserved, high-maintenance flute girl. Constantly fighting with the conductor. Polishes her flute every spare second she has.

Melone - How does he see his music when his hair is always in his face? He shows up to rehearsal either looking like he's ready to hit the club or like he just rolled out of bed.

Clarinet:

Bucciarati - Outgoing and friendly. Would be happy to practice with you. Looks angry when he's playing. Lowkey happy that Giorno took over as the unofficial head of the woodwinds.

Abbacchio - Only here because Bucciarati convinced him to join. He won't help you figure out notes, fingerings, or rhythms - don't ask. Counts out loud, quietly, but you can still hear if you're close enough.

Tiziano - Loves trills too much. Hates playing low. His clarinet is probably the cleanest instrument in the whole band.

Bass Clarinet:

Cioccolata - Sorry, but I've never met a bass clarinetist that wasn't creepy. Science person who's just in the band for fun. Doesn't understand music theory. Disgusting reed.

Saxophones:

Sale (Alto) - Plays too loud, but plays the right notes. Probably the source of the squeaks in the band.

Squalo (Alto, covers Soprano if needed) - Elitist saxophonist. Thinks he should always have the melody. Misses flats.

Formaggio (Tenor) - Hate to say it, but he's the epitome of "saxophone player (derogatory)". Obnoxious. Never stops with the conductor. Thinks saxophones are the best instrument and won't shut up about it. Never practices, but somehow always knows his part.

Secco (Bari) - Hates when he has any sort of melody part. Just wants to play the bassline. Keeps his reeds moist in his water bottle that he still drinks from.

Trumpet:

Narancia - Self-taught. Killer range; he just thinks playing high is fun. Plays an old beat up trumpet with nearly all the shine worn off.

Illuso - "Trumpet player (derogatory)" type. Overly cocky. Tries to steal every solo. Plays over everyone else. He's probably the best at double tonguing, though.

French Horn:

Fugo - Reserved and sophisticated. Plays too quiet, but knows his part. Afraid to write on his music. Is the person his friend group ends up surrounding during a break.

Trombone:

Risotto - Plays bass 'bone every chance he gets. Intimidating and skilled. He's probably played the whole repertoire a few times before. Corrects the conductor.

Gelato - Old friend of Risotto's, so he always gets a call to be in the band despite poor attendance. Can growl like a god, overdoes it.

Sorbet - Chose trombone just to sit with Gelato. Always asking about slide positions. Adds in accidental glissandos a lot.

Baritone:

Ghiaccio - Plays treble clef because he never learned bass. Used to be a trumpet player, decided he'd rather be in a smaller section. Most likely to mess up and yell "Fuck!" in the middle of a rest.

Tuba:

Pesci - Shy and quiet, until he gets playing. Can and will blow you away. Takes tuning very seriously. Organizes sectionals for all the low brass/woodwinds to work on their parts together.

Percussion:

Mista - Mainly plays snare. Loves marches. Unofficial leader of the section. Loud and excited. Tends to rush.

Carne - Mainly plays bass drum/tympani. There has to be a metronome in his brain. He can keep time like no other.

Zucchero - Mainly plays mallets, marimba is his favorite. Loves to show off with pieces that require 4 mallets.

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liyuesbian · 3 years

Text

mondstadt characters and what instruments i think they'd play

part one of my genshin characters and what instruments i think they'd play series! part two / part three

notes: holy fuck mondstadt has a lot of characters. the 2.1 livestream has ignited my creative juices LOLOL this is also a modern!au and a crack fic kind of thing. bit of background, i'm cellist (tho i haven't played in like a year now,,, growing up things haha) and i used to play in a youth orchestra so i'm just going off of stereotypes of musicians :p

albedo

definitely plays the violin, you can't convince me otherwise

i bet he's never gone lower than first chair

has a superiority complex

keeps up with practice, hates it when people play out of tune/out of time/when other people play full stop

literally the perfect student

amber

recorder player

nobody believes her when she says she plays the recorder because she enjoyed it in year 3 (grade 2, i'm pretty sure, for you americans)

massive recorder nerd—don't ask her about her instrument or else she will pull a mary poppins and do a show-and-tell of every type of recorder she has, its purpose, retail price, the exact day of the exact hour of the exact minute she bought it, so on and so forth...

barbara

certified vocalist

sings in a church choir

has the voice of an angel so when our lord and saviour, jesus christ, rises again, he'll think he's still in heaven

a/n: christians, dont come for me im joking

bennett

yes he plays the triangle

can't play anthing else for shit

no, he's not a percussionist, he only plays the triangle

still likes to practice though (even if his part is only one note)

diluc

don't be fooled non-musicians, that's a viola in his hands not a violin LMAO

constantly bullied by kaeya for playing the godforsaken instrument (it's a musician thing - violas aren't as popular as violins)

tries to pretend he doesn't give a fuck but he always ends up caving and arguing back

diona

piccolo

only went through with playing the instrument to annoy other people

"who needs range when i have...... thehighestfuckingmusicalnotetoeverexist"

the note could be out of the human hearing threshold and still be out of tune

"you're new here, you wanna hear my—" "NO"

eula

guitarist

after gigs with the band, everyone thinks she's off to bang girls but she's actually gone to feed the cat at home

sticks up for her poor buddy diluc only to be hit with the "ew are those frets?" and "where's your sheet music?"

no matter, she will seek her vengeance

fischl

trombone player

super edgy and cool for being the only female trombone player in her section

has to deal with "tromboner" jokes and other dirty jokes but pretends not to hear them "for i, fischl, the prinzessin derverureggrgsf do not speak the vernacular of lowly mortals"

jean

plays the french horn

really friendly, hangs out with other french horns

the leader of the horn cult mum of the group

the person everyone goes to for help or to practice with

kaeya

would 100% play the saxophone

he knows careless whisper like the back of his hand

calls his saxophone the "bendy sex whistle™"

never practices his part and just wings it in rehearsal like a boss

klee

there's this famous piece called 1812 overture by tchaikovsky which contains cannons.....

need i say more?

lisa

flautist

elegant mfer, probably was marie antoinette in her past life

can think of 20 ways to commit homicide with her flute and not even a single strand of hair would fall out of place

will give you a pretty smile after the crime too

mona

clarinet player

is willing to kill the whole section just to get first chair

says her skills are because of natural talent but she actually practices really hard at home

one time, kaeya jokingly replaced her sheet music to one for never gonna give you up and she accidentally rick rolled everyone

noelle

tuba

the only tuba player who comes to rehearsal to actually learn something

has to control herself when the tuba next to her offers her a snack from inside their case

usually the one in her section who has to plan practice sessions because everyone else is just terrible

razor

percussionist

is somehow super skilled

his basic numeracy skills are out the window and he probably hasn't learned how to read sheet music but somehow still manages to secure his entrance

rosaria

joins the orchestra thinking she could learn the bass guitar

is instead roped into playing the double bass by kaeya and venti

has the arms of a bodybuilder after always carrying that absolute monster of an instrument

not like she didn't have them already methinks

sucrose

is also a flautist

she's the other flute stereotype:

quiet, reserved, a nerd

so cute and wholesome, too good for this world, must be protected at all times

venti

is a harpist

could play a simple gliss and the whole room would clap and give a standing ovation

has 1418973492 bars of rest until the next note, hence why he usually falls asleep during movements and misses his entrance but would never even think of admitting to his mistake

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sweetsmellosuccess · 2 years

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TIFF 2022: Day 2

Films: 4 Best Film Of The Day: Bros

Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues: Satchmo gets his due in Sacha Jenkins’ reverent doc, as one of most highly celebrated horn players and Jazz ambassadors in the history of popular music. Beginning in the mid-’20s, as an impossibly talented protege of then-legend King Oliver, Armstrong took the world by storm, especially when he came into his own band, where he could be the undisputed ringleader and lead trumpet. His style, an impossibly high-energy blend of improvisation and a steady stream of high-C notes (difficult for even a seasoned pro to attain), along with his gravel-voiced diction (“foist” for “first”) and penchant for smiling showmanship, created a perfect entertainment vehicle for pre-civil rights white America. The film doesn’t shy away from the accusation that Satchmo, for all his prodigious gifts and charms, played nice with the Whites, and profited handsomely for it, while not being public about his political views, or overtly supportive of the burgeoning movement spurred on by MLK, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and many others. For his part, Armstrong — who was obsessive about recording his thoughts in his various writings and autobiography, and in the hundreds of taped conversations he made with various friends and illuminaries — speaks to this interpretation of his dealings with white people in pretty measured tones. He believed his music created a bridge that everyone could walk on — the film makes much of his frequent duets with the trombone player Jack Teagarden, the pair’s genuine bonhomie showing the world how it could be done. He also claims to have given generously to the cause (a point the film doesn’t confirm or deny), but it’s also true that he came up from an entirely different era. It’s not as though he didn’t suffer under the harsh racial conditions of the time — he grew up dirt-poor in New Orleans, and was very often unable to stay in the same fancy hotels that welcomed him to their performance stage — but he had orchestrated a way to survive and thrive in the world amongst the Whites in the ‘40s and ‘50s, and saw his audience, demonstrably white, in glowing terms, no matter the strife around him. Whether or not that makes him a positive-minded realist, or a capitalist-minded opportunist, the film doesn’t entirely conclude one way or the other. It’s not an in-depth profile of his politics, as it is a celebration of the thing that mattered most to him (only two of his four wives get much mention at all, though the film does include many bits and pieces with Lucille, his fourth — and last — wife, who was with him for nearly three decades until his death in 1971), his music. Nearly every shot of him, on-stage or off, has him with horn in hand (along with his ubiquitous white handkerchief), either in the midst of playing one of his unique, up-tempo solos, or about to put his beloved horn to his lips. I would have preferred more mention of some of his frequent collaborators (Ella Fitzgerald, for example, barely appears), but as a summary of the man and his wondrous career, it’s pretty essential viewing.

Roost: Based on a play by Scott Organ, Amy Redford’s film takes the idea of the male sexual predator, and turns it neatly on its head. Anna (Grace Van Dien) is a bubbly high school girl just about to turn 17, when she casually mentions to her mother, Beth (Summer Phoenix), that she’s met a guy she really likes online (her mom’s response: “Those are literally famous last words”). The guy turns out to be Eric (Kyle Gallner), a 28-year-old with a shared love of poetry with Anna, who drives 900 miles on a whim in order to meet her in person. None of this sounds the least bit good, but when Anna finally gets around to introducing her guy to her mom and her mom’s fiance (Jesse Garcia), things take an even stranger series of turns, until it becomes clear there’s much more happening here than anyone, including the audience, might imagine. There are some interesting angles at play here, and strong (if uneven) performances from Van Dien and Phoenix, but too much of the story’s dramatic build up requires a series of actions and responses that really don’t make any sense from an EQ perspective for it to hold together as tightly as it needs to, in order to be effective. Shot in what appears to be Colorado, with the glorious mountains peeking out in the background, and with strong camera work by DP Bobby Bukowski, it feels suitably lived-in, but it still can’t quite get to life-like.

Domingo: Moody atmospherics from Costa Rican filmmaker Ariel Escalante Meza, whose film trades both in gritty textures, and wispy metaphysics. Domingo (Carlos Ureña), a widow for two decades, lives in a simple house up in the mountains, near his daughter (Sylvia Sossa), and a couple of friends, with whom he splits a large bottle of moonshine each night. They have reason to drink: The town is in the throes of being bought out by a greedy developer, intent on making a killing when the land is sold to the state for a new highway, and isn’t opposed to actual killing in order to make that happen, threatening the otherwise peaceful inhabitants with a group of thugs buzzing around on their motorcycles and shooting indiscriminately into houses by way of intimidation. Domingo, who speaks with his dead wife via the various clouds of mist that rise up over the mountains and into his ramshackle house, doesn’t want to leave for fear his wife’s ghost won’t be able to find him if he moves away. With nowhere else to go, and refusing to be bullied out of his home, he has no choice but to put up a fight, whatever the cost. Meza’s film skillfully juxtaposes the simple tranquility of the mountains, and their steep, verdant calm, against the imposition of machinery, and guns, and the heavy construction of the highway being built below the town. With a mise-en-scene that feels thoroughly natural (Domingo wears the same rubber boots and natty sweater in almost every scene), the hostility these simple people face with the advancement of modernity, and its enjoining capitalist opportunities, feels like an even greater assault than the bullets that are fired in response.

Bros: Well, why can’t gay people have their own major studio, wide-release raunchy rom-com? Billy Eichner’s screenplay (co-written by director Nicholas Stoller) follows many of the standard sorts of hurdles — two busy NYC men who pride themselves on not getting emotionally involved with their partners find each other, lose each other, and find each other again — and several of the seemingly indelible tropes of the genre (Bouncy best friends! A trip away together! An issue of honesty!). But it also has many clever satiric touches (a Hallmark stand-in called “HallHeart” that tries to get hip with seasonal titles such as “Christmas With Either,” and “A Holly Polly Christmas”), and enough of Eichner’s clever pop-culture gags (“We had AIDS,” his character, an outspoken podcast host says of the current generation, “they had “Glee”!), to keep the engine humming, even as the film very nearly pauses at various times in order for Eichner to deliver various preachy polemics about the mostly ignored history of gay people (his character is head of an upcoming LGBTQ+ museum being built in Manhattan). There are enough of these moments — Eichner practically takes off his glasses and says “But if I could be serious for a moment..” before launching into a diatribe — that the film has a kind of stuttering energy to it, a start/stop dynamic that draws attention to itself. On the other hand, you can sort of tell what Eichner might be thinking, here: How many more chances will he, or other LGBTQ+ filmmakers, get making a major studio release starring a fully queer cast? Given the dearth of such material writ large on the masses to this point, you can’t blame him for wanting to go out with his boots on, so to speak, blasting his six-shooters in all directions until he’s run out of ammo. Much of the film works because of the exceptional chemistry between Eichner (who tones down his usual “Billy on the Street” persona in service to a slightly more well-rounded character) and co-lead Luke Macfarlane, who gets the more thankless role as the hunky comic foil (the “straight” man, if you will) to Eichner’s neurotically charged dynamo, and more than holds his own. The film also doesn’t hold back on its ‘R’ rating, including several scenes of passionate (though non-graphic) lovemaking, a boisterous affirmation of queer sexuality. If there seem to be a few too many moments designed to pump up Eichner’s ego (at various times, characters tell him how attractive he truly is), then so be it. It’s not a crime to have a film celebrate a character’s self-worth, even if it feels a bit self-serving in the process, for a group so universally marginalized, the film’s wide release (at the premiere, Eichner told the enraptured crowd it will be on 3000 screens when it comes out at the end of September of 2022) will doubtlessly not include the many countries that won’t even recognize the LGBTQ+ community actually exists.

TIFF: One Last Time, wherein the author contemplates this year’s offerings and the past decade of covering this fabulous film festival, as he’s poised to embark on a new career path that will more than likely involve him standing up in front of a group of sullen teens, espousing the glories of the Russian masters, rather than taking in a beatific week of international cinema in the early days of September.

#sweet smell of success #piers marchant #ssos #films #movies #TIFF #Toronto International Film Festival #2022 #Bros #billy eichner #luke macfarlane #Louis Armstrong's black and blues #roost #grace van dien #amy redford #summer phoenix #domingo and the mist #Ariel Escalante Meza #lgbtq+

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selfwriting-sugarquills · 4 years

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70 Fred Weasley headcanons in celebration of 700 followers:

(plus an extra one, for the heck of it lmao)

You guys, thank you so much for 700 followers! I appreciate every single one of you and writing for the twins has been such a blast so far, much to the thanks of all of you <3

Find the 70 George Headcanons: Here

Fred has always been really good at sleight of hand stuff, as a kid, he could do card tricks with ease, steal baked goods from his mother’s kitchen and later on since his allowance wasn’t exactly anything to brag about, he’d steal sweets from honeydukes' on Hogsmeade trips, with the help of George, he’s not proud of it but in his defence, he was a stupid teenage boy at the time.

Fred is incredibly competitive and will hold onto anything you challenge him to for way longer than you might think. He’s definitely the type to “race you” anytime you’re headed to herbology, care against magical creatures or Hogsmeade together.

As the man himself said in the deathly hallows, Fred doesn’t like the idea of a big grandiose wedding ceremony, he’d prefer something more low-key and simple, where the focus is more on having fun and celebrating instead of neat seating plans and meticulously chosen decorations. Some flowers and booze will do, he’ll provide the fireworks - In essence, he only needs his S/O and the rest he couldn’t care less about.

George may be better at cooking, but Fred makes a damn good pancake and he will forever pride himself on that.

Fred is the more jealous, overprotective twin. He’s aware of this and tries his best not to let it go to his head but he can’t help it.

Fred snores, I’m pretty sure it’s canon that both twins snore, but Fred is louder and, as mentioned in my last headcanon post, a very heavy sleeper meaning it’s more difficult to get him to wake up so he can stop, your best shot is trying (and probably failing) to turn him over.

Fred is also a very restless sleeper, he’ll toss and turn, and occasionally dream about quidditch. I’m saying you might want to be aware that he might confuse you for a bludger in his sleep, don’t worry though, he’ll always apologise profusely and make it up to you with a lot of kisses (and maybe a bit more than that, if you’re keen ;))

Fred has an extensive caffeine addiction, which is unfortunate cause he’s quite hyper already but he can’t function properly until he gets his coffee in the morning, and then again in between lessons/at lunch and then again late in the afternoon. Sometimes, if he needed to write an essay that was due, he’d drink coffee at like nine pm. He knows he won’t be able to sleep because of it, please, Y/n, he’s accepted his fate.

I personally always imagined the twins as having ADHD, idk why it just fits their characters. Fred is for sure the more outwardly fidgety and intrusive, this gets less and less with age, as it does for a lot of ADHD people, his inability to focus remains the same though.

Fred loves being outside, he’s the first of the Weasley siblings to suggest a game of quidditch or just going outside for walks, hide and seek in the woods near their house. He absolutely loves taking his dates on walks in parks or at the beach and when he has kids he plays with them in their yard, building snowmen etc.

Fred probably suggests at some point that the whole family should go camping, and he’s actually really fun to camp with. He’ll tell the best scary stories by the campfire.

In regards to children, Fred wants a lot of kids. Like at least three but would be willing to have more if his s/o wants to. He just really likes the dynamic of a large family since that’s what he’s used to.

Fred’s favourite flavour of sweets is anything sour, the sourer the better, because of this he can handle it really well and he loves handing people some of his ridiculously sour candy and watching them squirm.

He also really likes spicy food, he’s a bit of a daredevil so don’t challenge him to eat anything because he will eat a whole chilli and nearly die.

You know he’d be really casual about it too, lol, like sweating and crying but just leaning on the counter like “*pant* what? hot? no not at all *deeeeep breath* I can ha-aw-rdly taste it!”

One thing about Fred is that he’s oddly squeamish, like seeing his brother’s ear blown off isn’t so bad (if you don’t take into account the emotional trauma that is), but a needle for a blood sample or a vaccine? oooh, he’s gonna need a big juice box and a cookie and his s/o’s hand to hold if he’s gonna make it through. He also has a thing about leeches. One time at Hogwarts they were mentioned in a lesson and he thought he was going to faint the entire time.

Fred’s broken five bones over the years, four are from quidditch: his left arm and two ribs, and then the other arm from trying to do an elaborate stunt on the stairs in the burrow and falling down two flights.

Fred loves to sing karaoke (because I cannot get that damn clip of James singing karaoke out of my head) though he particularly enjoys doing a very poor job on purpose.

Fred is such a good liar that on several occasions he’s given presentations in school and gotten good marks for them despite having bullshat his way through the entire thing.

Like seriously, he’s that guy in the group project who only looks at the slides like five minutes before the presentation and then just turns on a full charming newscaster voice on the professor to the point of them being genuinely convinced (albeit a little confused) that what Fred’s saying is true.

This is also why Fred loves playing card games like poker: he’s really good at bluffing.

Speaking of poker-face, he’s really quite good at teasing in public (if you’re into that sort of thing *wink*) because no matter the dirty deeds he might get up to under a table, his face remains as regular as always (safe for a little smirk to his lover every now and then)

Fred always wanted to learn an instrument, he thought it’d make him cooler when he was a teenager, as an adult, he just really wants to recreate that clip of the trombone-playing dad with the sunglasses, or maybe serenade some cows with jazz or something.

Fred was never a big fan of the uniform thing, so he always tried to make it his own, whether that be tying the tie differently, or having his sleeves rolled up; it’s not much but you gotta take what you can get when you’re literally dressed the same as everyone else.

Fred might make fun of his dad’s interest in muggle things but secretly he loves it too. He has spent a lot of hours in the shed with Arthur, assuring everyone that it was just to have some quality time with his dad but he would still pay close attention when Arthur explained things to him.

Fred had a whole business of selling candy from Honeydukes’ and joke products from Zonko’s to second and first years before he and George started dabbling with their own products, he could get you a butterbeer too but it’ll cost you an extra three galleons.

Fred really likes glitter, George has a thing for lace, anything that glitters on his s/o makes Fred weak. If you want to get your way just put on some glittery eyeshadow or lipgloss and watch him spin.

Since he loves things that glitter and gleam he loves buying his s/o jewellery, he loves seeing them wearing them as little tokens of their relationship.

Did someone say slight possession kink? oops not me

Fred is incredible with numbers, this is pretty much canon and has been explored but I’m just amazed at this boy’s wit AND intellect. I have a slight headcanon that if he ever goes on a proper first date with someone where a bill is involved, he impresses his date by calculating the tip after just a glance.

Even if Fred has a longstanding reputation of not caring about school, when he has kids he does want to help them with any coursework over the summer and Christmas breaks, he’ll even study up on his old books just to be able to help out in any classes he didn’t take/didn’t pay attention in.

Fred would, in general, be an amazing father. He’s goofy and playful most of the time, though he’s serious and incredibly caring whenever his kids are in a bad mood or have problems. He knows that he’s not the most outwardly emotional of the twins but he makes sure his kids know they can always talk to him about anything.

Fred is incredibly messy. His room is usually a cry for help and he only cleans it when it gets to the point where it distracts him from focusing on work.

No worries though, his S/O doesn’t have to do all the housework for him, he’ll do it. He just needs to be reminded that he needs to every once in a while.

Fred has a really bad temper, he doesn’t know where he gets it from but he tends to get angry easier than George, though Fred is better at letting it out so it doesn’t continue to bother him.

His bad temper does mean that he used to brawl more with siblings as a kid, and it wasn’t unusual to see him with scrapes and bruises as a kid, much to Molly’s dismay. Fred didn’t mind though, he thought it made him look tough.

Fred is more likely to get caught sneaking around because of his brash nature, he tends to forget just how quiet you have to be to avoid Mrs Norris in the corridors.

Fred is certainly not an early bird but his favourite time of day is, in fact, the morning when the sun’s coming up. He only knows this because of Wood’s ridiculously early quidditch practices but there’s something about the way the world looks when it’s bathed in soft golden light that just hits different to Fred.

Fred is a great team player, as much as he seems like he’s more selfish than George, if it’s regarding a team activity (like quidditch or a battle of sorts) he’ll completely lose all focus on himself and only try to ensure other’s safety and victory. This is also why he plays as a beater, he’s not afraid of getting hit at all when he’s focused on getting the bludgers away from his teammates.

So if his s/o ever needs it, he’ll be there to help with anything: Needs to take a day off from work to take care of his sick s/o? no problem. Needs to stay up with his small child because his s/o is exhausted and needs rest? On it. Something as small as carrying groceries or books, making a cup of tea when the other is busy or doing the dishes is all on the list of things that Fred will happily do for his s/o, and often without having to be asked, he’ll just do it.

Fred’s boggart is seeing his family members and/or his s/o hurt beyond what he can save. Essentially his worst fear is being helpless when he needs it most.

One of those times was when George lost his ear. The first night when George was lying practically unconscious on the couch with blood everywhere was the worst night of Fred’s life, he truly felt so anxious and helpless and angry that he vomited and ended up passing out next to the couch after staying up till sunrise watching his brother like a hawk.

He didn’t just sleepwalk when he was younger, he also often experienced nightmares, it’s only George, Molly and Arthur who remembers anything about this.

They got less and less the older he got and he assumed that he’d never be bothered by them again until after the second wizarding war and the battle of Hogwarts.

I don’t like to headcanon that he dies cause he didn’t and that’s final lol. I do, however, headcanon that Fred still gets hurt, since everyone in the explosion beside him seemed to sustain minor injuries, I just think that to even out with George losing his ear, he hurts his leg and needs a lot of retraining/a walking stick. I think that’d be a more fair/unfair ending for Fred who’s always full of energy having to have to adjust to living slowly for a little while (not permanently, I couldn’t do that to my boy).

The boy has anxiety sometimes, ok. (just let me project for a second)

He didn’t know how much tension he usually holds in his body until he drank alcohol for the first time and felt his entire body loosen up and was like “huh this is new.”

He doesn’t use alcohol to deal with it though, he prefers just talking to George about whenever he feels is stressing him out and that helps. A massage from his s/o to loosen him up doesn’t hurt either.

Fred prefers to talk to his dad about his problems more than he prefers to talk to Molly, generally.

His favourite body parts on his s/o: Shoulders, hips, hands.

He loves to kiss, just in general, but he also loves kissing his s/o’s nose, forehead, neck, shoulder, etc. as little gestures of affection.

He def. has a bit of a size kink, he loves being taller than his s/o.

If Fred could have any pet he wanted, he’d probably want a dog, the bigger the better. He doesn’t think he has the time for a pet though.

It was his idea to start breeding pygmy puffs, it’s the closest he’ll get to having a pet.

I don’t know why but I feel like when Fred and his s/o are expecting and his s/o goes into labour he just panics. loses it, drops the binkie as we say in Denmark: Freaks the fuck out, if you will. He’s definitely the pacing and wringing his hands together type, though he probably tries his best to keep himself composed and chill during the whole thing whilst simultaneously hyperventilating.

Fred doesn’t cry often but he sure as hell wept with pride when he held all his kids for the first time.

Despite the notion that the twins often slip in a joke version of a sweet treat or something similar amongst the snacks at parties, Fred is strongly against tampering with drinks. He knows the connotations it holds and he doesn’t want anyone to be afraid they’d put something in it. If he wants you to test out their truth serum or a love potion, he’ll just ask you flat out and if you don’t want to, he’s not going to continue asking.

Most of the detentions Fred has gotten from Snape come from times he’s spoken back to him when Snape’s been giving another student a rough time. He doesn’t regret it one bit.

If you ask Fred what his proudest accomplishment is, he’ll probably say that it’s having had enough restraint to not punch Umbridge in the face every time he saw her.

On the note of Umbridge. It wasn’t her detentions with him that got his blood boiling, it was when she punished little kids (a la Nigel) for doing practically nothing, he understands that to an extent and by comparison, setting off a bunch of fireworks inside a building would harbour a harsher punishment, but making twelve-year-olds bleed for running in the halls or playing music or just doing things that twelve-year-olds will inevitably do, is something Fred doesn’t understand. That year pretty much any kid younger than him, or anyone who was too afraid to stand up for themselves, became Fred and George’s little siblings, and they’re very protective older brothers. Umbridge can vouch for that.

He struggles with a lot of insecurity in his relationships, he always puts on a front of being extra funny and outgoing when he’s in a new relationship because he’s secretly afraid that the way he is isn’t good enough and that eventually, his s/o will see through him and leave because they don’t like the softer, more serious side of him.

Fred is the godfather of all of George’s kids but is also the godparent of Hugo, Lily and Lucy.

Fred loves business meetings, he sees them as a good challenge to practice his smooth talk.

Fred spent his first salary from the shop on the most expensive bottle of champagne he could find and a new suit.

Fred tried to get into whiskey, feeling like it’d make him a cool business owner type of man, so, with his second salary, he went out and bought a fancy-schmancy bottle of whiskey and the whole getup with a bottle and some cool glasses, and then invited Lee over to try it with him and George.

They did not like it. Fred thought it tasted like what he imagined gasoline tastes like so they mostly used it as decorations, not having the heart to mix it with something.

Fred doesn’t necessarily like PDA, it depends on what you mean. He likes being secretive. Pulling his s/o into an empty classroom, nook, hallway, secret pathway etc where anyone could wander in at any time and snogging her senseless is one of his favourite things to do.

Fred knows how good he looks in his quidditch uniform and will absolutely use it against his s/o. (they’re gonna get spicy from here on so read with caution if you're in public)

Fred prefers giving more than receiving oral.

He has a lot of energy, did you not think that would rub off (no pun intended) on his sex drive? He can go pretty much any time and place, and typically last at least two rounds.

Also, his favourite position is having you on top. Okay, I'm gonna stop now.

#selfwriting-sugarquills 700 follower celebration #fred weasley #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley headcanons #fred weasley fanfiction #weasley twins #weasley twins headcanons #hp headcanon #harry potter headcanon

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