#designating duet

[uwmspeccoll]

It’s Fine Press Friday!

Today we feature work from Claire Van Vliet’s (b. 1933) legendary Janus Press. Designating Duet was designed and printed by Van Vliet in West Burke, Vermont in 1989, in a limited edition of one hundred and seventy-five copies and features two poems by Sandra McPherson (1943-2024): Putting Your Name in Your Blues and Names Not on Quilts. The quilt motif is built through Van Vliet’s trademark interwoven concertina structure, and printed on Fabriano paper as well as handmade papers by Katie MacGregor. Mary Richardson and Judi Conant built the solander boxes; Tamar Thorne and Id Kohl completed the cutting. The type, set by Nancy Southworth, is Weiss bold. The colophon, appropriately, is signed by everyone involved – “in friendship.”

Both poems consider the power of names – names voiced in song, thereby enchanted with “new intimacy” and those unsewn in the intricate artistry of quilts: “Would it be like / scratching your name / in your own garden? — / notarizing leaves?” This is the second of three works by McPherson published by Janus. Van Vliet designed 1985’s Floralia, and 1995’s Beauty in Use. A publisher herself, McPherson founded Swan Scythe Press in Sunnydale, California with fellow poet Walter Pavich. McPherson died last August, at the age of eighty-one.

This book comes to us from the collection of Jerry Buff (1931-2025).

Check out other posts about Claire Van Vliet and Janus Press!

See another book featuring MacGregor’s handmade papers!

See more Women’s History Month posts!

--Amanda, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[hylianane]

The most homoerotically charged scene in the Death Note franchise is not the feet washing scene you guys, you freaks and fools, it’s this moment from the musical

[yudol-skorbi]

well i could not left Tary out

[smallredrobin13games]

My new game, Heart of the Cards, is now available!

It's an epistolary game using affirmations inspired by YuGiOh, please check it out.

This was actually a commission I did a few years back, I only just got around to releasing it now.

I have no idea how to market this game so any effort to boost it would be greatly appreciated.

[silverorchideon]

As per @angstenthusiast encouraging me, I drew some fanart for @wildkratts99 Disney AU!

This was made really quickly, but I think I'm proud of it!

[archonfurina]

Duet Night Abyss: Zhiliu

[clegfly]

I had a vision…

[0rbwitch]

this mech has a ghost in it

i made a game! it's a hack of This Discord Has Ghosts In It by @goodluckpress for 2 players: a mech pilot and a ghost

it's a first draft but tbh i'm super proud of it

[arcane-strangeness]

MY DUET PARTNER JUST SENT ME THIS HELP

(they're lying his choreo for routines INCREDIBLE. We both can't wait for the season to start)

[magazine-number-1-fan]

The Cigarette Duet

more venting? how nice of me :3!!

@star-dust78

[betty-burnout]

rewatching Wicked and just picked this up:

When little Elphie is telling her sister the story of the Wizard, she says that, "if you meet him, he'll grant you your heart's desire." Later, in the OzDust ballroom, when Morrible gives her a magic wand, and Galinda says, "it is my heart's desire to become a sorceress."

[catcatb0y]

Honestly though saying (or implying) that vocaloid or vocal synths in general "devalues the human voice" is SUCH an incredibly shit take for SO many reasons.

Like yeah Saki Fujita getting so many other roles in voice acting because of her contribution to Hatsune Miku (the anime cameos and stuff are usually done with her original voice, them modified to be robotic) is a bit of an outlier when most other vocaloid and sythns don't have that influence.

You can even sort of wave off the dozens upon dozens of people who go for realistic tuning- like whenever a synth has any sort of clarity, there are like five people commenting about how real they sound. Clearly people do still care about human sounding vocals, because they go nuts over realistic vtuning.

There are many different aspects of vocaloid that use human voices, too- from Set It Off's duet "Why Do I?", human rap artists using Miku's vocals as background, and the entire CONCEPT of Project Sekai which releases AND COMMISSIONS songs for vocal synths and real people.

But the sheer number of vocaloid producers who use their own vocals as back up (MikitoP, PinoochioP, and I believe Kira off the top of my head), the number of producers who can sing and/or do self covers (again Kira, GIGA, Ayase, Teniwoha, syudou and so many more), and the amount of vocal producers who have gone forward with legit musical careers after working with vocaloid (Kenshi Yonezu, most notably, who did work for years under the alias Hachi)

I mean, hell. There are vocaloid producers who go on to become vocaloid vocals themselves- like nostraightanswer, the vocal provider for DEX, who has made both vocaloid and original songs. Some even duets.

That's not even including creators like JubyPhonic, Rachie, Will Stenson, Lollia, Octavia, Razzy and Co., and SO many other HUMAN cover artists who gained following or honed their skills on none other than vocaloid covers. (And that's just a handful of English Cover artists, not like Sati Akura a Russian cover artist or Ado who has commissioned songs from vocaloid artists)

It's also not including UTAUites who input their own voices to use for covers.

"Devalues the human voice" is such blatant bs. They ARE human voices. They are OUR voices. "You'd think by now that we would have learned, behind every piece if art is a human to be heard." (- CircusP, 'Better Off Worse')

[pandiongames]

Badger + Coyote Phone Wallpapers

We had a backer ask for phone wallpapers of the Badger + Coyote illustrations. So we made some up free to use! Available in both with and without the B+C Logo!

[nightynite]

bundle of monster and character designs!

[gonegrove]

I'm in some kind of brainrot rn thanks to starting to play the Hades game and now all I can think about is Heather and Eddie both being Greek Myth Girlies and composing the Orpheus-Eurydice song(s) and singing the duet as professional artists. Like hard pop (for lack of a better term) singer Heather and lead guitar/singer metal guy Eddie singing this shit together in an MV/at a liveshow/On MTV bc plot twist they've known each other their whole lives and are also dating.

They're all the same song but 2 solos and the duet time stamps:

00:00 - Eurydice 02:52 - Orpheus 05:45 - Duet

[superthatguy62]

Onion Knight & Ingus: Scarlet Duet

(No, it won't be 2.5D. If it even happens.)

With the New Year incoming, I have decided to undertake a different project from the usual Fanfics and such for 2024: I've decided to make a fangame. Or at least a demo.

The loose pitch can be found under the Read More.

Scarlet Duet concepts

(NOTES: Regarding 2.5D and 2D: I had considered the possibility of making the game 2.5D (ala Octopath Traveler or Star Ocean but with less bloom) in Godot. However, the OO map I tried to load did not load correctly (or rather, I did not know how to apply the textures and such) + my general inexperience with 3D led me, for simplicity’s sake, to go with full-on 2D. However, I won’t totally write off the possibility yet.)

Storyline:

A Thief named Gilgamesh has been eyeing the legendary arms of each of the kingdoms. With Argus and Saronia's weapons stolen, Princess Sara is determined to not let Sasune's Wightslayer get taken. However, while dealing with the thief, a Torsion opens, pulling Gilgamesh, Sara, Onion Knight and Ingus into the Interdimensional Rift: The gap between in-between dimensions that is easy to get banished to, but difficult to return from. They end up in the Interdimensional Castle under the control of a man named "Ryu". From there, Onion Knight and Ingus have two objectives: Retrieve Wightslayer and the other Royal Arms from Gilgamesh and find a means of escaping the Interdimensional Rift.

Gameplay Loop:

Simple: Ingus & Onion Knight + Guests: Parties consist of Two-usually of Ingus and Onion Knight. Sara can be called upon for bonus attacks/abilities. Further party members can temporarily be summoned by Manikin Crystals when the respective character’s [Memory] is gained: Some come from spirits wandering the Rift while others come from Onion Knight and Ingus’ previous lives.

Onion Knight and Ingus’ movesets can be influenced in two ways: Materia and Styles.

Materia is equipped before entering a Sector and can be used to preload commands onto Ingus and Onion Knight.

Styles can be applied during battle as an evoker effect. These change Onion Knight and Ingus’ list of commands to be based on whatever character they drew upon (think Command Decks from KH BBS)

Summons come in different forms for different types: Phantom Summons are the traditional FF summons such as Bahamut, Ifrit, Shiva, etc. These have the same effects as in FF3: Black, White and Summon effects. Memory Summons are slightly different: They have three effects depending on the level:

- Level 1: The memory uses a special ability. Drains the gauge 3/4ths of the way.

- Level 2: A Style is applied to either Ingus or Onion Knight based on that character. Drains the gauge halfway.

- Level 3: The character based on the Memory is summoned as a party member. Lasts for a number of turns (?) or until KO. Drains the gauge entirely.

Main Cast:

Onion Knight: One of the two main party members, a boy who feels he has much to prove. Sometimes he’s a smart alack, other times he’s a grouch, But deep down, he’s just a boy who wishes to prove himself… and one who is less certain of his own existence than he cares to admit.

Ingus: The second of the two party members, a soldier who serves Castle Sasune. He has been devoted to the crown his entire life. Normally, this works out well enough. However, as of late he desires to take a sabbatical to his home town of Falgabard to study Dark Blades. Naturally, this conflict eats away at him inside and he has no idea of how to properly break this to his superiors (namely Sara) either. The whole “getting lost in-between dimensions” thing is not helping too, even as he vows to get Sara back home come hell or highwater.

Sara: The Princess of Sasune, Sara decides to take an active role in apprehending the thief stealing weapons from kingdoms. This backfires, as her impulsiveness leads her to leap right into a Torsion, sending her (and Ingus and Onion Knight) into the Interdimensional Rift. While she knows that there’s no way Ingus and Onion Knight would allow her to get to heavily involved, she is still determined to help however she can. And while the possibility of never seeing her kingdom again frightens her, she is intrigued by all of the new places to see.

Gilgamesh: The major antagonist. He’s a goofy figure who acts like a renowned fighter sword collector. Despite his comical atmosphere, he is surprisingly competent in battle and his hunger for it speaks to how dangerous he can be. Gilgamesh initially appears in Sasune to steal the Wightslayer, to go with the Royal Sword and Gungir before being swallowed by a Torsion. He ends up locking himself into the inner sanctum of Ryu’s castle and his repeated run-ins with the duo make it clear that he’s trying to get out of it just as badly as they’re trying to get in. Still, he won’t just hand over the weapons without a fight.

“Ryu”: A mysterious figure who claims to own the castle that Onion Knight, Ingus and Sara find themselves in. He describes himself as a fellow adventurer who merely wishes to see the world as others see it. However, there is much more to Ryu than meets the eye...

Emperor of Saronia: A former ruler of Saronia who found himself within the Rift. He claims to be working on a project that can open a door back to the heroes’ world, although he needs Ingus and Onion Knight’s co-operation to do so.

[REDACTED]: ???

A Brief List of Commands:

Attack: Attacks.

Magic: Allows Ingus and Onion Knight to cast Magic.

Items: Allows Ingus and Onion Knight to use an item.

Jump: Onion Knight or Ingus leaps into the air. After some time, he crashes down on the enemy.

Technique: Uses a particular attack with an added effect, such as the Break line.

Drink: Allows for the drinking of Tonics, Drinks, and other such items

Item Lore: Doubles the effectiveness of an item.

Darkness: Applies self-damage to hit all targets with Dark damage.

And much more.

Worlds:

The Dimensional Castle more than lives up to its name this time around. Various wings of the castle contain the ‘Memory’ of different worlds, creating facsimilies of them.

(Theoretically differs between 2.5 and 2D, Different Worlds will be noted as such)

World 0: Sasune (Grasslands + Castle + Interdimensional Rift)

World 1: Cornelia (Grasslands + Ruins)

World 2: Demon (Castle ExDeath + Pandemonium)

World 3: Ruin (Sky Castle + Ronka)(2D)

World 3: Reactor (Insomnia + Reactor)(2.5D)

World 4: Lunar (Moon + Cavern + Baron Castle)

World 5: Machine (Owen’s Tower + Fire-Powered Ship + Dreadnaught)(2D)

World 5: Ruins (Ronka + Owen)(2.5D)

World 6: Chaos (World of Darkness + Interdimensional Rift + Chaos Shrine)

World 7: Bonus

Bosses:

Gilgamesh (+ Enkidu)/Shin Gilgamesh

Emperor/Hell Arisen Emperor

Xande + Doga (Transformed) + Unei (Transformed)

Golbez + Shadow Dragon

Kaiser Dragon

[REDACTED]

[REDACTED]

And much more.

Reports:

Papers scattered across the Ryu’s castle. These papers describe events that are going on in the background of the main game. Collecting all of them may unlock areas or bosses.

“Ryu’s Reports”: Reports written from Ryu’s perspective. These detail Ryu’s thoughts and wanderings.

[REDACTED]: Effectively Ryu’s Reports after a certain point. They detail what is truly going on.

“Arc’s Journal”: Pages of Arc’s journal which somehow end up in the rift. These detail what has happened since Sara, Onion Knight and Ingus’ disappearance and Luneth, Arc and Refia's efforts to find them.

“Saronia Missives”: Pages of Reports by an unknown third party with a connection to Saronia. These detail the nature of the Rift, among other things.

Other elements to consider:

Dungeons (Map-style? God forbid, SaGa Unlimited style?)

Battle System finer points (enemy health, Octopath sytle weakness/break system?, more later).

How many characters?

Enemies & Bosses and how they fight.

Again: All of this is more akin to a pitch than anything. I still need to learn the engine I'm targeting (Godot) as well as struggling with general inexperience and impatience. Maybe one day this'll be a full-fledged thing. Or maybe I'll fizzle out before even getting a prototype finished. We'll see.

And SE owns all the assets, characters, etc etc.