call me by | Joseph Lavigne (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
yournocturne) wrote2021-10-26 02:09 pm
yournocturne) wrote2021-10-26 02:09 pm
INFO
The setting is Paris, France: early 1850's. Joseph is 32. He works as a pianist and composer.
Born to a middle-class working family in inner Paris, Joseph wasn't destined to be anything great, but very early on he displayed a musical genius and his parents spent every dime they earned on affording their son the proper tutoring and education, even getting him into the Sorbonne on a partial scholarship.
Here, he met the son of a noble family, Arsène, a count and a landowner, and the two struck up a friendship. Arsène, three years older than Joseph, invited him to spend the summer with his family at his château before finishing his studies at university and during that summer, they became lovers. While Joseph finished his studies, they had an on and off relationship whenever they were afforded time and opportunity and it culminated when, after having his first sponsored concert, Arsène invited Joseph to accompany him on a December trip to Vienna. They spent New Year's there together, but fell out with each other when Arsène informed him that he was getting married the following summer.
However, they continued to write each other while Joseph's career and reputation grew, making him quite the superstar of his time, and never seemed to truly fall out of love with each other. Arsène even named his first and only son after Joseph.
At 30, Joseph was diagnosed with consumption, the romantic disease, and knew then that he was headed for an early grave. He started composing maniacally, because he knew time was in short supply. The following year, he met Satine, a prolific painter and scandalous figure, and she became his patroness, so he had the means to keep composing without worrying about income. People gossiped that they were lovers, but they were only friends and dear companions, living together in a huge apartment in one of Paris' best neighborhoods. She, too, was gay and kept the company of other women as well as occasionally dressed in male clothing. They became very close and their relation was explosive. Not long into their acquaintance, Satine proposed that they get married, so she could provide for him as he became increasingly weakened by his disease. She stayed his wife for the rest of his life.
In the winter of 1857, finally Joseph’s disease caught up with him. The last letter he wrote before dying was to Arsène, telling him not to come and see him, though the other man didn’t make it in time.
Born to a middle-class working family in inner Paris, Joseph wasn't destined to be anything great, but very early on he displayed a musical genius and his parents spent every dime they earned on affording their son the proper tutoring and education, even getting him into the Sorbonne on a partial scholarship.
Here, he met the son of a noble family, Arsène, a count and a landowner, and the two struck up a friendship. Arsène, three years older than Joseph, invited him to spend the summer with his family at his château before finishing his studies at university and during that summer, they became lovers. While Joseph finished his studies, they had an on and off relationship whenever they were afforded time and opportunity and it culminated when, after having his first sponsored concert, Arsène invited Joseph to accompany him on a December trip to Vienna. They spent New Year's there together, but fell out with each other when Arsène informed him that he was getting married the following summer.
However, they continued to write each other while Joseph's career and reputation grew, making him quite the superstar of his time, and never seemed to truly fall out of love with each other. Arsène even named his first and only son after Joseph.
At 30, Joseph was diagnosed with consumption, the romantic disease, and knew then that he was headed for an early grave. He started composing maniacally, because he knew time was in short supply. The following year, he met Satine, a prolific painter and scandalous figure, and she became his patroness, so he had the means to keep composing without worrying about income. People gossiped that they were lovers, but they were only friends and dear companions, living together in a huge apartment in one of Paris' best neighborhoods. She, too, was gay and kept the company of other women as well as occasionally dressed in male clothing. They became very close and their relation was explosive. Not long into their acquaintance, Satine proposed that they get married, so she could provide for him as he became increasingly weakened by his disease. She stayed his wife for the rest of his life.
In the winter of 1857, finally Joseph’s disease caught up with him. The last letter he wrote before dying was to Arsène, telling him not to come and see him, though the other man didn’t make it in time.