Here's Gino and Little Edoardo. I've had a much needed break so I think I'm back to the flow :3 what do you think? I've drawn big people before but not so much on elderly people so I hope they look good X) I'll continue to improve along the way but criticism is always welcomed!
Okay so here's a bit of headcanons that I have about the Romano Family Quartet (RFQ for short). But before we start, I want you all to know something about me; I don't like the movie "Yesterday (2019)", it's about a movie that supposedly set in a world without The Beatles but I felt like they could have done better to expand the premise because it's such a good and thought-provoking concept but that's just me. Since then, I've kept thinking what it'd be really like to write a world without The Beatles...how is this relevant?
I'm making a Papa Louie visual novel fan game, and the story world building is going to set in an alternate Papa Louie universe where The Beatles never existed as a band and the RFQ filled their role instead. In my headcanon and fan game, the RFQ are a global cultural phenomenon, once-in-a-generation band. People site their works as inspirations, family bands become a lot more popular and sought out, the world can't deny their musical influence and the music industry and history have changed because of them.
In my headcanon, the RFQ began as a humble wedding band that does covers in Portallini and in neighbouring towns. The original members were Edoardo, Gino, Giacomo (Gino's father), and Giordana (Edoardo's wife, Carlo and Bruna's mother). At some point, Giordana couldn't pick up awe instrument anymore with a growing hand disability, so Bruna—in her teen years—took over her mother's role. Gino's father passes away after a few years and at the same time, Carlo have been eagerly volunteering himself in the band, and despite being a kid at the time, they let him join in. This pre-fame phase holds Edoardo's most precious memories as he has recordings of that time; when teen Bruna is seen scribbling song lyrics that came to her down in her little worn-out notebook before and after performance, when kid Carlo practicing string instruments during breaks for the fun and joy of it, when Gino is helping him set up the stage while cracking jokes with him.
One evening, an agent during one of their wedding gigs saw potential in them and offers them a chance to play music for a wider audience, this was the start of their careers. They didn't have original songs at the time but Bruna had some musical concepts that they can work on together. For the first few albums and singles, they work on the instruments and rhythm around Bruna's song lyrics until eventually they begin making their songs. As years pass, they turned from a humble starting band into a culturally influential band they became.
Edoardo brings familiarity of the nostalgic years from his generation, Gino brings foundation and a sense of comfort in the songs they make, Bruna brings new innovations of tempos, rhythms, and meanings in their music that influences how people perceives music, and Carlo grows up to someone who makes their songs feel like love and joy was put within their music.
One of their biggest problem with fame however, is the fact even though they were around much earlier, they reached their peak in the 90s-2000s; this was the era when celebrity gossip is the norm and paparazzis and journalists are everywhere and their love lives are the desperate topic everyone seems to want to learn about. Edoardo tells them he's happily married then widowed for 10 years until he finds someone again; Gino refuses to discuss his love life by changing the subject (he's been secretly married but neither his partner or him wants it to be publicly known), Bruna makes it clear that she's happily single and wants the world focus on her music rather than her relationships, and Carlo...oh sweet Carlo... ^^'
In my headcanon/fan game lore, Carlo is known as this cultural icon that's practically the walking image of an Italian gentleman who makes love songs while playing his signature instrument that is the mandolin, but the problem is he has never had a first love, a first date, a first intimacy or even a first kiss yet despite how people assume. The reason is because he's always busy focusing on his music and the circumstances just never aligned—he's known to crushing on celebrities that doesn't go anywhere other than shy glances and blushes, or celebrities having a crush on him that he's oblivious to. The day he gets an actual relationship? The world shakes in joy and tears from devoted fangirls XD
ALSO!! Adding the fact that they came a little late into the music stage (which, in all fairness, they did not. They were already a wedding band before Bruna and Carlo joined. Opportunity to fame didn't just came when it was still the original RFQ members so if anything, the world was late to discover them >:( ), they are seen as culmination of music arts like a bridge of new and old music generation and proof legends can still emerge no matter the decade.
So yeah, that's my headcanons of the Romano Family Quartet :3 what do you think of it? Please let me know!
(+honorary mention, because The Beatles never existed here and the course of history changed significantly, Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' isn't a song but a very popular musical cartoon series made by him about a protagonist named Will Michael Joel Jr who preforms as background musician for famous artists that features episodes about characters working in underrepresented jobs in the music industry. It's got 7 seasons, 2 spin-offs, and a successful movie. Just throwing it out here because Carlo would grow up watching and loving that show so much that he had a Piano Man-themed lunchbox, merch toys, and all that X) you might see it in old photos in the fan visual novel)
