#will forever be my favorite character probably

[deep-hearts-core]

The Competitive Barbershop Music Explainer, and Why More of Tumblr Should Be Obsessed With It.

I've been threatening this for now almost a year, so here it is. You probably have an idea in your head of what a barbershop quartet is: maybe you’ve seen The Music Man, or possibly the Louie Zong Hatsune Miku song. But barbershop exists as a hobby these days, too, and there are parts of it that are deeply cool and nerdy. Some of you--gasp--might actually enjoy it. 

What the hell is barbershop music?

Barbershop music got its name from the Black barbershop social space out of which it evolved. In the early 20th century, groups of guys would get together and harmonize as a way to pass the time. The style later got appropriated into white culture (I’m going to come back to this, keep reading) and evolved into what most people think of when they hear the phrase “barbershop quartet”. 

Barbershop got a lot less popular after the 1960s or so, but it’s not gone! Today, it’s overseen primarily by the Barbershop Harmony Society (formerly the Society and Preservation for Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, but… that’s long…), which organizes contests and codifies the “rules” of what barbershop is and how it’s different from other a cappella. Those rules are mostly music theory stuff, which I won’t go into here for fear of boring people, but if anyone is curious my askbox is open :D 

It’s not just quartets, either. There are also choruses that sing in the same four-part style, following the same music rules as the quartets, and they compete too. This is how I got involved.

Why is Tumblr supposed to enjoy this?

Reason #1: The competition. I’ve been on Tumblr for several years, and do you know what we love? Ranking things, picking favorites, and watching talented people do their thing. It’s actually kind of similar to Eurovision--there’s a jury and a points system, and people get mad about it every year; there’s a qualifying round and a nerve-wracking calloff; it’s even international! BHS operates in the US and Canada, and most competing groups are from here, but there are sizable scenes in the UK, Sweden, Australia, and Aotearoa, as well as smaller organizations across Western Europe and beyond. The Japanese organization held its first ever competition this year! Regional contests happen all over once or twice a year, culminating in the international competition the first week of July, where quartets and choruses battle it out to be the best of the best. People have favorite groups and try to guess where people are going to place each year. If you’re me, you can even do the Eurovision fan thing and overanalyze the running order. 

Reason #2: The talent. Listen, many of these people are incredibly talented singers. Take The Clementones from Denmark, for example, who delivered amazing Addams Family character work this year. Or Smoke Ring, the New York City-based quartet trying to singlehandedly make barbershop sexy again. I could give you so many examples of singers who can hold long notes forever and ever, but I’ll show restraint and only link two: Vocal Spectrum and Midtown. And of course I have to link this fucking amazing Hunchback of Notre Dame medley. Many singers also arrange songs specifically for their own groups. If you’re a music nerd in any way, this is for you.

Also, if you enjoy niche subcultures or #hobbydrama, there’s so much to rotate in your brain. This is part of what hooked me initially. 

But it's racist/culturally appropriated!

Well, you’re not wrong… but so are a lot of things. Bear with me for a second. I'm not going to come out and blindly defend the history and say oh there's nothing wrong with the organization we can't blame them. The organization was segregated for a long time. Women were only allowed to join as full members in 2018. The Black origins of barbershop singing were actively obscured by SPEBSQSA for decades and have only recently become well-known to most members. Hell, when the BHS went co-ed a splinter organization formed to try and keep the hobby all-male. There is bad history.

BUT. People are trying. There's a sizable contingent of young queer people who do well and become well-connected within BHS--including Smoke Ring, who I linked above. They’re causing a nonzero amount of controversy and are visibly queer and something new and unapologetic about that. More and more nonwhite people are joining and finding success competitively. Academics on the subject actively spread the history that barbershop is a Black genre, and this is increasingly common knowledge especially among young barbershoppers. The most successful barbershoppers in Aotearoa (BHNZ) are predominantly Māori and Pasifika. The BHS board, while they do not have any real understanding about how to execute this at all, does at least want to reckon with the history and is, in theory, trying. For all its many, many faults, there are good people here who are making change.

Ok fine, you've got me. Now what?

Go click on all the links in this post and then let the YouTube algorithm do its work. Also, send me asks! I can go on about this shit forever and ever.

Here are some more suggestions for you:

the chorus performance that first got me interested

Panic! at the Disco but it’s barbershop

these guys also do Spiderman! 

girls who will step on you and you will like it

the air raid warden song from that one tumblr post

air raid warden guys sing about ducks

totally not never gonna give you up. what? what are you talking about?

the first ssaa group to medal in bhs have since changed their lineup but this performance reigns eternal

And if you like to sing, see if there's a chorus (click here for SSAA only) or chapter nearby. I won't get preachy and say you'll have a great experience no matter what. Sometimes people suck; I have the luck to live in a major city on the East Coast and I can say with reasonable confidence that not everyone is going to be as chill as my people are. However, this is such a small space that everyone will be excited about a new person coming in and will likely give you a little leeway. 

I've only been doing this for a year and a half, but I can easily say that I love it and it's changed me. So, even if you scrolled to the bottom of this post rolling your eyes because I should just shut up about this already, thanks for listening. <3

[creatingblackcharacters]

been hyperfixated on her for months so i have to submit tashi duncan for the favorite Black characters challenge!! she is THE main character of challengers 2024 (regardless of what anyone says) and i absolutely adore her. she's complex, self-driven, determined to do what she thinks is necessary for herself and the people she loves. much has been written on how overlooked and underrated she is already - in a movie where she IS the central driving force and as i said THE man character!! - so i won't get into that, but i love every aspect of her: the way she never escapes the worst moment of her life, how fame and being watched plays into her character (dont get me started on how her Blackness and specifically her Black womanhood affects this as well), her tenderness as a mother, her ferocity as a sports professional, her sexiness and the way she owns it, her closeness with her family.... she's everything!!!!! and, as someone who also will probably never be able to work in the career i love dearly ever again due to disability, i obviously imprinted onto her instantly upon watching the movie..... tashi duncan love of my life i could write essays about her. MY FOREVER GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That movie had two mediocre looking white men canonically kissing, Tashi never stood a chance in fandom 🤣😭

I haven't seen the movie, but from what I've read about Tashi, I'm glad she is the way she is. We're not used to seeing "arrogant" Black women on screen, ones that own who they are, ones that are in control. Everyone likes to pull the "STEP ON ME MOMMY" energy with Black women, until they finally get one that is willing to step down instead of coddle and then SUDDENLY.... Crickets. So good for her. I hope she ragdolls them white men around and they follow her like devoted poodles on leashes.

[disposal-blueeee]

VARGASTOBER - day 5 : devi d .

[paimonial-rage]

My favorite works in no particular order:

Tipsy Tales (Anemo Boys)

Symbiosis (Ayato)

What Destiny Has Brought (Fischl)

Hello How Are You (Gorou)

Follow the Wind II (Kazuha)

Of the Same Coin (Mika)

Songs of the Wind (Venti)

Nothing Lasts Forever (Yae Miko)

Sharing a Drink They Call Loneliness (Zhongli)

Of Hopes and Prayers (Zhongli)

[hoshizoralone]

How did you first get into Nier? And who is your favorite character(s) in each game?

was over at a friend’s house early summer in 2016 and they asked “do you want to play a game about a hot single dad” and that’s how it all started.

my favs are dad nier, yonah, weiss, a2, and 6o :) here is a bad picture of my dad nier shrine on my bookshelf

[pikayay213]

yeah okay. played the epilogue. my merry band of friends and heroes had some tragic undertones but damn. i almost cried. like three times. ok wow yeah. baldur's gate 3 my favorite game now and for all time unbeatable forever

[pensive-and-cringey]

Awe shit. I just heard about the forever situation. Thats...dammit. I really enjoyed him as a creator and as a part of the qsmp, as well as his character.

I haven't been keeping up with streams lately but I do love qsmp, and I hope the project and the creators can find a way forward

[theflowerofthecommonwealth]

Fallout 4 Companions as Miis

I attempted to transform the companions into Mii characters. I did by best to make sure they all looked different while making sure to stay as true to their original designs as much as possible.

Let me know what you think.

MacCready: I really love his face, the little squiggly smile I gave him is adorable for some reason. Little rat guy, precious.

Piper: The first time I made her she looked too timid and generic. So I made sure to put some more reporters determination in her face during the second try.

Deacon: Smooth spy egg who was the easiest and fastest. If you remove the glasses he looks like One Punch Man lol.

Danse: His mouth would not cooperate with me. It kept moving in the two photos until I made one higher than the other between screenshots.

X6-88: I tried to make him as intimidating as possible, and I think I got it pretty good. Imagine boxing against him in Wii sports or putting him up against the famous Matt.

Curie: I wanted to give her bright eyes filled with optimism and a huge smile cause she’s happy to see you. :)

Cait: Honestly, I really like her hair here I feel like it fits her perfectly. She has a little smirk and a happier look because I’m tired of her being angry all the time. Let the woman have some peace!!!

Preston: I wanted to make him look very friendly but at the same time if I tweaked his mouth and eyebrows he could have a mean face for fighting raiders.

Old Longfellow: All the hair they had felt too young and crisp. He’s a crusty shaggy old man, I tried my best with what I had.

Gage: I am not a Gage person at all, I barely travel with him and he gets killed every playthrough. But I still tried my best cause I know some people like him. He’s wearing orange because it’s a prison uniform.

Jasmine: I made her so smol and squishable! She’s so freaking cute! LOOK AT HER LITTLE FACE!!! I just wanna scoop her up and swing her around but she’ll probably maul me if I do.

[gammarads]

i love hawks as a character and i love how he interacts with Other characters especially endeavor. i love their relationship and the way hawks comes off almost like an airhead and it pisses enji off meanwhile hawks is doing this super secret investigation right under his nose and then endeavor ends up being the only person hawks feels like he can trust with information about the PLF and obviously that kinda reframes hawks and endeavor's entire relationship because now endeavor is finding out hawks isn't at all who he thought he was and i just Love it okay? but as much as i love him i can't ever look past the stuff with twice. i think it was a bit easier in the anime cause it didn't hit as hard (although i still cried there too lmao) but in the manga it feels so much more visceral and i just cantttttt. i know he saw the good in twice and ultimately advocated for trying to get him out of there and i know he Tried and tried and tried and there just wasn't anything he could really do at that point but Ugh. it's just so sad 😭 like as much as i like hawks, my sympathy for twice overpowers literally any justification i can make for hawks. i know hawks didn't want to kill him and i know he did probably all he could in that moment (although who knows im maybe just saying that bc i like him lmao) but i just wish he'd done more :( i don't even know what that would look like but i wish it had played out differently. i guess im glad that if twice were to face any hero at all, that it was hawks instead of someone who couldn't see the good and humanity in him despite his status as a villain.

[theotherackerman]

BG3 Spoilers I guess?

But the hug scene with Astarion is my absolute favorite because it's such a soft moment and it's a hug with nothing else attached expect that you care and it kills me that's that is the first contact Astarion has had that is that and I just have a lot of emotions about that.

[scattered-winter]

[pagesofkenna]

one of my favorite Dimension 20 lines, still think about constantly, is "My fiancee doesn't really do art." "Oh, I agree."

[braisedhoney]

So you said a while ago underfell was your favorite au before. Is that still true or?

Also who’s your favorite character from whatever au you like?

damn, you were around for that? :'D

yeah, underfell used to be my favorite! i think it was smth about being really edgy as a kid, or maybe it was because red was my favorite color. idk man, even now i gotta admit those designs slap really hard.

i'm not really sure if i have a favorite au now though. i do have some ideas for underfell that i like, but i think i see the appeal of most aus bc i just like making new scenarios.

i like the big three a lot (classic, fell, swap). sans is my favorite in classic (predictable i know) if you're not counting gaster, since he isn't technically a canon character. i like both fell paps and fell sans equally, and swap paps is cool. i'd be buddies with that guy.

(i also really like asgore in undertale. the tragedy of the grief-stricken ruler who kills even though it's against his nature for the freedom of his people but also because he's long past convinced he's in too deep is really compelling to me, and by proxy i'm interested in the theoretical stories of all the fallen humans including frisk. also the whole thing with their broken family and chara and—

—whoops the ask is about aus not canon lmao, sorry!)

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

When I was making my first trying-to-be-serious ocs it was in the start of the 2010s (and I mean the START, 2010-2012) and there was a big “anti Mary-sue” movement on deviantart (the website I spent half my internet time on and was posting my art on) and I liked to make my character designs pretty extra (although compared to modern stuff they look pretty normal) so I started to get self-conscious. At the time though I was watching soul eater (and there was another thing I’m forgetting and it’s really frustrating me) and I saw that it was popular with a cool art style and the characters were extra AF, so I was like “okay. Maybe, as long as I can draw my character often and consistently it doesn’t matter if they are wild!” and you know what? Early teen me was RIGHT. Not about many things, but about this in particular she was!

[shoechoe]

Not to gush too much about Pucci's appearance on here, but since I reblogged that poll, ngl a lot of the time when I was reading the manga I just stopped to stare at him in some panels because he was so pretty (even if his hair was weird). Like idk just look at him

I really adore the way his eyes look in particular- especially the early panels where it looks like they have stars in them.

[lesbiradshaw]

I really miss your Stucky fanfics. I hope you write them again someday. Are you not into them anymore? That’s totally okay if you aren’t. Or maybe you have just moved on to another ship? It happens. We miss you though in the Stucky world. I hope you come back someday. Sending love from your writing fans

hiiiiii. sending love back always <3

to be completely honest and answer a couple of anons i’ve gotten about this: i do still ship them and i will always love them (i still talk about them on a daily basis in dms… i will never abandon my roots) but i took a break from writing them for a couple of reasons. one of them being that of all the ships/fandoms i’ve written for, mcu/stevebucky is the one that i’ve gotten the most most discouraging amount of feedback from. which to an extent, i get, because the ao3 tag is pretty consistently updated with new stuff, but when the rare comments you get are consistently made up of passive aggressive complains from people upset you didn’t cater to their every whim with YOUR OWN STORY… well! but the main reason i took a break was because i feel like the longer we go without new content, the more people seem to devolve from who the characters actually are and what makes the ship special. no matter how many filters i add to ao3, every time i click on their tag i see something that makes me want to gouge my eyes out 😭 not to come off as dramatic but… yeah. i’d like to write again for them eventually but as of rn the fandom exhausts me more than it brings me any sense of enjoyment.