#tanner reed

[sugarcubesketches]

I like to think that karaoke is a team tradition

[justanothersuperheroblog]

Fencing High School Concert Band!AU

Ms. Williams used to be a trumpet player in a jazz band, and she won’t let you forget it. She’ll often make comments about how jazz’s improvisation and small scale make it more interesting than concert band. And yes, she still has a wall of things you can’t say, and she still makes her students do suicide runs. 

Phrases on Ms. Sally Williams’s wall of punishment include:

I forgot my music sheets

Jazz band is not better than concert band

I forgot my instrument

This song is too hard

I didn’t practice

I want a new roommate

And of course, everyone’s favorite:

Aiden dumped me

Seiji, Jesse, and Nicholas all play the alto saxophone. This is more for practical reasons than anything (since having them all play the same instrument makes the most sense given the type of rivalry they have), and I know saxophones are pretty well-suited to left-handed people like Nicholas and Jesse. It’s also an instrument that’s fairly easy for a beginner to pick up, so I think it would make sense for Nicholas to learn the basics of how to play it inside of a year.

Seiji and Jesse used to be in the same band, back in elementary/middle school. In auditions, Jesse would typically end up beating Seiji by a very narrow margin, but in their 8th grade year, they ended up tying and becoming co-section leaders after they both got perfect scores (yes, that’s possible, it happened once at my own school). Seiji thought that he had finally caught up to Jesse, that they were finally equals, and then they both went to a National Music Solo and Ensemble competition that Seiji ended up placing second in and. Well. You all know the rest.

Cut to one year later, and Seiji’s back in the US, competing in a Regional Music Solo and Ensemble competition while avoiding Jesse like the plague. He ended up meeting Nicholas because they ended up in adjacent slots, so Nicholas performed right before Seiji did. Nicholas says he hopes they have a great competition, Seiji rudely brushes him off and then beats by a huge margin, and their rivalry begins.

Ms. Williams ended up scouting Nicholas due to his fast fingers and impressive lung endurance, and he surprises everyone by getting second chair in the King’s Row band (as in, he beat every saxophone student in the audition other than Seiji).

Bobby is also an alto saxophone player, but the thing he stands out most for is his ability to compose and arrange music. For those of you who don’t know, music for alto saxophones is written in a different key than music for other instruments, because saxophones are Eb instruments, while most other instruments are either C or Bb. Arranging music for concert bands means you have to be able to “translate” music between these different keys, in addition to creating harmonies for instruments that play in higher and lower octaves. Sometimes he’ll take an iconic melody from a popular song, then build on it and turn it into something the entire band can play.

Harvard plays the clarinet. Every clarinetist I know has been fairly intelligent and level-headed, so the instrument suits him perfectly. He’s first chair and section leader (meaning that he’s the best clarinet player in the King’s Row band) and he has a habit of acting as a music tutor for other students in his spare time. He usually only tutors other clarinet players, but he ends up helping Nicholas to learn music terms he isn’t familiar with and bits of music shorthand he doesn’t recognize. (When Nicholas first comes to him asking what “andante” and “D.S. al coda” mean, Harvard is torn between excitement about being able to say he tutored someone who plays a completely different instrument than he does, and concern that Nicholas isn’t familiar with basic musical terms that Harvard learned back in 5th grade band.)

Eugene plays the trombone. He failed his audition his freshman year and barely made it into the band as a sophomore, but now that he’s a junior, he’s doing fairly well. He splits his time between band and the wrestling team, which is tough, but he manages to make it work.

Kally used to play the clarinet, but ended up switching to oboe just before starting his freshman year of high school. He was first chair/section leader during his junior year, but he ended up botching his audition his senior year, so he ended up being 3rd chair his senior year. He’s a good sport about it, but you can tell that he’s sad about not being a section leader anymore.

Tanner knows how to play both percussion and the trumpet, and Ms. Williams will have him switch roles depending on how many percussionists a piece needs.

Gian is both a fencer and a trumpet player in this au (we love a multitalented king). He still loves his flick.

Marcus Washington used to be a very talented saxophonist, but ended up quitting band after breaking his left hand in an accident. He came back for his senior year since his school band didn’t have any other saxophones. He’s still a pretty good saxophone player, but there are some notes he has trouble playing due to lingering damage to his hand.

Aiden is a flute player. Half the people in King’s Row’s flute section are just boys who learned to play flute in hopes of impressing Aiden and getting closer to him. Aiden’s also first chair/section leader, but he doesn’t take it nearly as seriously as Harvard does. He doesn’t really bother with the whole “leadership” thing, and he has a tendency to skip out on band rehearsals. He will practice with Harvard though, and you’ll often hear them playing duets together in their room. Sometimes Tanner and Kally will join them, and occasionally Bobby will drop by to ask them to help him test out a new piece of music he’s arranged. 

Dafna, Kenzie, and Marcel are also flute players, and this has resulted in several people making jokes about Harvard having a type. Half of the people Harvard’s dated weren’t even in band, let alone flute players, but for some reason, pointing this out never seems to accomplish much. At least one person has told Harvard that he should date Aiden, since Aiden is clearly Harvard’s type, and that became the first and only time that Aiden has ever punched another student. (Harvard thinks that Aiden decked that guy because he hated the idea of going out with Harvard. Aiden actually decked that guy because that guy was being a jerk to Harvard, and because he hated being reminded that Harvard doesn’t return his feelings. I love dramatic irony.)

The jokes get worse when Harvard and Aiden finally end up getting together. Harvard fully expects Aiden to get mad, but Aiden barely bats an eye at them. Harvard tries to be like “I promise I’m not dating you just because you’re a flute player” and Aiden actually bursts out laughing. And then kisses him. Just alternates between laughing and peppering him with kisses.

It takes years before Aiden actually tells Harvard why he punched that guy. And decades before he admits that he only joined band because he wanted to stay by Harvard's side.

[mooshedts]

day 1: favourite scene

felt like a curse to have to pick just one panel throughout the whole series, but i'm obsessed with kally's fencing sequence so i thought it’d be right to do this one because it's super cute.

first of all, they're so young!! they all look so tiny compared to the current timeline, you can definitely tell it was long ago, and the layout of the images resembling old photographs really gives it a “bittersweet memories” vibe.

also, each characters' personalities come out very strongly here. harvard bossing tanner around at the bake sale and being the photographer in their winning photo, aiden asleep on the bus and immersing himself in his phone at the bake sale (also love that he's throwing the peace signs in that last one), tanner giving his all at karaoke then falling asleep on the bus and who could forget the iconic kally “cheerleader” outfit, and kally reading on the bus and looking so delightfully welcoming at the bake sale.

you can definitely tell these are happy memories, even with their 17th place plaque they all look like it's a massive accomplishment for them and every photo radiates team energy, but it's kind of sad at the same time, as kally realises he can’t make those memories anymore.

@johanna-the-goat

[scottishgremlin]

might i request some kally/tanner content... perhaps them doing their separate hobbies together... or studying at the same time and having wildly different approaches to it 🤔🤔

we’re criminals and boring (302 words)

“Oh no you don’t, I’m going to fucking pulverise you,” Tanner mutters towards the screen, tapping angrily at the controller in his hand.

Chuckling, Kally looks up from his book to see Tanner’s character on screen battling two other characters. He fires a shot from his weapon and it hits its mark, killing one of the other characters.

A satisfied expression arises on Tanner’s face as the door to the clubhouse creaks open.

“Hey Tanner, Kally,” Nicholas greets them. “Just grabbing Seiji’s hoodie. If I can find it,” he adds, looking around the room. “Otherwise he’s going to kill me.”

“Aww,” Tanner says, eyes still locked on his game, fingers moving deftly. “So romantic.”

Kally sees Nicholas visibly flush bright red. “Shut up,” Nicholas snaps, though still amicable. “Isn’t Kally bored? You’re not engaging with him at all.”

A laugh leaves Kally’s mouth before he can stop it. Him, bored, doing one of his favourite hobbies while his best friend and boyfriend engaged in an interest of his own? Sharing the same space and each other’s company while not having to actively entertain each other?

Nicholas couldn't have it more wrong.

“I’m having the time of my life,” Kally says sincerely. Somehow, Nicholas seems to get it, and grins at him.

“I’m happy for you,” he says to the two of them, as he continues to rummage around before finally holding up a Kings Row hoodie in victory. “Aha!”

Having finished the level of the game he was on, Tanner sets his controller down and gives Nicholas a round of applause as Nicholas scuttles away.

He looks over at Kally, and they make eye contact.

“I’m also having the time of my life,” Tanner says.

Kally smiles. “I’m not, but I would love to be bored with you. Anytime. All the time.”

[rake-rattrap]

happy pride month here’s my pride headcanons for every fence character I can remember off the top of my head happy pickings (not a single straight character in fence btw)

⭐️ credit to @aquazero, @zerowhy and @aretheyqueer for the dividers!! ⭐️

Also I swear to god Lewis’ first name is Alexandria. I have no proof for this I just feel it in my bones

Nicholas Cox- bisexual

Seiji Katayama- gay/mlm, agender/apagender, demisexual

Aiden Kane- gay/mlm, demiromantic

Harvard Lee- omnisexual

Eugene Labao- pansexual, transmasculine

Sally Williams- lesbian

Alexandria Lewis- queer

Jesse Coste- internalized homophobia final boss. But in actuality: pansexual/panromantic, gray aroace, and queerplatonic

Kally Jenkins- bisexual

Tanner Reed- bisexual, genderqueer

Bobby Rodriguez- unlabeled

Dante Rossi- pansexual

Marcel Berre- bigender, unlabeled

Thomas Leventis- demiboy

Aster Leventis- straight… cis… m- man… ally!

Scott Langtree- gay/mlm

Sungchul Park- aroace

Gian Torres- omnisexual, nonbinary

Stefano “Van” Remo- aromantic

and no more flags for me I hit the limit :( OH WELL MIGHT AS WELL FINISH THEM OFF

Kyle Allen- queer but soooo much internalized homophobia

Arune Singh- knowledge of arune’s gender is a privilege I have not yet earned. He did not go to college for 4 years for a major in mother and a minor in serving cunt for me to just know these things (I really like arune can you tell)

Dafna- bisexual, transfeminine

Adrienne- lesbian

Delaney (unnamed girls team girl 1)- omnisexual, genderfluid

Kaliyah (unnamed girls team girl 2)- panromantic, asexual

[sometimeswritingsometimesdying]

i’d love to see your take on the kally/tanner of it all! they’re so special to me

semi-sweet (751)

"Do you think," Tanner begins, from his desk, "That it's possible to explode a computer with your thoughts?"

Kally looks up from his textbooks. The integrals had started swimming in front of his eyes a while ago, a mess of theory he hadn't untangled yet. "Hm?"

"Because—" Tanner jams a finger against the backspace key of his laptop. "Because, if I get another compile-time error on this fucking program I'm going to do it."

"You're going to—"

"Explode the computer with my mind, or—" Tanner hit the backspace harder, "Throw it out the window, or— or I don't fucking know, set it on fire, whatever—"

His cheeks were reddening, his mouth was sporting a grimace, and lines of code were being deleted on his screen with worrisome velocity.

Kally got up silently and headed to his side as ridiculous things kept spouting from his mouth. It wasn't far— they'd set their desks up on the same side of the room, to be close when they worked on projects together, or studied long hours, or, simply, just to be close.

They worked well together, generally.

Kally sets a gentle hand on Tanner's shoulder, who tenses up and then melts into the touch, quieting down. "I don't think setting it on fire will help with the compiling."

Tanner groans, hands coming to rub at his face, and Kally takes the opportunity to move his laptop over to take a look himself. It's a long project, for one of Tanner's coding classes that he took on as an elective. He hadn't mentioned struggling with it before, but Tanner had a bad habit of exploding first and trying to work through things second.

Kally reads through the more-than-a-few comments on the file.

// Why is this not working

// what the fukc why is this not working????

// fix later

// FIX LATER!!!!!!!

// stopped working for some reason fml

A smile came to his face before he could stop it, and Tanner huffed in embarrassment.

"Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not making fun of you," he scrolls back to the spot Tanner had been working on, long lines of a language he wasn't very well versed in jumbled before him. He had the barest grasp he needed on coding, but he didn't like it, and had never bothered to look further into it like Tanner had. "I wouldn't know how to do this. I'm just admiring the work."

Tanner's head lolls away from him, sour smile on his face, eyebrows pinched together. Kally knows that face well, and he had never liked it. "You'd be able to do it. If you, like, sat down and learned it. You're actually smart. I can't even—"

He leans back in his chair with a noise of angered despair, and rubs at his face again, then brings his hands up to tug at his hair. His eyes remain shut, and Kally knows it's because Tanner got teary-eyed when he was really, really frustrated. When he was angry at himself, mostly.

Kally's voice came out soft, maybe softer than he meant. "You're not stupid."

"I—"

"You're not. Stop telling yourself you are." Tanner huffs again, in a manner that sounds entirely unconvinced, but makes no comment, so Kally goes on. "This is— hard stuff, you know?"

"You wouldn't know."

Kally knows what he means, even if the statement is rough— and it's true. He likes math and art and history but never got along well with computers, much less coding. He might not know the standard against which Tanner was measuring himself, but he knew his best friend, and he knew he was often unfairly harsh on himself. And on others. But often on himself.

He pushes the laptop back in front of him.

"Not the point. You are capable of figuring this out," he taps his fingers against the wood of the table, pretending to think. "But maybe a break could help?"

Tanner looks up at him, finally. He appears unguarded, like he never really was around others, and Kally loves that about him. Everyone thought him a hard pill to swallow, and they weren't entirely wrong, but Kally knew that all it took was some patience, and he'd sweeten up quickly.

His roommate's face twists as he fights the sweetening, like he always did, but he acquiesces anyway. "We've still got some of your moms' chocolates?"

Kally smiles. "For, and I quote, moments of profound crisis."

Tanner tilts his head and grins. Kally finds himself a little weak at the sight.

[kwockwoc]

the side-eye guys

[nichoji]

My friend asked me to post this here because she loved it! Hope you like it too <3