#Just say THE VOCAL CLASS. Like. Sopranos sing with this. Tenors with this. Bass with this. Etc

[lionblaze03-2]

sometimes I think about writing and singing music not because I’m an incredible singer but because no one has my fucking voice, especially in popular music, and its disheartening to be born a girl, told you’ll only get girl roles or try to voice match other girls, or ‘sing with the girls’ and then only be able to match male voices because you’re a fuckin tenor and not anything higher. I can’t think of any girl Broadway roles I can hit all the notes on. Most songs I love I have to pitch down for myself or use falsetto for singing along to. It bothers me a lot less now because I’m an adult who’s more secure in myself but as a teen in kids musical theatre it FUCKED with me, BAD style. And I know for a fact that even now when I hear people with a voice like mine singing I get excited and immediately invested in their work because they’re like ME, finally, for once. A brother in this world of being afab and having the voice of a recently pubescent boy forever. Maybe I should be that brother too.

[binunus]

college bf!mj

a/n AH !!!! THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ASTRO COMEBACK ???? APRIL 5TH ??? WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE LOVES !! i genuinely...do not know if I will be able to survive this month bc of them. 

(also i tried to get this posted on mj’s birthday but I’m so sorry a lot of shit happened and I had a ~bad mental breakdown~ and it’s just been rough out here but that’s a story for another time if any of you lovely beings wanna know hehe)

→ genre: fluff, smut

→ tw: mentions of cheating (in past relationships)

→ word count: 4.9k ____________________________________

KIM MYUNGJUN !!

A LIVING REINCARNATION OF THE SUN

this is gonna be so cute i just !! love him so much???

has his own apartment, but he honestly stays over all of the boys’ places so much that...he barely sleeps at his apt

major: vocal performance

his voice is literally honey

can probably sing higher than some sopranos in his major

so friendly, everyone who meets him loves him

mj just has a way of attracting people and making people comfortable around him

in short, he is – of course – the moodmaker

can turn anyone’s frown upside down

he’s down?? for like everything

an adventurous spontaneous type

has...probably failed a ged ed class once or twice before...

he’s not stupid okay! he just doesn’t really care about the classes that has no connection to his major

like will he ever apply calculus in singing? probably not

oh but professors can’t hate him, even if he just messes around during class

he’s just so kind and likeable

loves his boys aka astro

will literally do anything to make them smile, even if he’s had a rough day

as long as his boys are happy :’) he’s happy :’)

now how do you meet myungjun??

he’s in an acapella group on campus

he just has to be alright

he was the only freshman that got in during his first year

that shows how good he is :*

a tenor in the highly competitive co-ed group

spoiler alert, he convinces sanha to join, but that’s for college bf!sanha

myungjun is what me and my friends like to call: the solo whore

and it’s not bc he’s greedy for solos, he’s a real team player

his voice just happens to sound the best for most solos your group has??

you’re also in the acapella group

im not giving a voice part bc then that would put you in a binary category

so soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, you pick love

anyway, you and myungjun were chosen to sing a duet for one of your competition pieces

and it was the key emotional piece so you and him had to be on your A games

you and myungjun were friends ofc, you had to be some sort of friends with everyone in your acapella group

but you never really hung out with him outside of rehearsal

well until you got this duet together

and you weren’t worried about it, mj was so fun and nice and an amazing singer, you had no doubt these extra practices with him would be a good time

and you were right! besides singing, you actually got a chance to get to know him and how goofy he really was

you’re pretty sure you always had an ab workout whenever you hung out with him bc of how much he made you laugh

about a month away from competition, you and myungjun were like best buds

literally a chaotic, iconic duo

the chemistry you two had during your duet was spectacular, your voices highlighted and bounced off each other very well

but! your leader had a little critique

“y/n, myungjun, that was great but...can you guys pretend to look...like in love? I get we’re all friends here, but if you can’t convey the emotion of the song in our performance, what’s the point? This goes for everyone, this is a song about how much you love your partner and would give them the world, we need to show that in our eyes and movements, even if you’re just singing ooh and woah for like 10 measures.”

you and myungjun decide to stay after rehearsal and practice the emotions you guess...

your leader had a point, good singing could only go so far

and for the first time, myunjun was a bit...? awkward??

you: alright so how are we gonna pretend to be madly in love with each other

he chuckles and shrugs: honestly I don’t know, look at me like I’m your boyfriend or something??

you: well, I hate my last boyfriend so that probably wouldn’t be a good idea

myungjun offering you a high-five: I hate...well I think I hate...my last partner too so at least we have that

you: how do you think you hate your last partner? are you not dating anyone right now?

he gives you a smile and like you notice it’s forced?? it’s not genuine or bright like the one he usually gives

mj: no I’m not dating anyone...my last relationship sorta traumatized me I guess. 

you: ...how did it traumatize you...? you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to myungjun

mj: ah *awkward laughter* well...I was sorta going through it my senior year of high school, stress from graduating and what to do with my life and all that shit, you know? I dated this person since my freshman year and I guess my mental health got the best of me during that time and they couldn’t handle it. We were planning on staying together throughout college and do long distance but I found out in the summer before starting college that they fucked my high school best friend behind my back...when I confronted them about it, the answer they gave me was that I was too down and preoccupied with my worries to notice about my partner’s needs...pretty fucked up right?

your jaw dropped, your eyes were bulging out at his story

you: myungjun what the fuck??? what college do they go to? I’ll pull up right now and beat their asses, I don’t know scream in their face or something! That’s fucked!

he’s laughing a little: thanks y/n, but it’s alright. You know, maybe I was too caught up in my own problems that I ended up neglecting my partner’s needs...I guess that’s why I’m always just trying to be carefree and fun now.

you: that doesn’t justify the fact that what they did to you was wrong. you should have never gone through that myungjun, it’s not your fault that you were going through it mentally, your partner should have been there to support you and understand your struggles, not cheat on you with your best friend. ugh I’m pissed for you. 

mj: I appreciate it y/n, but yeah love’s sorta a hard subject for me.

you nod in understanding

mj: well! that’s my traumatic breakup story, it’s only fair you share yours

you laugh: you’re right. Well I was dating this guy right when I entered college, met him at the freshman orientation, completely hit it off. I was so in love with him, we dated for about a year. And then last semester he broke up with me out of nowhere, said he wanted to focus on school and himself and that he needed a break from dating. I found out two days later that he started dating one of his suite mates and that on the night he broke up with me, they fucked. So love? also something hard for me.

mj: aww look at us both unable to find or relate to love because of past relationship traumas.

you hit his shoulder laughing: you’re such a headass

mj: I’m kidding! anyway, I’m sorry you went through that too y/n. it sucks and your ex is a dumbass for breaking up with you. Do you still have feelings for him? w-wait, you don’t have to answer that, was that insensitive?

you: you’re fine haha. Um...well...sometimes when I overthink things at night, I do miss him and I wonder what the hell I did wrong for it to end so abruptly because I was honestly really happy with him, but then I wake up in the morning and I hate him again. 

mj: you did nothing wrong y/n...and if you need to call me at 2 am when you’re overthinking and need some badass confidence knocked into you, I will be awake.

you smile and give him a hug: thanks myungjun...you know the same goes for you too?

mj: hm??? what do you mean??

you: you don’t always have to smile around me, especially if you don’t feel like it. Don’t repress your mental health, huh? It’s bad for the soul to bottle it in. I’m not gonna force you to share your darkest fears with me, I’m just saying that if you feel drained and wanna talk about it, I’m here to listen

myungjun pouts a little bit, he’s really touched?? it’s hard for him to share his troubles with others

like as much as he loves astro and is close to them, he doesn’t share his down sides with the boys as often as he should bc he never wants to burden them

myungjun just always thought it was easier to suppress the bad feelings and put on a happy act

but he couldn’t deny the weight lifted off his shoulders after telling you about his breakup

and maybe it was because your energies were on a different level lately, but he found it so?? easy?? to just vent to you after that

until competition, the two of you worked on faking like you were in love (basically imagining that each other was your favorite actor/actress or whatever, something like that)

it was good enough for the group to believe it lol

but what about the judges and audience hmmmmm

anyway, fast forward and it’s competition day!!

myungjun introduces you to his best friends aka the boysss aka astro

they come and support him for his competition ugh we love

you’re like smiling and hyper when you meet them

...has myungjun been rubbing off on you???

you: it’s so nice to meet you all! myungun always talks so highly of you

astro: huh?? you’re lying, myungjun hyung complimenting us???

and then they start messing and friendly bickering with each other and yes they’re teasing mj

you’re laughing bc it’s so cute?? you can see in their eyes and their smiles how much they really care about each other :’)

also astro, probably jin or eunwoo, maybe rocky: we’re sorry if m hyung has driven you to insanity these past few months of rehearsing

you just laugh as myungjun hits them: myungjun’s actually been like my partner in crime lately, so we’re all good :)

*cue the boys exchanging looks with each other*

you perform ah ha ha

alright, you were so used to thinking that myungjun was...idk kim soohyun or something bc mm chef’s kiss his acting...to get into the emotion of the song

but then during the actual performance you saw him as myungjun and like all the hard work and extra practices and late night talks came in full force and you were just...singing to him

and you notice how...handsome?? and charismatic?? myungjun really is...and the little sparkle in his eyes when he’s performing like...wow

and after your set, you’re just like shit, what the fuck was that??

your group doesn’t win though, you place second!

but you and myungjun get awarded best solo/duet of the entire competition

astro: ;)

your acapella group: ;)

the judges: ;)

alright so im a firm believer that if myungjun had feelings for someone, he would straight up tell them like balls to the wall full fucking send

after competition, the routine of school comes back. you occasionally hang out with myungjun outside of rehearsal

by occasionally, I mean once a week hangout with myungjun (and astro bc they started inviting you to their dinners)

and then one night – at midnight – he calls you like out of pocket and his tone is like completely serious

you’re a bit scared?? like: myungjun...is everything okay? did something happen?

mj: y/n...can I ask you something?

you: yeah, of course

mj: do you still think about your ex?

you: o_o um...honestly no, not really...why?

mj: well, if I’m being honest. y/n, I have feelings for you. And i’m not asking you to like me back or give me an answer straight away, but I just wanted to let you know. If you don’t think about your ex anymore, and if you think you’re ready...maybe you can consider thinking of me??

mmmmm kim myungjun you slick flirty dog grrr bark bark

and you know how he can just talk, and talk fast, so you’re still in the middle of processing this and he just goes on like

“sleep on it, y/n. I’ll see you soon for rehearsal, okay? good night”

like you don’t even have a chance to respond to him bc he just hangs up the phone

you think about it, of course you think about it, you’ve been thinking about it ever since competition

having feelings for myungjun has always been in the back of your mind since then

like did you notice that when you hung out with him, your heart would flutter if he said something sweet?? or if you two were a bit too close to each other?? 100%

but you didn’t know if either of you were ready for another relationship so it’s just been put on the back burner

at the next acapella practice, you find that your cheeks just flush whenever myungjun looks your way

the rehearsal went a bit??? weird?? like even your group noticed that there was a bit of a tension between you and myungjun

but of course, he goes up and talks to you after rehearsal ended and he’s like: hey...I’m sorry if my confession made you feel weird, I didn’t mean for that at all. If you want, we can just forget about what I said and stay friends! 

you just facepalm like: myungjun you idiot, I’m acting weird because I like you too. God, you know maybe the boys are right, maybe you need to shut your mouth for a little bit

and he whines like: hey!

but then he realizes what you said and he gives you the brightest smile: you mean it?? you like me back??

and you’re like shyly smiling now: yeah...I do...but do you want to take the next step?? I mean...do you think you’re ready for another relationship??

he gets like serious and he grabs your hand: not gonna lie, I don’t think I’ll ever be fully ready after my last one...but if there’s someone I wanna try it with, it’s you.

:’) kim !!! myung !!! jun !!!

dating myungjun?? the best thing ever

the cutest boy alive honestly

he has so much cute and goofy in him already with just friends and strangers

but with you, it’s increased tenfold

even you start to act cute and goofy after dating him

petnames?? bub and bubby

myungjun is not serious about a lot of things, but he is very serious about his feelings for you and your relationship

y’all take things at your own pace and he !! values !! consent !! even if it’s just like making out

he just doesn’t wanna mess things up with you :’)

the type of boyfriend to sing you to sleep ah !!! his voice is heaven alright

will be extra about pda in front of the guys to make them grossed out

and yes you get embarrassed, but myungjun’s too cute to scold

you get used to a lot of second-hand embarrassment dating him and being friends with the boys

but it’s just so endearing, you can’t even fight it

will swing your arms together when you’re out just walking

screams he’s so cute

you don’t really fight bc communicating with each other is one of the biggest things in your relationship

like if a disagreement or a situation comes up, you two are mature enough to talk it through and work things out bc you both already been knew what it’s like to be in a relationship that didn’t have full transparency

you do jokingly bicker about small things though (like think about how astro fights)

but he always ends fights by scooping you up in a hug and showering your face with kisses

loves kissing your nose

just imagine: you and myungjun cuddling and he just kisses your nose and you scrunch up your face and he just laughs and kisses you all over and you two end up giggling

will do anything to see a smile on your face, it’s the greatest sight to him

alright we been talking too much about how cute myungjun is

he’s also a hot motherfucker alright

the most attractive when he’s singing in your opinion

you know how charismatic he is, you’ve seen it first hand during rehearsal and performances

he’s very good at hiding his horniness, especially in public

but phew when you two are in private and myungjun’s in the mood

you can tell bc his eyes just get hazy and he immediately just starts kissing your neck

a very passionate lover, will prioritize your pleasure over his

sex with myungjun can go from being sweet and sensual, to fun and playful, to hot and exciting

by that...I mean that he is down to try every kink and position you can think of

as long as both of you are okay with it ofc

he’s one of the kinkiest members in astro im convinced

blindfolds? bondage? ice cubes? wax play?

you want it? you got it

he’s not into feet though, i apologize to my foot fetish lovers

his favorite position is actually missionary

myungjun loves being able to watch you and to see how good he’s making you feel

in missionary is when he feels the most connected to you, it’s just a passionate position

and yes he’s very vocal, so you betcha he encourages you to be vocal as well

will try to mess with you in a sense where say you two are hanging out with the guys, he’ll touch you and challenge you to not make a noise

and then he’ll snicker and wink at you if you even let out a peep

he’s a tease !!! like will edge you until you’re on the brink of cumming at least 3 times

myungjun has pretty good stroke game alright

very fluid with his hips, idk he just knows all the right spots to hit

praise...kink...that’s the tweet, need I say more

he’s into hair pulling !! both ways !! 

okay hear me out...myungjun fucking you and pulling your hair until your screaming and then after you both cum, he’s like: you hit a high f earlier bub! I almost wanted to harmonize with you but–

you: myungjun are you serious!

sex with him would always just be a fun time, like he’s hot and grrr it feels so good but there’s always a bit of laughing and joking around in the process

like he will tickle you before he puts his cock in you just to see the switch of you laughing to moaning

alright but shower sex?? he’s into that

and just the acoustics of both of your sounds in the bathroom?? it’s so filthy he loves it – and it’s easy to clean up afterwards

you bet that after any performance with your group, the two of you have sex, even if it’s just a quickie in an empty practice room or whatever

no shame, will kick the boys out or announce “we’re going to fuck bye!” if you or him get too horny in the middle of a hangout

im just gonna throw this out here...you and myungjun...mile high club

(your group competed in an acapella competition and the flight there...it just happened)

all in all, myungjun just wants to make you happy and feel good and smile, even if you two just finished an intense sex session

let’s get into the deep stuff though, you are the only person myungjun is comfortable with to not show a smile all the time

even with the boys, there’s always a small part of him that wants to just push through and be optimistic just so that they won’t worry

but with you, he knows that it’s okay to be sad and to be vulnerable :’)

when myungjun cries bc he’s upset :( fuck you cry too

he loves when you just hug him and stroke his hair when he’s stressed

very showy about your relationship, not bc he’s braggy, but bc he just wants to show the world how happy you make him and that he’s in love <3

the boys are so happy to see their eldest in love :’)

they don’t show it around each other, but they’ve come up to you in private and say sweet things like

“you make myungjun hyung so happy, he always brings joy to everyone but you bring joy to him, thank you”

im !! getting !! sentimental !!

the day you found out myungjun was in love with you was the day you met his parents

‘twas a bit spontaneous

his parents came to see one of your group performances and myungjun’s like holding your hand and leading you somewhere after you get off stage and he’s like “bub! these are my parents!”

you end up getting dinner with his family and yikes you were hella nervous, you were not expecting on meeting his parents right after your performance

not gonna lie, you thought he was leading you to the car for some post-performance sex

but they adored you, his parents could see how much you meant to their son ugh I cry

anyway, the L word

as you’re finishing dinner, myungjun’s all giddy and just like

“I’m so glad you came and watched mom and dad, the timing was perfect too! I wanted to introduce you to y/n for a while now and have you meet the person I love.”

and his parents are just smiling at you and saying how they’re so happy to finally meet you and how you have an amazing voice and to take care of myungjun and you’re !!! just !!! blushing !!!

as soon as you both got in the car after saying goodbye to his parents, he’s just like: hope I didn’t surprise you too much bubby, I didn’t know my parents were coming to watch until like an hour before we went on stage

you just give him a little smile: I was a bit caught off guard, but it’s okay. Your parents are so sweet, I see where you get it from bub.

myungjun: I can tell that they love you already! well of course not as much as I do, but with time I know they’ll come pretty close

and you’re blushing again, it’s the L word: do you mean it myungjun?

myungjun: that my parents love you?? of course–

you: no, bub...that you...love me?

myungjun: yeah...unless you don’t feel the same way–

you: myungjun! no, of course I do! I just wasn’t expecting the first time to hear it was with your parents

you two are laughing, ugh this man

after your giggles subside, he leans over from the driver’s seat and he just cups your cheek and pecks your nose: I love you y/n, thank you for reminding me what love feels like

you: I love you too myungjun

and then you two are just like sharing a sweet kiss in the parking lot of the restaurant before starting the drive back to his place

do you and myungjun make duets together for fun and post it?? yeah probably

you are the luckiest dating myungjun, the living breathing embodiment of serotonin and love

even when you two are older and out of college, he still gives you the same affection and attention and authenticity ugh he’s just amazing

im so sorry this was late but happy belated to our happy virus <3

3-12-21

[susie-qte]

Jojo Choral Headcanons

ₒₒₒₒAlright I’m like--- in a state of disarray over this thing I am so ready because I’m an avid choir kid and ieao;fjdk The premise is school choir, and it’s a men’s division (feat. Jolyne), hence the severe lack of gals (for now???) 

BUT I might do an extra thing with all the jojos and jobros and some other supporting cast characters in a show choir together but that’s for a later time Or I might do headcanons for a rival choir of Jofoes haha just kidding...  ...unless? 

Jonathan

Such a stronk baritone, but such a middling tenor 

Like he’s doing his best but he needs some work for anything above a middle Db

But his timbre???? You know the singer for Sono Chi no Sadame??? Yeah take that timbre but like--- put it in a choir 

It BLOWS PEOPLE AWAY 

Easily one of the most powerful voices in the whole ensemble 

He just wants to be a tenor though, so he can do like 

Tenor descants 

But alas, that is not for him (yet) 

He is laser-focused during class and sometimes does the annoying thing where he just doesn’t sing unless he can get the phrase perfectly in pitch and in rhythm, but we love him anyway 

He does not try for solos often, and usually needs to be coaxed by everyone else into trying out 

Joseph

I don’t know if anyone reading this is a choir kid, but in the boys section I’ve exclusively experienced boys who take it too seriously and the boys who don’t take it seriously at all 

Not to say that he doesn’t pay attention when he needs to, he just happens to also do the most purposeful voice-cracking in the whole choir for the laughs 

“Hey, can we do All Star for the concert”  

He’s a baritone, but when he’s having a great day, he can be a great bass 

He speaks at a higher register than he sings, and when you hear the difference back to back, it’s a little freaky 

Pleads for a rock song for miscellaneous concerts, because he wants to try belting

He’s that kind of dude who just stands alone in a practice room and tries to belt Jesus Christ Superstar and EVERYONE outside can definitely hear him 

During rehearsal, he is very convinced that he has the right notes

Even when he doesn’t 

He never asks questions, even when he should, and then right as everyone is going through a phrase, you can see his facial expression turn from 100% pure confidence to 100% pure confusion 

Jotaro

Literally no one expected him to be in something as dorky as choir 

But he is the silent bass that holds everyone together 

Like you don’t realize he’s singing until he’s not at rehearsal 

And everyone’s like “Hey, where’s the comforting chesty buzz of our lowest bass”  

He’s probably capable of hitting higher notes, but frankly, he doesn’t want to 

He’s very comfortable right where he is 

Which is 3 ledger lines below the bass clef staff 

He’s one of the pillars that holds the ensemble up, so he can’t really try out for solos often 

You don’t want to leave Joseph to his own devices as a Bass, after all 

Quickly going into some musical stuff: Have you ever heard Norm Lewis play Javert in Les Mis? In the first 10 seconds of this one moment, he hits a note lower than my self esteem and I feel like that sums up how Jotaro’s range has that chesty buzz, ya feel? 

Josuke

Meet the tenor, ladies and gentlemen 

On a very very good day, he can hit the E on the treble staff, he is a ten or 

But at the same time, he has this nice... deep and smoky timbre 

All the ladies love it 

Because he’s deeper than your average boy band member

but higher than Jonathan 

He is a RIFFING MACHINE 

We’re talking some grade A, Bruno Mars on crack kind of riffing 

Even in places where he doesn’t need to be riffing 

He out there like “Hallelᵘᵘᵘuuuuᵤᵤᵤᵤjah,,,, Juᵘᵘuᵤᵤuᵘbilate deoooₒₒₒₒ” but he’s a poppin’ soloist-- if you hear him pre-rehearsal just out there riffing, you’ve heard heaven condensed into a collection of soundwaves-- Pucci is quaking 

Giorno

Poor 15 year olds get the short end of the stick 

He’s a cambiata, somewhere kinda in-between a boy-soprano and an actual tenor 

But he’s flexing out here with tenor descants 

He’s the only person who listens to sample recordings given out by the director, ngl 

He’s so good at ye olde Latin pieces because his diction is on point 

And I mean... Italian is his bread and butter

But also because Latin pieces like to actively torture tenors and Giorno is just ready to flex with his ability to hit them high notes 

Unfortunately though, he’s not ready for the truck that is about to hit him vocally, and no one has the heart to tell him that his crazy range won’t last much longer 

He voice cracked one (1) time during rehearsal and almost had a crisis 

“THIS IS IT, IT’S OVER FOR ME” 

Jolyne

With almost-boy-soprano Giorno and kinda husky-sounding Josuke, there had to be a blending buffer there 

If Giorno and Josuke stood next to each other during rehearsal (and God forbid-- the concert??), it would be an absolute disaster of completely different competing tones of voice 

So the big compromise was our blending gal, Jolyne 

She’s an alto/mezzo, but can hit most tenor notes, so she just deals with it 

There are points in which the tenor part just drops down a little much and she just stares at the the director 

“You’re really gonna make me attempt this, huh” 

She’s the person who brings her phone with her onto the risers and lowkey falls asleep during rehearsal

But somehow miraculously picks up her part at an alarming rate, and it scares the rest of the choir to this day 

Everyone has theorized that she has perfect pitch, but really, who knows? 

You’d never see any of the boys able to pull that off, I’m telling you that 

~Mod Pepper

[disregardcanon]

au where all the class 1A kids are music students

kacchan is the kind of kid who came out of the womb with perfect pitch. he was singing arias for the talent show in second grade. he’s, of course, a total dick about it. he’s growly when he speaks but the smoothest of baritones when he sings. it’s pisses all the straight girls off because they’re like. how did this dick get the hottest voice and body what the FUCK

deku wants to be best singer, but the poor kid is. he cannot match pitch when he sings. he works hard for a very long time and gets to the point where he’s passable, but he’s just never going to sing like all might, legendary classical vocalist turned legendary college choir director, and he sulks and sulks, so his mom puts him in front of a piano one day. 

now this one? he can do it. and he’s great at it. deku’s meticulous and obsessive personality let him turn practice into solid results with this one. 

he works and he works and he works, and he becomes just. stunning. by the time that he gets to college, he’s an overworked piano major who’s trying to get a performance degree but also working his way through by accompanying as much as he can. and like. exist in proximity to the choirs because all might directs them and maybe that’s half of why he came to this university in the first place. 

he gets a slight scholarship by agreeing to accompany the Big Choir for their regular rehearsals, but then the director is all might. who says “actually you know we could use more tenors” and deku’s like. uh. don’t you have to audition for that. and all might’s like YOU ALREADY DID MY BOY and deku’s like. screeching because he hasn’t sang in years. and what if he’s bad? but what if he’s GOOD! damn, having that original scary childhood dream within reach is scary. it’s also scary to have to like, actually BE in the same choir as the guy who you’ve admired/hated for years for being what you wanted to be and putting you and your dreams down, but like, WE’RE MAKING DUE HERE

todoroki is a dual vocalist (bass) and piano major. he mains piano because FUCK his dad the opera singer, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t try to crush bakugo into the ground. also deku. they’re both proving to be difficult. 

ochako’s a soprano. voice is called “sweet” and “melodious”, but everyone doubts that she has much power behind it. her voice teacher keeps shoving flowy little art songs and arias at her and she’s like !!!!! i want to do screaming musical theater!!!! LOW STUFF!!!! ANNNGGEERRRRR and her teacher’s like “no” so she joins a band outside of classes where she tries to sing rock music. it’s not great for the voice but it sure gets the anger out. 

i know that iida is a marching band section leader, but i can’t decide which instrument he plays. all of them feel wrong. he is ALSO the tenor section leader. he clashes frequently with bakugo who leads the bass section. 

kirishima and kaminari are both trombones and tenors. the kind that make jokes about their boners. they did choir their first semester because it was required and then they stuck around because they wanted to bug bakugo. 

mina is a fashion major who sings alto. she’s here because she likes music, she’s good at it, and it’s “cheaper than a sorority”. 

hagakure IS in a sorority. she sings soprano and she’s undecided, but she likes to have friends and make music, so joining the choir seemed natural. 

jirou is a dual vocal and guitar major. she sings contralto (alto in choir) and every single wlw in the building is in love with her. we cannot blame them for having eyes and working ears

yaomomo is a violin primary and a vocal secondary. she plays the violin and worries and sings and worries and sometimes also plays the piano and worries. the worrying is the most important constant. 

tsuyu is a mezzo-soprano who sings alto in choir. she’s another nonmajor (biology). 

sero plays the marimba on top of singing tenor. 

mineta did not get into the choir because he sucks. fuck off mineta. 

i’m not going to do anything with any of this probably but it was fun to make

[seventh-zephyr]

My thoughts on Keiko leaving Kalafina

So, it’s been a few days since it was announced that Keiko had left. I’m still sad about it, of course, but I feel like I need to talk about it and get it off my chest and then maybe I can have some peace of mind about the whole ordeal. All under the cut because yeah, this is gonna be long.

tl;dr Keiko means a lot to me personally and although I may not like the fact that she has left Kalafina (for both technical and personal reasons), I respect her decision and will continue to support her as well as Wakana and Hikaru in a new era of Kalafina.

Let me start of by saying that I do not blame Keiko for leaving, I know it was entirely her choice, and I respect her decision to leave.

With that out of the way, I do wonder how Kalafina’s future concerts will function. The vast majority of their songs were written for three people to sing, and there are songs that are outright impossible or near impossible to sing with only two people without leaving things out (lookin’ at you, sprinter and signal). Unless they add another person who possesses similar vocal range/skills as Keiko, a number of their songs will either have to be majorly retooled for two (such as Fantasia, and even then that shouldn’t be too hard with this song) or outright unperformable (such as Magia or ring your bell, or other songs with a lot of 3-way harmony work). Of course, songs from the oblivious single still would work perfectly fine with just Wakana and Hikaru, but nearly every other song would need to be retooled (I say nearly because even if it might be weird, something like Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa could work with two people). Part of me really hopes they hold auditions for a new member because the way things stand now, live performances will become a new challenge without a decent buildup of additional music written for two voices.

At the same time, I really wish that Keiko hadn’t decided to leave. She added a lot of depth vocally to the group. My choir director always talked about a choral sandwich in Concert Choir before I got moved up to Chamber Choir. He really doesn’t talk about it at all with Chamber, but it’s something I’ve always found important. Your four choral parts (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) make up a sandwich. Soprano and bass are like the bread, essential but not important compared to what’s actually in the sandwich. Alto and tenor are like the middle of the sandwich, the contents. They’re the important parts, they’re what make the sandwich good. Otherwise, you’d just have bread, and no one wants just bread. In Kalafina, it’s just soprano and alto. Wakana is soprano, Keiko is alto, and Hikaru is somewhere in between. Sure, Hikaru could fill in some of the vocal gaps Keiko left behind, but there are some gaps that just can’t be filled (such as Yami no Uta, a showcase of Keiko’s dark alto power). And yeah, you could flip the choral sandwich thing on it’s head here and be like “But Zange, wouldn’t the sandwich here be W and K as bread and H as the stuff in between?”, but my point with bringing up the choral sandwich is that yes, Hikaru could sing some of Keiko’s stuff. But Hikaru can’t replace her completely in songs like Alleluia, or Yami no Uta, or some others that I’m forgetting. Keiko has that kind of power, she adds that depth into Kalafina’s music and makes it interesting, something you can’t really do with only two choral parts.

Another reason I wish Keiko didn’t leave: She’s one of my biggest inspirations. When I first joined choir in 8th grade, the girls sang up and down the scales to figure out if they were a soprano or alto. We did that and I was like “Hey, some of these high notes are a little too high for me, I’ll sing alto because that’s were my voice feels more comfortable.” So that’s what I did. And almost every time we got a new song, with a few exceptions, sopranos would always have the melody. I remember being a bit frustrated at this and wondering when the hell the altos were gonna have a song where they had the melody. I had to quit choir 3rd tri that year so I could take another class, but 3rd tri was where I discovered Kalafina. And I mean really discovered. I’d heard some of their songs before as anime endings, but I didn’t know who they were. Honestly, I don’t entirely remember how I even discovered them. I know it was through Google Play Music, it was probably on the random stream list for the artists I was listening to at the time (Garnidelia and Mimori Suzuko). Whenever a Kalafina song popped up, I was like ‘hey this sounds really good, I should find more of this.’ I distinctly remember my favorite songs being ARIA, Natsu no Ringo, and sprinter (which still remains one of my favorites to this day). The only album they had on Google Play Music’s streaming was Seventh Heaven, so that was all I really knew for Kalafina music (except for those anime endings and like two or three other songs).

Fast forward to my freshman year of high school. I rejoined choir with the intention of taking it all four years of high school, and Kalafina had quickly become one of my favorite groups. I had their first and fifth albums, as well as their two best-of albums downloaded onto my school computer so I could listen to those while working on stuff instead of looking for it on YouTube. Around November or December, I found out that Kalafina released a Christmas (or as the album calls it, a ‘winter acoustic’) album. Of course, with my love for both Kalafina and Christmas music, I immediately download it onto my school computer and listened to it. It was absolutely beautiful. Around this time as well, we were really getting into gear for our Madrigal Dinner (where I sang with both the Concert Choir and the Madrigal Singers that year), which was in early December, just after my birthday, and by this point I had heard the Choral Sandwich spiel from our director a few times. It was just a normal school day, and we were doing our normal Concert Choir rehearsal during 7th hour. We were practicing one of the songs we would be singing during Madrigal, I think it was Go the Distance from Hercules. We were just practicing that song, as normal, and something in me clicks. I think ‘Holy shit, I love the alto part in this song. Why can’t we have more alto parts like this in our songs?’ followed by ‘Oh my god we get the melody in this section and it sounds really good but we almost never get the melody,’ and then it hits me: ‘Altos don’t need to sing the melody to be amazing. But when we DO have the melody, it sounds absolutely incredible. Just like Keiko.’ From that day on, Keiko Kubota became one of my biggest influences when it came to singing. Whenever altos had amazing harmony parts, I’d think, ‘How amazing would Keiko be singing this part?’ and try to sing it like I imagined she would. Low notes became a treasure to me because they were rare in the songs we were singing in Concert Choir. Whenever we were told to have a dark tone on certain parts, I smiled as I sang that part while thinking of Yami no Uta. Because of Keiko, I’ve learned to truly love the alto life. Every single note I’ve sang as an alto since that realization has been precious to me. There’s no other way I would have it, and I can say with complete honesty that I’m proud to be singing alto.

And that brings us to the present. Sophmore year, I’m in Chamber Choir now, and Keiko Kubota has just announced that she left Kalafina. I’m, of course, disappointed. Keiko was my favorite member, alongside being one of my biggest inspirations, so of course I don’t want her to leave. However, as I mentioned earlier, I respect her decision and I won’t blame her for it. I’d love to see her do some solo work, or even a revival of FictionJunction (she’s still a part of that, at least!) just so I can hear more of her incredible voice, but I can’t say for sure that it will happen, no matter how much I want it to. Wherever Keiko decides to go next, be it in music or not, I’m positive she’ll do an excellent job, and I’ll support her all the way. And just because Keiko is no longer part of Kalafina, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop being a fan of theirs. Goodness, no, their music is too good. Even if it’s just Wakana and Hikaru going forward, I’ll still support them until the very end. It’s a new era of Kalafina, with both their main composer and one of their original members gone; they need all the support they can get. Not to mention, a Kalafina without Keiko is infinitely better than no Kalafina at all.

So thank you, Keiko Kubota, for 10 years in Kalafina, and I greatly look forward to whatever you decide to do next.

[wren-likethe-bird]

Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Love

A Highschool AU SnowBaz fic for the Carry On Valentine’s Celebration

Admittedly, it might not be entirely truthful to say that Baz joined Vocal Jazz because he loved singing.  This is not to say that he didn’t love singing, it just wasn’t something that he tended to broadcast. And yes, Vocal Jazz was a good way of coming out of his shell, breaking past that barrier of shyness when it came to his own voice, plus maybe making some friends.

           However, let’s just say that Baz might not have auditioned if it weren’t for the blonde-haired blue-eyed tenor.

           And maybe he didn’t get up for those early morning practices before class purely because he loved singing, but because he loved something else.  Someone else.

***           

Baz was more than a little disappointed when the group was split into two for the Valentine’s Day Musical Candy Gram event.  Granted, some might find it a little overwhelming to have ten people singing at them in front of the class, but couldn’t he at least have been put in Simon’s group?

           No, because the ensemble only had two basses and two tenors.  Both groups needed one of each, and Simon couldn’t miss third class.

           So Baz was left to swallow his disappointment as he followed his group down the halls of Watford High, singing excerpts of Beatles songs at poor unsuspecting students.  Objectively, it was a cute little setup.  They would barge into a classroom with the chorus of “She Loves You”.  Then Trixie, one of the sopranos, would call out the names of any “lucky” students, who would then have to make their embarrassing way to the front of the room to accept a flower or a card or both from Trixie and be serenaded with “8 Days A Week”.  All in all, not horrible.  Objectively. Baz was just glad he wasn’t on the subjective side of things.

           After fourth period, which he spent both quietly chuckling at the sound of his choir mates in nearby classrooms, and also praying they wouldn’t burst into his classroom or, heaven forbid, bestow a Musical Candy Gram upon him, Baz returned to the empty music room for his coat, which he had left there when the group had met at lunch.  As he buttoned up the coat, he couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit melancholy.  He hated to admit it to himself, but while singing was great, it was nothing compared to singing with Simon.  Because when he was singing with Simon it made “I’ll Be Seeing You”, their competition piece, feel different.  He wasn’t just singing words; it was more of an outlet.  Like pouring his bottled-up feelings down a drain.  They weren’t going to Simon, but at least they were going somewhere.

           “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah…”

           Baz’s heart sank when all nine of his choir mates filed into the room, singing and snapping their fingers, this time directing their song at him, but he had to smile a little.

           “Really?” he smirked as Trixie came forward to hand him a single rose with a card attached by a ribbon.  “Is this all necessary?”  In response, they burst into “8 Days A Week”, beaming at him like he’d won some sort of prize.  It was mortifying, but it was almost nice.

Baz snuck a glance at Simon, who was singing through a grin, and even though he knew he was probably blushing, Baz held his gaze for a few more seconds, saving the sight to replay later.

“Alright, who’s it from then?” he demanded when the others had finally finished singing.  “There’s no name on the card.”

“Oooh, a secret admirer!” squealed Trixie, but nobody had an answer for him.  Baz didn’t miss the smirk that twisted Simon’s mouth though, or how smug the boy looked when he left the room.

 ***

“You know, don’t you?”

Simon didn’t answer right away, but Baz saw his mouth twitch.  “Know what?”

“Who sent me the card and the flower yesterday.” Baz tried to sound indifferent as he trawled through the philosophy section of the library.  “I could see it on your face.”

Simon pulled a book on Aristotle off the shelf, not looking at Baz.  “It’s possible,” he drawled.  “After all, you are my best friend, I ought to know who has a crush on you.”

“What you ought to do is tell me, best friend.”

“I can’t.”

“You won’t.”

“I can’t,” Simon turned to him giggling.  “If I tell you who sent the Valentine, it would be breaking confidence.” He solemnly put one hand over his heart and one in the air by his head.  “I am under oath.”

“Under oath to whom?”

“The person who sent it, of course.”

Baz shot a look at him.  “So you’ve talked to them about it?”

“You could say that.”

“You’re being annoyingly cryptic.”

“Do you have any suspicions?”

Of course Baz had thought about it all day yesterday after school, but his mind had kept wandering back to what Baz wanted.  Because there was only one person he wanted to be behind the Valentine.

And if Baz was being honest with himself, it Simon hadn’t sent it, Baz didn’t want it.

He just shrugged.  “No one I can think of really makes sense.”

“Most love doesn’t make sense,” Simon murmured in reply, so softly that Baz thought maybe it wasn’t for him to hear.  Granted they were in a library, but still.

“Would you tell me if I guessed correctly?”

“No guarantees, but you have permission to interrogate me.  Ask away.”

“Boy or girl?”

“Hopefully a boy.”

Baz raised an eyebrow.  “What do you mean ‘hopefully’?”

“Well, in theory,” Simon stammered, “whoever sent it cares about you enough to know that you’re gay, and if it were a girl, hopefully she would respect you enough to know better than to send you a Valentine.”

Baz had to admit he had a point.  “So basically what you’re saying is that it was a boy?”

Simon smiled.  “If that’s what you think.”

A thought occurred to him.  “It wasn’t Agatha, was it?  Just to get that off the table?”

“No it was not,” Simon admitted, “that would be a bit weird.”

“Especially since she’s still carrying a torch for you,” Baz snorted, maybe a little louder than was appropriate in a library.  Simon gave a wry smile that Baz couldn’t quite interpret.

“It wasn’t her,” Simon assured him, “guess again.”

Baz was honestly stumped.  There just wasn’t anyone else who seemed even the least bit interested in him.  He had thought that maybe Dev had had feelings for him a few years earlier, but now Dev was happily involved with his girlfriend, which eliminated that possibility.

“Really?” Simon smirked.  “No one?”

“There just isn’t anyone who shows any signs of liking me like that,” Baz shrugged.

“You might be surprised at the number of people who would gladly date you.  I mean, you’re certainly not hard to look at.”

Baz shot a surprised glance at Simon, who was apparently very interested in a chapter about nihilism.  Did he just…

“Is there anyone you want it to be from?” Simon asked quickly, like he didn’t want Baz to question him further.

You.

“Yes.”

Simon looked up at him with a smile that seemed just a little bit painted, and looked back down quickly.  “You should ask them,” he said in an overly cheery voice, “you could get lucky.”

“There’s no point,” Baz shook his head.

“Why not?”

“There’s no way it was them,” he chuckled sadly, “absolutely no way.”

Simon shrugged without looking at him.  “Maybe that’s for the best.  If you never know who it was, you can just imagine that it was who you wanted it to be, and the person can just imagine that you like them back.”

Baz didn’t have an answer for that.  It sounded like an easy solution, to just let the whole thing fade away and imagine that Simon had picked out the rose with care, that he had skirted around Baz when the group prepared all the Candy Grams so that Baz wouldn’t find his own name among the Valentines. That he had done something silly like kiss the card before tying it to the bloom.

But it was too good to be true, and Baz knew it. He would never stop wondering if he didn’t find out for sure.

So he steeled himself and forced the words out of his mouth: “Was it you?”

Simon looked up at him with practiced innocence, but his eyes betrayed a touch of fear.  “Why would you think that?”

“I just had to ask,” Baz floundered, hoping he hadn’t gone as scarlet as he felt.  “So that’s a ‘no’ then?”

“… No.”

“No, what?”

“No, it’s not a ‘no’.”

Baz’s brain was going at a thousand miles per second, and yet he couldn’t for the life of him comprehend what Simon was saying. “Oh,” was his scholarly response. “So that means…”

Simon stared straight ahead into the bookcase. “I sent it.  You got me.”

“Why?”

Simon finally turned to look at him.  “Why?  Gee, I don’t know, Baz!”  He was whispering, but with so much force that it felt to Baz like he was shouting. “Maybe because in all the years we’ve been friends you have astounded me and I only just made sense of it all! Maybe because you’re brilliant and gentle and so goddamn beautiful and when you sing I never want you to stop, and even if you never found out who sent you the stupid flower or if you didn’t care, at least I would have tried to tell you how much I like you, at least I would have -”

The next sound he made was one of shock as Baz’s mouth covered his own.

The sound after that was one of oh god, finally because Baz had him backed against the philanthropy section and was tangling his fingers in Simon’s curls, burying his lips in heat and need and oh, this is what all the hype is about and it was a million times better than Simon could have hoped for.

“Under oath to whom, again?” Baz teased against Simon’s lips, and Simon laughed lightly as he snaked his arms around Baz’s neck, already desperate for more.

“You got me,” he whispered, reaching up for Baz’s mouth again, and Baz couldn’t help but grin as Simon pulled him down to meet him.  Baz angled his head and deepened the kiss, a low sigh escaping his throat.  In the back of his head he remembered the rose and the card, and took to moment to appreciate the fact that he wouldn’t be throwing them away after all before setting up a long, slow rhythm against Simon’s mouth like they had all the time in the world.

[bi-privilege]

I remember you mentioning in one of your posts that if we were to start over again as a society, that we would have completely different gender roles because gender is a social construct. I'm trying to come up with some creative ideas for a society with completely different gender roles without using the "females took over the world" trope; I've come up with quite a few ideas but I'd love your input.

(anon is referencing this post on the social construction of gender)

i feel u, because while i love hypothetical matriarchal societies as much as the next person, i feel like a lot of time they’re based on the same concept of “visible genitalia as gender” which is not really all that out of the box. i think it’s important to note that for actual, real life examples of variants on gender, we need look no further than wikipedia (tw for cissexist language at the link)(you may also find this nb wiki page helpful). a lot of cultures historically haven’t followed the strict sex/gender binary that western culture uses. however, in case you are looking for other ideas for gender systems, i present to you:

“gender” based on height. no one is assigned a gender until their late teens, when they have finished growing. short people are hunters, because they can most easily dart underneath the stomachs of large fauna to stab at their hearts. tall people become gatherers cuz they can easily pick stuff off of tall trees. medium height people are given the option to choose one camp over the other, or stay at their village encampments to raise the children. sometimes short people defect to the tall or medium height groups, because they lack the athletic ability needed to spear mammoths, and that’s A-Okay.

“gender” based on occupation. there are no strict biological markers for gender. differences in genitalia and/or reproduction are treated much like differences in hair color. instead, gender roles are largely based on your occupation–which you choose yourself, based on your skills and interests. hunters are expected to be athletic, obviously, to better catch stuff, but also value stuff like the ability to set good rabbit traps and be quiet for long periods of time. occupations also heavily influence dress, obviously. in the future, all doctors will ask for your occupation early on medical forms, as everyone knows that occupation correlates highly with risk for certain diseases/conditions. as society becomes more specialized and new jobs functions are created, the number of genders increases a thousandfold. at some point along the line, people start talking about how inefficient this whole gender thing is. “that’s ridiculous!” says michael from your bio 101 class. “your gender is based on biology! people can’t just choose to be good mechanical engineers, pamela! they’re born that way.”

“gender” based on vocal range. you are either a soprano, an alto, a tenor, or a bass. in such a society, music would be ubiquitous and quasi-religious in nature. the traditional family structure would include four parents, one of each vocal range. “you can’t just marry three other tenors!” your grand-soprano says, shocked and horrified. “how will you participate in family choir time? what if you have a soprano? who will teach sopranoself how to sing? think of your children, darryl!”  entire tumblr accounts are created to support the liberation of tone deaf people, and everyone calls them social justice warriors.

no gender. no one gives a crap what your genitalia looks like. no one tells you that you should stay home and raise the children because of x, or that you must like monster trucks because of y. everyone wears dresses sometimes, because let’s be honest, it’s a lot easier than matching a top with a pair of pants when you’re already running 10 minutes late to your 8:00am lecture.

because in each of these situations, there is less focus on biological reproductive mechanisms, it is totally normal for people with similar genitalia to get hitched. as such, there are considerably fewer barriers to adoption. surrogacy is a well respected occupation. monogamy is not necessarily the norm. the nuclear family as we know it doesn’t exist.

so yeah, speculative fiction writers out there, please give me some cool fictional societies. especially you, sci fi, i am fucking tired of all these alien cultures adhering to the western gender system.

anyways, i hope this post has impressed upon you the ultimate arbitrariness of the male/female gender dichotomy. it was not handed down to humankind on a stone tablet engraved by charles darwin. so you might as well fucking respect people’s gender identities, whatever they may be. (this is a general you, not directed at anon, btw)