Aug 21, 2023
combining both my kpop and rwrb brainrot to create a playlist that would scandalize henry because if he's shocked by "get low" then oh boy he's in for a ride.
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combining both my kpop and rwrb brainrot to create a playlist that would scandalize henry because if he's shocked by "get low" then oh boy he's in for a ride.
okay, so i don't know if people would be interested, or this is a very niche and specific type of writing, but would you be interested if i started screenplay commissions?
background: i'm going off to college with literally $0.00 (US) in my bank account. the town where i'm going to school has a relatively high cost of living, and fees are a bitch to pay if i have to. it wouldn't hurt to help to have some cash down the line, and a bit of work in a field i'd be interested in working.
would you commission someone to write a screenplay for your fandom?
hell yeah baby!
maybe? would have to see some work before commissioning
definitely not.
this poll is open for a week, and if engagement is good enough, then i'll start working on opening comms soon!
In honor of my final first marching band competition (which is delayed to next week bc of inclement weather), I figured it's time we talked about my marching band/drum corps AU called "The Marching Wellies," where everything is the same but instead of a hockey team, SMH is now a marching band! (Working title until I find out what the actual Samwell mascot is.)
Concept
Samwell is renowned nationally for their unique show concepts and generous scholarships for its members, both new and returning. With former figure skater turned color guard member, Eric Bittle comes into the band, thinking seriously as he becomes one year closer to aging out of competing in DCI and WGI.
Terminology
There are some terms and acronyms that's going to be used across this post. I'm leaving terms up at the top just to make sure you understand what the fuck is going on.
DCI - Drum Corps International. Competitive marching band circuit for independent drum and bugle corps (DBCs) targeted towards student musicians and performers (high school through college).
WGI - Winter Guard International. Competitive indoor color guard, winds, and percussion circuit targeted towards student musicians and performers (high school through college). While DCI is completely independent and so are its member corps, WGI has a separate circuit for schools called "Scholastic" that allows high school guards to compete.
Age-out. The maximum age a performer can be in DCI and WGI is twenty-one years old, although members who turn twenty-two on or after June 1st is still eligible to compete in DCI's Open and World-class corps, referred to as a "bonus year" by DCI. WGI's max age is dependent on what class a performer competes in. For the 2023 season, Independent A-class performers cannot be over 22 on April 1st, 2022 and Independent Open-class performers cannot be over 23 years old. World-class performers may be of any age, although many guards limit their members to 22-23 as their programs are focused on youth members.
Sections and Leadership
In essence, Bitty's main crew is leadership within the band; loosely based off my first band friends being leadership my freshman year and eventually being in a leadership position with the friends in my grade!
Drum Major: Jack Zimmermann
Percussion section leader/SL: Johnson
Winds SL: Ransom
Brass SL: Holster
Color Guard Captain: Shitty (We'll explain this later)
Equipment manager: Lardo
The drum major is the captain of the entire band. They oversee everyone in all the sections and act as a liaison between the band and staff. If the section leaders can't answer someone's question, the section leader goes to the drum major.
The section leader is self-explanatory. They literally lead their section. Sometimes they may lead practices outside of official rehearsals, assist in teaching music, or act as a mentor to their section. The guard captain has the same exact role as the section leaders and are on the same level.
Some bands might have an equipment manager because of the sheer amount of instruments, props, and color guard equipment used in marching band. Lardo's role as team manager for SMH directly translates as the equipment manager of the band. While she may not play something in the band (hinthintnudgenudge), she works with leadership to make sure everything is organized for transportation and storage.
Backstories
Jack arrived at Samwell as an ex-DCI competitor before realizing his time is almost up in the competitive sphere. Came into Samwell as a section leader before climbing up the ranks as drum major by his sophomore year. He's ran the band under lock and key out of his own personal outlook on life, which is quite regimented. That same regimented lifestyle and perfectionist nature has been drilled into him, mostly out of his time being in this sphere where everyone demands perfection out of you.
Bitty's experience in figure skating translated well into performing in color guard, something that led to him performing for his own high school (with HEAVY hesitation due to the worry of Bitty's sexuality being found out through guard.) Eventually, he landed himself as captain of Madison County High School's color guard and got noticed for it. With the very generous full-living scholarship, Bitty applied and signed to Samwell very quickly.
Ransom and Holster both had their typical band geek phase, but their friendship got off on the wrong foot after both of them met each other at a Bluecoats audition camp and despised each other for various reasons. (Ransom thought Holster was very loud and brash while Holster thought that Ransom had a stick up his ass and was very uptight at first.) Neither of them got in, but made it out as good friends. (you didn't hear this from me but Ransom and Holster were stuck to each other like glue during their orientation week because the Bluecoats audition was a year before their freshman year.)
Shitty is the kind of person who would literally do anything if it meant getting closer with his crush. In high school, he played saxophone and was hellbent on making sure he was able to play it in college. That is, until he met Lardo. He occasionally plays sax for the meme (and because he’s in the Samwell Korean Pops Orchestra because again, Lardo.)
Shitty "accidentally" walked in on an indoor guard rehearsal and that was the moment she fell in love with color guard. Lardo encouraged him to join and soon enough, became co-captain with Lardo his senior year at Samwell. (Or at least somewhere close to that. He never had an official leadership role, but was just one of those seniors who gave out very good advice.)
Lardo’s journey in the guard was because the band director at her high school needed a little girl for a show when she was in 5th grade and she just… stayed with the band the entire time. She learned the skills despite not being in the actual band in middle school and when it was her time to join, she almost became captain on the spot.
The Organizations They Marched With
Everyone in Bitty's crew has marched with an Open or World-class group outside of Samwell.
Jack has marched for the Calgary Stampede Showband (International Class), River City Rhythm in Anoka, MN (Open Class), The Cadets in Allentown, PA (World Class), and Boston Crusaders in Boston, MA (World Class). Boston was Jack's final corps and his age-out season was the same year Jack enrolled at Samwell.
Bitty has marched for the Madison County High School marching band back home in Madison, GA and Paramount Open in Atlanta, GA (Open Class). Bitty would have marched for Pegasus in Macon, GA (Open Class) as it was closer to him, but Pegasus moved to Central Florida the year he was going to audition.
Ransom and Holster have both marched for their respective high schools, although both of them auditioned for the Bluecoats, one of the top three world-class drum corps in DCI. Neither of them got in, but who needs a top drum corps when you have your best friend?
When Lardo was old enough, she performed with Onyx in Dayton, OH (World Class), Fusion World in Clifton, NJ (World Class), and AMP World in Camden, NJ (World Class). She is taking a break from the independent circuit in order to focus on her art career and her home team at Samwell. (Fun fact: If Lardo has performed with AMP and Fusion, this means she has spun with both my irl instructors when they were in high school.)
I don't expect a full fic for this to come out anytime soon (I wish tho), but I just wanted to throw this out there for the fun of it. It's my senior season and I'm grateful for all the memories I have of this band.
For any future posts that deal with the marching wellies (the marching band) or samwell independent (the color guard), they will be respectively tagged as "#the marching wellies" and "#samwell independent."
I just realized that Jack and Bitty are in the same positions in both my banner and icon wth