#new york counterpoint

[iowadream]

Cover of bars 8-41 of Steve Reich's "New York Counterpoint." Prerecorded clarinets 1-6 are shifted down 2 octaves and are played by an acid bass max patch of mine. Prerecorded clarinets 7-10 are played by a 7th order supersaw max patch I developed. The live clarinet is shifted down 2 octaves and played by a microbrute patched to imitate an acid bass.

I got like 80-90% of the way through finishing making this track before I got kinda bored of it. This was really meant as a recording workflow/synthesis exercise, and while I'm unsure if I'm ever going to return to this again, I figured I might as well post it here. As per usual, let me know if you want access to any stems from this and I'll email them to you.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

meanwhile, some quotes about the material:

The "musical within a musical" is about a ramshackle theater troupe haphazardly putting on a show destined for Broadway in exchange for doing chores around the farm. People fall in and out of love throughout the process, all while the city folk comically struggle with the country life. Emmy-winning writer Cheri Steinkellner was given one mandate, however: "No tractor," she laughed on the phone just weeks before the show was set to begin previews. "They were adamant about that. And there's a tractor in the movie. There's a tractor in almost every scene. It's in many ways about a tractor. But I was told absolutely no tractor." [...] "We're all working on this like we're on an actual summer stock schedule. Art imitates life imitates art. It's just go, go, go. And I couldn't be prouder of our cast, and our Jane and Joe," Steinkellner, who is also a Golden Globe winner, said. Her writing partner also happens to be her husband Bill. "Our 'Summer Stock' is more 'inspired by' than adaptation. There are four songs included from the original film that you can't not do. But the new songs are the best of the old songs. The secret sauce was the great American Songbook." She said "It Had To Be You" is one of the classics audiences can expect.  

[source: ‘High School Musical’s’ Corbin Bleu makes his Goodspeed debut in ‘Summer Stock’]

So, how different is the musical Summer Stock from the movie? It feels like a whole new animal, even though we’ve borrowed some elements from the movie. It is still, first and foremost, a love letter to the theater; it’s about this group of players who come to a farm to put on a show. So many numbers are how they get into farming through performance! We also still focus on how Joe and his partner Phil [played by Gilbert L. Bailey II] fight to get the show on its feet, and how Joe helps his eventual love interest Jane [played by Danielle Wade] find her inner performer. But a lot has changed from the film, including some of the relationships. We have a brilliant new writer, Cheri Steinkellner, who has dropped in a lot of nods to why we love musical theater. We have Veanne Cox as Orville’s mother, who is the new “villain” of the piece. And we’ve added a lot of music, such as “It Had to Be You” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” and we’ve switched around who’s singing some of the film’s songs, such as “Dig, Dig, Dig” and “Happy Harvest.” But the most important thing is that while we’re still in the late 1940s, there are two Black actors playing the male leads – me and Gilbert Bailey as Phil – and it is definitely not color-blind casting; it’s color-conscious. That means we’re dealing with an interracial love affair, for instance. The racial element is an additional driving force, which I think is necessary, but the main story isn’t about the struggle for racial equality. In the end, it’s still a feel-good MGM-like affair. You’ve previously stepped into the figurative shoes of Gene Kelly, who originated the role of Joe in the movie, as well as Fred Astaire. How does that feel? I am always aware these golden age icons from MGM have such a specific style and that they make what they do look easy. Of course, I want to bring that to Joe. But in the tap dance sequence, for instance, we also have a bit of Gregory Hines, even though I’m no Gregory Hines. And at the end of the day, it’s me on stage, and I work hardest on finding my own characterization of these roles. This is your first time working with Donna Feore, who is one of Canada’s leading directors and choreographers. Tell me about your experience with her? Donna is wonderful to work with, both as director and choreographer. I think the best thing about her handling both roles is we don’t have to get everyone on the same page, because she is the same page. She’s also really hands-on with the music; she fought to have a drummer in the room during rehearsals so we could find those beats while we created the choreography, not just insert them later. As she directs, she considers the movement of every scene, but also the story that we’re telling through that movement! It’s not movement for movement’s sake, and I appreciate that! Goodspeed isn’t the easiest place to do a dance-oriented show, is it? Yes, we’re dealing with the confines of a very small stage, it’s like dancing on a Chiclet. I am so impressed how vibrantly our cast can move on this stage. We’re on top of each other!  I think we’d look great on a bigger stage, which is just one reason why everyone is focused on moving this show to New York.

[source: Interview: Corbin Bleu Talks About the New Musical Summer Stock and the Fourth Season of HSMTMTS]

“Summer Stock” is right in Corbin Bleu’s wheelhouse. “I feel at home on the stage,” he said. An actor, singer and dancer his whole life, Bleu is appearing in the upcoming stage adaptation of the Hollywood musical beginning July 7 at the Goodspeed Opera House. “I established myself in this particular genre, doing shows associated with Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire,” he said. “I am a bit of an old soul. This is what my voice naturally goes to.” The “High School Musical” star is playing Joe Ross, one of a troupe of actors that descends on a small farming town to turn an old barn into a theater. It appears he was born to play the role originated by Kelly on the big screen. “I grew up as a theater kid,” Bleu said. “I grew up watching old MGM movies. I was a theater nerd and a musical theater fan. My dad kept a storage unit of stuff from our childhood, and he found an old school paper from when I was in elementary school where I’m dreaming of performing in musicals.” [...] Of the four shows, “Holiday Inn” is most similar to “Summer Stock,” which was also adapted from a movie . “Holiday Inn” was a fairly close reworking of the film, but “Summer Stock” takes a few more liberties. “It’s not the exact same story,” Bleu said. “When I watch the movie, I think it could definitely use some updates.” Those updates include a multi-racial cast. “Let’s not skirt the obvious,” Bleu said. “I’m a Black guy doing characters traditionally played by white men, doing things Black men weren’t traditionally able to do easily at the time these shows take place.” [...] “Some parts of the book are still in process,” Bleu said. “Cheri is in the room with us at rehearsals. We want this to feel modern, but we don’t want to shoehorn anything in. “I was also part of the workshop we did in New York a month and a half ago,” he added. “I’m loving seeing it and I’m loving being a part of it. We know this genre. It’s a feel-good musical comedy, a big song and dance show.” Though there is a lot that has been rethought when reshaping “Summer Stock” for the 21st-century stage, those who know it as a Gene Kelly movie will have plenty to latch onto. “We are completely paying our homage to Gene,” Bleu said. “I am not Gene, but I do have a natural tendency to lean into that style. Gregory Hines is also a big inspiration. There’s tap dancing in this. There’s a whole Lindy Hop number. There are a lot of very large dance numbers.”

[source: ‘High School Musical’ star Corbin Bleu is rethinking ‘Summer Stock’ at the Goodspeed Opera House]

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

It’s SO funny to me when I see movie fans writing alex as this daddy dom, himbo guy because Alex is so!!!

If you scream at him a little too loudly he’ll probably cry, just not in front of you. He falls in love really hard and deeply but it takes him so long to accept that he can also be loved hard and deeply! He has the highest grades ever 1) because he’s smart and 2) because he bases his self worth on making others proud, on being useful. He overworks himself, he runs to clear his head until his feet bleed, his coffee is bitter but so are his thoughts. He’s a softie, who writes his bf love letters and who probably giggles and kicks his feet while reading what henry writes back to him. He can absolutely destroy you in a debate, don’t even try to argue with him he’ll win each time. He talks a lot but he has never been listened to. His rivalry with Henry started with a bad meeting and also with constant comparison, because everyone compared them both, and it was just a constant reminder than Alex will never be enough. Henry was born on the spotlight, Alex wasn’t. Henry was white, Alex wasn’t. Henry had everyone’s support, Alex didn’t. *He is a jester and a devoted knight. He knows hundreds of fun facts and will tell you. He loves Texas despite the bad memories of his childhood and teen years it brings. He feels guilty for making his sister worry so much. He loves his mother despite everything, and she loves him too, but they have an unusual, almost unhealthy relationship. He needs to prove himself every minute of the day. He works as a distraction. He puts on a façade around everyone, golden boy, America’s heartthrob, no one sees his house key, his glasses, the hundreds of papers hidden under the windowsill, the pills stolen from Liam. Someone teach this man healthy coping mechanisms. He is a child of divorce, and this affects him more than he lets on. He is actually a huge nerd. He grew up poor. He was in denial about his sexuality for years. He definitely has abandonment issues. He might be impulsive sometimes (storming Kensington palace after being ghosted by Henry) but he usually thinks things through, and is very reasonable. He makes lists, tons of them. He has undiagnosed adhd and this has shaped him as a person in a way I can’t even describe. Before Henry, bea, and Pez, he didn’t have any friends aside from Nora and his sister. He grew up catholic. He is a romantic. And a dork. He is just as passionate about history as Henry is. But Nora makes friends, and Alex ends up with acquaintances who think they know him because they’ve read his profile in New York Magazine, and perfectly fine people with perfectly fine bodies who want to take him home from the bar. None of it is satisfying—it never has been, not really, but it never mattered as much as it does now that there’s the sharp counterpoint of Henry, who knows him. Henry who’s seen him in glasses and tolerates him at his most annoying and still kissed him like he wanted him, singularly, not the idea of him.

Always the talker, never the heard. Always good, never enough. Always ogled, never seen. Always the first son, never Alex.

[givemearmstopraywith]

not to be insane but do you have any readings about religious bdsm or things w those vibes? ily <3

hi yes i do! i just finished writing a thesis about this actually

Jeffrey J. Kripal, Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago: 2001) + Jeffrey Kripal, Kali’s Child: The Mystical and Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna, (University of Chicago Press, Chicago: 1996) + kali's child is not about christianity but it is a fantastic work on eroticism and religion from the hindu perspective (however kripal is white and was trained as a priest, so bear that in mind)

Carter Heyward. Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God. (Harper & Row, 2009)

Jeremy Carrette, "Intense Exchange: Sadomasochism, Theology and the Politics of Late Capitalism." Theology and Sexuality, vol. 11, no. 1 (April 2005), pp. 11-30 

Joseph Rogers, "Do Not Despise the Discipline of the Almighty: God as Leather Daddy and Reading Job through Althaus-Reid." Religions, vol. 8, no. 10.

Robert E. Shore-Goss, "Queer incarnational bedfellows" in Contemporary Theological Approaches to Sexuality (Routledge, New York: 2017) + all of robert shore-goss's work in general (he was the acting chaplain at avatar, the largest gay leather club in los angeles, for a number of years, and previously trained to be a priest- i adore him and his work)

Susannah Cornwall, "The future of sexuality debates in the Church: shared challenges and opportunities for theological ‘traditionalists’ and ‘revisionists’," Modern Believing vol. 62, no. 1 (January 2021) + cornwall has written extensively about intersex people in theology, i highly recommend her scholarship

Marcella Althaus-Reid, Indecent Theology: Theological Perversions in Sex, Gender and Politics. (Routledge, New York: 2000 + this might be my favourite book on this list and i recommend it to everyone, althaus-reid is an extraordinary thinker and her work in general is worth looking into

Margot Weiss, Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality. Duke University Press (London, 2011) is a book i recommend to anyone who is interested in or exploring bdsm, its a great starter book though not explicitly religious

Georges Bataille, Erotism: Death and Sensuality. Translated by Mary Dalwood. (City Lights Books, San Francisco: 1986) + bataille in general is a great philosopher, i also recommend Guilty trans. Bruce Boone

When Did We See You Naked? Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse, ed. Jayme R. Reaves, David Tombs, and Rocío Figùeroa (SCM Press, London: 2021) + david tombs is a forerunner in reading the crucifixion as sexual abuse, approaching it from the methodological viewpoint of human rights abuses in latin america. this isn't about bdsm, but it is about sexuality in theology and it provides an incredibly necessary counterpoint to any discussion of power dynamics.

i'm missing a few titles but i'll look through my library and add them when i can.

edit: bolded my favourites, also heyward is the only book that to my knowledge is not available on zlib or annas-archive.

[generalluxun]

Imagine if Miraculous had had the guts to give Zoé a New York accent. Imagine all the impactful characterization you could have gotten. Instantly noticable fish out of water.

Have her shift to a 'proper' formal tone around her family, but relax into her accent again around her friends. Instantly conveying her chameleon nature and how it is forced upon her.

It would have set her up as a great counterpoint to Lila, who does it for personal gain.

And even after her intro it gives her that little bit of herself. She's a foreigner to this country and all that entails. Instead she just blends in like a native basically instantly erasing her entire backstory and identity.

[mybeingthere]

Born in Chicago, Ellen Lanyon (1926-2013) studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA, 1948) and the University of Iowa, Iowa City (MFA, 1950). She completed her education at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London in 1950-1951 while on a Fulbright grant. Lanyon spent the early part of her career in her hometown and she was often identified with Chicago Imagism. In the 1970s she moved to New York, where she became a member of the Heresies magazine collective.

Noting that Lanyon was once pejoratively dubbed a “Corn Belt Surrealist,” critic Lucy Lippard has analyzed the centrality of ecology and metaphors of transformation within the artist’s paintings, drawings, and prints, describing her as “naturalist and fantasist, Audubon and Pygmalion in female form.” Lanyon’s meticulously realized “dreamscapes” often combine animal, vegetal, and floral motifs into fantastical and semiautobiographical compositions that reflect her private mythology. Her frequent depiction of everyday objects with simultaneously domestic and sinister connotations—including scissors, sewing needles, and cutlery, objects that evoke Victorian Americana as well as Surrealist dream objects—has elicited comparisons between her work and Metaphysical Painting of the 1910s and 1920s. It has also situated her among a generation of feminist artists whose embrace of intimacy and sentiment offered a counterpoint to modernism’s supposed neutrality.

[synestheticwanderings]

happy talk shop tuesday!!! ( ˘⌣˘)♡(˘⌣˘ ) what's a specific scene or line from a story you posted recently that you're really proud of? give us the director's cut on what you liked most about it!

So I’m on a retreat, but I saw this come through when I had a spot of internet and couldn’t stop thinking about it so I opened my Notes app and here we are. I rarely use Notes and to my surprise, I found my seedling notes about Road to Hell from last August which, wow. Apologies for the literal essay that follows.

The first act and intermission came pretty easily, but I really struggled with the second act and the ending, and I was scared I was going to drop the ball. Thankfully, I’m really proud of how the back half turned out, and I think it ended up being stronger than the first, also a lot more hopeful than I initially envisioned.

There are a couple scenes that come to mind, but the hardest to write were actually the parts of the myth that people know best: Orpheus sung a song so beautiful that Hades gave him a chance and then, of course, Orpheus failed and Eurydice was condemned to the underworld. I was obviously always going to stick to those plot points, but doing it in a way that made sense for the story I was trying to tell and in a unique way was difficult!

The scene that Lucy sings to Ezekiel involved a lot of banging my head against the wall and a lot of whining to @ohmyoverland @justice-for-skull and @hailqiqi. For a while, my outline had this very convoluted tempest happening around her. I think I was trying to replicate the final showdown at the Fittes House in The Empty Grave. It never really worked though; from the beginning, Sto was like, you’ve already established what the song does, just imagine what it does in Hades. My counterpoint was always that the sun wasn’t going to shine down in Hades, flowers were not going to bloom. That was never going to happen, because then why would Jessica have to return to the world above? So I very stubbornly kept the tempest in through the first full drafts.

Finally, Jenny flat out said that she didn’t understand how the tempo fit the larger arc of the story, which was like, well, shit. This is why I have multiple readers: if one person says something doesn’t work, I can ignore it, if two people say it, I have to really consider it (never mind that both of them also told me to cut the cell scene and I rightfully ignored them both and reworked it).

Around the same time, I had started watching Doctor Who again since RTD had taken back over, and I was totally enamored with the new companion, Ruby, and the way she was making it snow everywhere at crucial points throughout the season, and spectacularly with the Maestro. There were also a couple of other reasons for the snow: I really liked this idea of hell freezing over, but I also was drawn to what happens in New York City when there’s real snow, how it blankets over everything and how quiet it gets. I was drawn to the idea of this hush in a place usually really cacophonous, and so I ran with it.

It ended up working a lot better. It allowed Ezekiel and Jessica to come to a more natural reconciliation, which in turn softens the gods towards the mortals. Despite everything that follows, it gave the story a much needed pause and space to breathe.

Anyway, that’s the director’s cut for Lucy singing to Ezekiel 🤣 if you read all of this, thanks 💙💙💙

[there-must-be-a-lock]

Fic rec Friday - Steve Rogers edition!

In honor of @dc-marvel-crossovers Super Week, a couple of my favorite Cap-centric super-duper-rare-pair crossovers:

Move Slow, Forge Ahead by @thepartyresponsible - fresh-from-the-ice Steve meets Dick Grayson. Such a good character study of him and his mental state at this (wildly under-explored) moment of canon; Dick’s sunshine-and-steel is the perfect counterpoint to everything Steve is going through.

Steve’s spent his whole life trying to fight the part of the world that’s bad. Bucky was always trying to save what was good. If Steve learned a single damn thing from the war, it’s that there’s nothing brave or strong or redemptive about violence. Heroism is saving something. Everything else is just flash and blood and tickertape.

Won’t You Stay Awhile? (I’m Staring At a Ghost) by @daddyswickedqueen - Jason Todd being an absolute little shit is one of my favorite things. This is peak Little Shit Jason. Love the subtleties of both characterizations here, especially the attention to detail in the things Steve notices about him first.

“Gonna buy me a drink, old man?” A hint of wickedness comes into his smile and he leans in closer, brushing their shoulders together again. “Want me to call you Daddy?”

Steve has to swallow before he can answer. “Nope. Not my style.”

The kid’s head tips, just a little, and suddenly those green eyes are so focused and intense that Steve finds himself straightening, squaring his shoulders against them, as if this kid could see into the core of him.

A faint smirk crosses the kid’s lips and he turns back to the tv, takes a sip of his drink, then says, “Wanna call me Daddy?”

No Fairytale Bliss by @sammialex - look, am I cheating by including a remix of the previous fic on this list? Possibly. Do I care? Not at all. It’s just too good. Jason’s POV, this time, with fantastic character nuances.

The loud bump of music vibrated through the cracked, well worn leather of the bar seat. Jason played with the condensation on his beer glass, idly drawing little HA HA HAs until he noticed what his fingers were doing and snatched them away.

A sip of beer cooled his suddenly tight throat, and Jason returned his attention to the crowd. People watching in Gotham always ended in fights, and Jason wasn’t in the mood for a fight tonight. Jason was in the mood for a different kind of stress relief, so he’d hopped on his bike and driven north to New York, where people watching was more likely to turn into love bites than bloody knuckles.

ring (ring) by @capriciouswrites - Roy Harper/Steve Rogers! Features a few of my favorite things: banter, snark, Steve&Natasha friendship, and Jason being a little shit.

“You’re looking for someone who does the right thing, but has had to claw their way to the opportunity to be able to do so, and is both a good person and a bit of a bitch.”

And he’d blinked and said, “I don’t like that word,” and she’d waved his words away.

“I’m not sure,” he answers her now, as he holds his phone up to his ear and presses to hear the message.

“Wait, shit, what do I say?” says a very familiar voice.

“What do you mean — for fucks sake Roy,” says an unfamiliar voice. “Are you shitting me?”

“No! I don’t — I just thought he’d pick up and then I could, I don’t know —”

“I am going to kill myself and then you,” the unfamiliar voice continues, “again.”

[thekingofgear]

Jonny's Fender Acoustic

This photo of Jonny playing a Fender dreadnought acoustic was taken by his son Tamir.

To help publicize their upcoming Steve Reich Festival, The Hallé recently shared this photo of Jonny playing a Fender dreadnought acoustic guitar. Jonny will be playing Reich's Electric Counterpoint on the third (and final) day of the festival.

Back in November 2012, Jonny answered fan and celebrity questions in an article for Uncut magazine. Nicolas Gauna from Buenos Aires asked Jonny about his first guitar and the first song he learned, and this was Jonny's reply:

I bought a Fender acoustic for £40 from a “for sale” column in the Oxford Journal when l was about 14, then an electric one from my teacher when l was 16. I still have the acoustic, but the electric one was stolen in Leeds on the first Radiohead tour (at the Duchess Of York, I think… it was a cream Telecaster if anyone's seen it). I don't remember working out many songs by other bands - maybe “Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads. There was a tiny guitar room at school where teenagers hung out playing each other U2 songs - but I never had any U2 records.

Given Jonny's penchant for stickers during his younger days, one can only assume that this is the same guitar that he played when he first strummed his way through Psycho Killer.

Based on the quote, the guitar was purchased in around ~1985, and was already used by that point. Fender had released their California series acoustics in 1983, but they were still relatively new and expensive. So it's more likely that the guitar is from Fender's standard F-series. Price lists show that the F-series was available from Fender through the 70s and 80s. The headstock confirms this: California series guitars have a Stratocaster-style headstock, whereas Jonny's has a more traditional acoustic headstock with the distinctive F-series notch in the center. In addition, we can see a square "Fender" label through the soundhole. A cursory glance through Fender F acoustics shows that the square label was used in the 70s and early-80s, particularly on Japanese-made instruments. They seem to have switched to a round label in the late-80s. This gives further evidence that the guitar in the picture really is Jonny's original acoustic.

Fender's acoustic and classical guitar offerings in April, 1977 (guitar-compare.com). Given the price Jonny paid for a used instrument, it seems very possible that he bought a 1970s F-35 model. The more expensive models like the F-65 had fancier inlays and details, whereas the one in the photo has simple dot inlays on the fingerboard.

[beardedmrbean]

https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/07/im-never-bored-willem-dafoe-on-art-yoga-and-alpacas

You seen this?

Submitted by @ulysseus

I have not, this looks incredible though.

Willem Dafoe is in his apartment in New York, where he is watched over by two works of art. Behind him is an oil painting of his father, a prop created for a film, which required “dynastic portraits” of his relatives. “I liked my father fine, so, there he is.” We are talking on Zoom and he spins the camera round. “But look, even better! Here’s the counterpoint. Do you see that?” To the side of him is a large, lightbox photograph of his friend and occasional collaborator, the artist Marina Abramović, standing priest-like over a naked body adorned with organs. “Anyway, you get the idea,” he says.

Dafoe is less the kind of actor who wants to discuss his three-hour morning workout routine and more the type who will get stuck into the bigger stuff. We are here to talk about Poor Things, the stunning new Yorgos Lanthimos film, based on the novel by Alasdair Gray. Dafoe stars as a reclusive genius scientist named Godwin Baxter – God, for short – who creates life in the form of Emma Stone’s Bella. It is a gorgeous, thrilling adventure and it could be the film to earn Dafoe, who slaps on heavy prosthetics to play God, his fifth Oscar nomination. His first was for Platoon, in 1987, and he has been working solidly, voraciously even, since 1980, making more than 150 films in five decades, with every interesting director in the business, from David Lynch to Wes Anderson, from Werner Herzog to Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese.

what a lad, gonna have to sit and digest the rest of the article in a bit, thank you for sending it my way

[sl33paholics]

Fading Hues of Affection

Old Joseph Joestar (4) x black!fem! reader

Warning(s): Mentions of infidelity (on Joseph's part) angst, and death

This is after Kira killed himself on the ambulance or wtv. Is it bad that I wrote this while listening to Christmas music? Shit be making me feel jolly while wirting sad stuff. Also, I realized while proofreading this shit sad asf I feel so bad for the old man

What a hot day.

The sun's relentless rays painted the sky in hues of intense blue. The air shimmered with waves of heat, and the parched earth craved relief. The distant hum of cicadas provided a soundtrack to the sweltering afternoon as people sought refuge in the shade, and the promise of a cooling breeze became a whispered wish on every sun-drenched lip.

The two of you were sitting at a park, seeking solace beneath the outstretched branches of a large oak tree on a bench. The grass beneath was dry, a muted green, mirroring the effects of the scorching sun. Despite the oppressive heat, a shared gaze and a subtle smile passed between you two, creating a small oasis of connection amid the sizzling summer day. The distant laughter of children playing on the swings and the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze provided a gentle counterpoint to the relentless heat, as if nature itself conspired to offer moments of respite.

"I haven't seen you in so long, (Y/N). Over 50 years, probably more?" Joseph mused, breaking the nostalgic silence. The words carried the weight of shared memories, and as you looked into each other's eyes, it was as if time had folded upon itself, revealing the echoes of a friendship that weathered the years. The laughter of children and the rustling leaves seemed to fade momentarily as the past and present intertwined beneath the shade of the oak tree. He asked, "It's a relief to see you in Japan; were you visiting?" His eyes, weathered by time, held a mix of curiosity and genuine warmth.

With a reminiscent smile, you replied, "Hmm~ yes, I was actually. I heard it was summer over here and I wanted to spend a few weeks here away from New York."

Joseph's gaze held a gentle understanding as he listened to your words. "New York to Japan, that's quite the journey. Sometimes, the pull of distant memories can guide us across continents," he mused, a subtle nod accentuating his sentiment.

"Sorry for not keeping in contact." He'd suddenly say, making you lower your gaze. "It's like one day I'm crashing my own funeral, next thing you know we're married with children going onto parenthood." The last part making you chuckle. A shared laughter that echoed with the familiarity of shared experiences.

With a soft smile, you replied, "Life has a way of fast-forwarding, ain't it? But here we 're, on a bench, catching up on the chapters we missed. No apologies needed, Joseph; our friendship has its own rhythm." You commented. The old guy couldn't help but smile a subtle acknowledgment of the shared understanding that time and distance hadn't diminished the camaraderie forged over decades.

"Oh, that brings me back to when I first met you. Suzi and I were eating out. Then bam! You and Caesar were out there groaning about practice, mainly you though," You continued, a playful glint in your eyes. The rustling leaves seemed to mimic the laughter that echoed through the park, as if nature itself shared in the amusement of that long-ago moment.

Joseph chuckled, "Ah, yes, those were the days. Little did we know how those casual encounters would lay the foundation for a lifetime of memories. The groans, the camaraderie, all of it—it feels like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?" You nodded in agreement, the oak tree stood witness, its branches cradling the tales of friendship that unfolded beneath its timeless shade.

It was quiet for a moment before the old Joestar spoke. "...you think Caesar would've been proud to see me today? See...us?" Joseph asked, his gaze reflecting a mix of nostalgia. The question hung in the air, carrying the weight of a friendship that had weathered in loss.

You met Joseph's eyes, a thoughtful expression on your face. "Absolutely, Joseph. He'd seen the strength that brought us to this moment. I believe Caesar would have been proud to see the friendship continuing, he's surely smiling down on us now." You put your hand on his back making a circular motion, a comforting gesture that echoed the years of understanding between you two.

A fat smile appeared on Joseph's face. Your touch felt so foreign to him, maybe because it's been forever since he's seen or heard from you. As your attention went elsewhere, he took his time to examine you. For your age, you looked beautiful. As if wrinkles and saggy old skin were allergic to even appear on your body, being in your 70s, you surely looked like you were still in your 20s. Your blown out afro once black now turned gray.

Joseph would be lying if he kept telling himself that he hadn't thought about you for so long. Those feelings he had once for you in his teens were "long gone." But there was no way he'd let himself act on it. He couldn't just let himself fall in love with someone else who didn't see him in that light and certainly wouldn't love him back. Especially since you're married. You're a wonderful woman – a great friend to him. Joseph didn't want to make those same mistakes he did with Suzi. It wouldn't be fair to her.

"Thanks for everything." Joseph would say, making you bring your attention back to him. "No problem, I heard you're returning back to America, so you won't be here for much longer. Tell Suzi I said hello." His heart felt like it was breaking into pieces when he had to slip away from you once more to go back home.

"Of course! She'd love to know that I got to talk to you. We'll have lots of time to talk once we're in America," Joseph let out a laugh before his ring tone went off. "An important phone call?" You'd ask, watching him stand up with the help of his cane. "The boat leaves today. I wish we could talk more, but I have to get going." He gave you a sad smile, knowing that the conversation would come to an end.

"We'll meet again in the States, right?" You asked. Joseph could only nod in response. "Then I'll speak to you once my vacation is over." You stood up as well, giving the old guy a bear hug. Your scent was intoxicating. Joseph didn't want you to let go. He missed you too much. "You take care now, okay? You can call me anytime." The older man couldn't hide the tears in his eyes as he held you close.

Joseph squeezed your hands one last time before he made his departure. You waved before looking down at your dress, seeing small wet marks. You weren't sure if you should wipe them. Should you tell Joseph? You wouldn't want to embarrass him. If only you knew the feelings that old fox had for you for all these years.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

📓 <333

Okay back to answering these

I have this one very sprawling, episodic fic I call the Peter Parker Roommates AU that I deeply adore that’s basically based on the idea that, when the three Peters hugged at the end of multiverse, they got kind of glitched together and gained the ability to hop into each others universes.

They discover this fact entirely by accident after the entire matter is settled, everyone’s been sent back to their home universes and forgotten Tom Holland!Peter.

WHAT THEY SHOULD DO:

Tell the fucking wizards

WHAT THEY DO NOT DO:

okay so the thing is

They know, okay? They know that this is probably “cosmically dangerous” and “endangering the fabric of reality” or whatever. They all don’t want to rip a hole in the space time continuum that destroys all of existence.

But there’s a very compelling counterpoint to not telling the wizards.

And that’s that all of them are homeless and rent is very very expensive in every version of New York City and it is very very hard to get a roommate when you’re secretly fucking Spider-Man. They have never had such an unparalleled opportunity to split rent three ways before.

the thing is that apparently changing the fates of people who were “important” to your “past” may or may not change the world you come back to. 2/3 Spider-Men did not know they would be homeless coming out the other end of this and are very unprepared. The last 1/3 only had like 7 minutes of forewarning and is likewise caught off guard.

THE SPIDERMEN AND THEIR RESPECTIVE LIVING SITUATIONS:

Tom Holland!Peter (“Pete”): cold, homeless, alone, and sad. Has no idea if he still legally exists or not

Tobey McGuire!Peter (“Peter B.”): see the thing is that he’s been figuring things out and on/off with Mary Jane for a long time and when he left his universe last he and MJ were actually making a pretty good go at long term domesticity and had an apartment together and were really happy. He gets back and they’re very much off again and not on speaking terms, apparently, for reasons that he can’t figure out because they’re not on speaking terms. He has no idea where he lives. He cannot find it. He has tried. Where are all of his things. Currently has the clothes on his back and nothing else.

Andrew Garfield!Peter (“Peter P.”): not technically homeless but seriously considering it as a preferable alternative. The thing is that when he last left his universe he was living on his own, having moved out of Aunt Mays house for her safety and sanity. The universe he returned to was not that. He’s back in his childhood bedroom and apparently in this universe he was fighting a crime ring he was not fighting when he left because his closet is full of cocaine and he does not know why or where he got it or what mob he stole it from. It’s just. It’s an enormous amount of cocaine. He can’t remember what to do with it. He needs to get out of his aunts house and take his cocaine with him.

Anyway they realize that Peter B.’s aunt may never lost her house (a de-Goblin’d Norman Osborn paid it off and refused to accept any reimbursement whatsoever in complete guilt over what happened with Pete’s May). However, she is the oldest out of any May by a lot and needs to be in full time assisted living care home (also forcibly paid for by Norman Osborn for reasons that. Yeah. Would not explain. Makes sense why now.) and the 3 Peters decide to move in together at Peter B’s home and split living costs from there.

Honestly it’s too sprawling of a fic to adequately summarize so here are the highlights:

Peter B’s universe has a long time Daredevil that he’s absolute best friends with and neither of them will admit that they’re friends. They’re in a “purely professional” relationship except they like send each other recipes and go antiquing together on the weekends. Both of them fucking hate their universe’s Avengers, who just cropped up.

Okay it’s not that they HATE them it’s just that they hate them. The thing is that this universes avengers didn’t get the hard launch of an alien invasion. Peter B’s universe had Just Spider-Man for a very long time and then Daredevil and Luke Cage and Jessica Jones and other street folk popped up and now the government is trying to roll out their own superhero team. The thing is they don’t have a super large amount to work with since there’s no alien invasion and people fucking love Spider-Man and other solo heroes so they just play the team angle really hard. The government basically launches a PR campaign that’s about how superhero teams are inherently more trustworthy and have more accountability because you have them keeping each other in check. They’re trying to rope in Spider-Man because he’s got the most street cred out of anyone like just join a TEAM get support from a TEAM and it’s just. It’s so annoying and inconvenient. Leave him BE.

Daredevil is having similar problems and is similarly angry about it. He’s not joining a team with tony stark out of all the godforsaken people. Get off of his rooftop and stop trying to recruit him.

They decide “fuck it” and to form a “team” with each other so that way they can say LOOK we have a TEAM we did the TEAM thing leave us alone now. What’s their team name? Uhhh… red. Team red. Because they both are wearing red. Leave them alone now.

This leads to some random guy named Deadpool taking out billboards and television ads begging to be made a part of their team. They don’t know who he is. He left a muffin basket nailed to the Peters front door with a knife as a bribe/for your consideration gift. How does this man know where they live and who is he. Anyway the muffins were fantastic

(Pete during Peter Bs biweekly bitchfest about the avengers: hey it’s probably a good idea you’re not teaming up with them because shield was secretly nazis in my universe

Peter B, slamming his hand on the counter: I KNEW IT)

(Peter B’s Matt (“Mr. Murdock”) waking Pete up in the middle of the night: what do you mean they were secretly nazi’s

Pete, violently realizing that his attorney was daredevil the whole fucking time: oh I’m gonna torture him with that *cue three months straight where he makes a bunch of lawyer jokes around his universe’s daredevil to drive him mad with paranoia*)

Mike Murdock shenanigans when Pete’s Matt gets caught as Daredevil, arrested, and put on trial and Pete, who has decided he owes him a life debt for his help when he was in the hot seat, concoctes a wild scheme where they claim it was his twin brother Mike Murdock all along. Forces Mr. Murdock to go along as their “Mike” by promising to find a way to reveal SHIELD as secretly nazis, because they’re so fucking annoying and Mr. Murdock wants public humiliation and pain for the inconvenience of having to deal with them

When they do reveal them as secretly nazis they do it through Peter B’s universe’s Bucky, who ends up moving to Pete’s universe in a sort of recovery/witness relocation thing. He moves in with Pete’s Matt (“Matt”), who hates this fact. Leave his home.

Peter B’s universe’s Steve hurdles into depression when it’s discovered that he was working for Nazis and Bucky doesn’t want to see him (he immigrated to another universe and they were planning to tell 0 people that fact) and keeps moping where Peter B has to see it, ruining his now AMAZING mood now that the avengers and shield were publicly ruined. So he drops him off at Matt’s apartment. Matt hates this fact. Leave his home.

This Steve decides that immigration to another universe is the only and best option and becomes a barista and decides his fake name is going to be his favorite character from his favorite book from the 40s that was sadly mostly unknown. So he goes around as Frodo the Barista now. What do you mean that book is popular here. He can’t change it again.

He fights crime as a vigilante in Brooklyn with his Bucky in his free time. Matt is frothing with rage that this is his problem and demands Pete do something about it. Pete starts spreading the rumor that this is the ghost of Captain America and Bucky Barnes haunting Brooklyn, obviously. He is aware that his universes Bucky is still alive. People believe it anyway. Now there’s ghost tours in Brooklyn to see the ghost of someone who’s still fucking alive.

(Matt: I need them out of my home I can’t take this anymore

Foggy, squinting at him: you fucked both of them didn’t you

Matt: that is BESIDES THE POINT)

Peter P’s universe is the only one without a daredevil and he is SO UPSET. He loves daredevils. He wants one so so bad. This is so unfair.

Then law student Matt Murdock starts dicking around in black sweatpants and Peter P could not be more excited. Oh god oh fuck yes yes yes yes it’s happening

His Matt is deeply confused as to how he already caught Spider-Man’s attention and doesn’t want to team up with him. He’s just cleaning up his neighborhood. This isn’t a Thing he doesn’t have a superhero name. When Peter p insists on knowing who he is he just replies “I am a Man of Justice”

Peter P is so fucking psyched and blinded that he got a dramatic theatre kid Matt Murdock that he forgets himself and decides “I’m gonna call you MJ. You look like an M name” and then has a panic attack because BOTH the other Peters fell in love with an MJ. Did he jinx this cosmically?? Oh god

The thing is that Peter P’s universe didn’t get an Avengers, they got a fantastic four. Peter P is in a very unwilling and one sided rivalry with Johnny Storm on account that Johnny Storm keeps trying to rival him and he’s like. Fucking 17. Peter P is an adult man in grad school he can’t, this is, it’s just embarrassing is what it is. However Pete fucking betrayed him by dating Johnny Storm (re: had a star crossed and doomed to fail genuine relationship with him that helped him recover from losing MJ and Ned and crashed and failed due to the fact that Reed Richards was chasing the multiverse and Pete decided he couldn’t risk what he had with the Peters after losing his entire family to the multiverse last time. They broke up and both were devastated)

(Peter P, under the impression he has Big Brother Authority, which does not exist: I FORBID IT

Pete: I do not care man

Peter B, has a headache: let’s all take a step back

Peter P: he’s, he’s immature and bad and always dating new people every week and and he is trying to steal your sweetness

Pete: *stares at him* *ungodly screeching*)

The thing is that the Johnny Storm led to an agreement where they could not date each others friends/enemies multiversal counterparts because it got weird fast. What do you MEAN that your MJ is your Daredevil Pete has ONE FRIEND IN HIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE AND THATS HIS MATT PETER P CANNOT DATE HIS MATT

This leads to a period of time where Pete insists upon living out of a little hobo sack in his universe, which leads to an even more embarrassing period of time where Peter B is aggressively trying to hunt him down and force him to talk about his feelings, which is the one thing Pete is refusing to do. Peter B refuses to let Pete (who is in his self destructive loner phase, they all have one, it’s a Peter Parker thing) live alone. He needs a roommate who can patch him up or peter b will fucking web them together. Pete says “fine” and gets a roommate. The roommate is the Punisher. He is the only one who thinks this is a solution. Except Frank is weirdly good with angst riddled seventeen year olds and pete gets more emotional actualization and moves back in with the other Peters

Peter Bs JJJ has actual journalistic integrity and some modicum of concern for this random teenager that his photographer took in and thinks he just needs stability and structure and support in life to succeed. He keeps trying to be a mentor figure in Pete’s life who is simply not having it.

He eventually ends up in multiversal shenanigans and discovers Pete’s version of him, who he decides is the Evil Version of him who sells fucking scam multivitamins and slanders a perfectly nice young man. His thing was different they’re not talking about that anyway he has to kill the version of him without journalistic integrity

Peter B, could not be more tired: *deep breath*

Mr. Murdock is in a long standing polycule with his Karen and his Foggy and the thing is that both his Karen and his Foggy have baby fever but can’t adopt because their lives are hostile to children’s continued survival and he decides that what he really needs for them is a durable orphan who can be their like, pseudo child and he can be like the weird uncle to. He just sort of shoves Pete in their path, who fucking owes him for the entire thing with Mike Murdock, and it’s really very extremely awkward when they figure out he was doing it to help Karen and foggy get out their latent parenting instincts. Pete feels violated.

There’s this entire subplot with scarlet witch and multiversal versions of her orphaned twins trying to find a version of their mom (who died in Peter B’s universe) that they can be with that would take too long to get into but whenever they misbehave on the quest to find Pete’s scarlet witch and see if she ever considered motherhood they threaten to send them back to their home universe to be Mr Murdock’s durable orphans

There’s a lot more but this is very long already

[vintagehomecollection]

In New York City, a dining table that’s like a jigsaw puzzle counterpoints the colorful play on dimensions juxtaposed on the wall. Designer Michael de Santis has created an environment that sets off the games.

Rooms by Design, 1989

[iztarshi]

While what Rise chose to do with Splinter is in conversation with the tmnt concept of Splinter in general I think Rise Splinter is specifically both similar to and counterpoint to 87 Splinter.

Both attain a prestigious position (movie star/head of the Foot clan) which they lose due to betrayal by someone they trusted (Big Mama/Splinter's student Oroku Saki) reducing them eventually to a state of isolation where they befriend rats (Big Mama's cell/New York sewers). They immediately take to some cute turtles and concern for the turtles leads to them getting mutated (destroying Draxum's lab/simply trying to get toxic goo off them) and leaves them responsible for young turtle mutants.

They are not good fathers.

They love their turtles immensely. 87 Splinter gives up his chance to return to being human to protect them. Rise Splinter was ready to give up the whole world.

They are also frequently absent, cryptic, sometimes unexpectedly strict, and not good at responding to emotional teenagers with comfort.

They are depressed and dysphoric, stuggling with becoming rat mutants on top of suddenly being responsible for children, and it leaves them withdrawn.

Rise Splinter is in some ways an opposite to 87 Splinter. 87 Splinter is quiet, refined and wise. Rise Splinter is loud, crude and silly.

This lets Rise ask the question: what if Splinter's behaviours weren't coded as wise? What if he was unavailable to his children because he was constantly watching TV rather than constantly meditating? What if barely interacting with the turtles for days and then demanding they drop plans to clean now was treated as a rug pull? What if teaching the turtles a lesson by frightening them wasn't wrapped in tropes about ninja spirit and was just kind of weird?

The other thing Rise asks is: what if the turtles, and by extension the audience, expected Splinter to be a father? The 87 turtles didn't really have a turtle tots stage. Splinter only calls them his sons in very emotional moments and they never call him their father. He's their teacher and they're grateful for that. There's never the tension that would come from them expecting more of him, even when he goes on meditation retreats leaving them alone for days on end.

But he's still the only adult they've got.

[bat-in-the-machine]

A new chapter of Miraculous World Tour: Gotham! Flash meets Knightowl! Everyone is afraid of how Marinette's mind works! Ladybug isn't the Guardian of the Miracle Box?! Sneak preview under the cut as usual.

-snip-

"I do not understand," Aeon said.

"I don't understand either," Olympia said. "I remember a Marinette, from the French-American Friendship Week thing a few years ago. You and Jessica did spend some time with them, when you weren't running away from your responsibilities."

"To be fair," Marinette said, "they were still spending time with us then, too. So technically, they were still keeping an eye on French students!"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Aeon said, "those events are not recent. You do not need to make excuses for us."

Olympia began to swear, a low litany of curse words. After a few choice expletives, she glared at Marinette in the rear view mirror. "You're Ladybug," she said. "You're Ladybug and that means that this Adrien... Agreste, was it? ...is Chat Noir. How did I not see it?"

"Magic," Marinette said. "The Miraculous increases confusion about our identities, making it almost impossible for people to draw connections between our civilian and heroic identities."

"But Aeon..."

"Magic does not register correctly to my visual processing. It renders me immune to the identity concealing effects of the Miraculous. It also, unfortunately, means that I am unable to perceive the beings that empower the gems."

"Yeah, kwami don't register to technology," Marinette said. "Mademoiselle Mendeleiev got akumatized because she couldn't prove their existence. It was a whole thing."

"So you've been sent to New York to keep the Ladybug Miraculous out of the hands of your enemies?" Olympia frowned. "You didn't seem like the type to hide from your troubles."

"Yes, well, Uncle Bruce thought that three assassination attempts in under a week was one too many, I guess." Marinette shrugged. "Although I'm a little surprised he sent me to the United Heroez instead of someone affiliated with the Justice League."

"I..." Olympia frowned. "How did you know?"

"I know the identities of Jessica Keynes and Aeon, and everyone knows that Uncanny Valley was built by Majestia, so when she called you 'Mother'..."

"Babs is going to be furious," Olympia said. "Not even Batman knows our identities."

"Then... why did he send me to you?"

Olympia facepalmed and began swearing again. After a moment, Marinette's eyes went wide and she began swearing as well, a counterpoint to Olympia's, but in French.

[sweetdreamsjeff]

Jeff Buckley: Live at Sin-é (Big Cat)

Gavin Martin, New Musical Express, 9 April 1994

TALENTS sporting the imprint of famous genetic forbears inspire suspicion and derision in equal measure; look no further than Julian Lennon's career for elucidation.

Jeff's dad — the exuberant, libido-crazed, free-form funkateer and jazz stylist Tim Buckley — was a unique force; since his death, few have approached his highwire daring and adventure.

Now comes the son he hardly knew, holding court in a boho New York singer-songwriter showcase cafe, bearing an astonishing physical and aural resemblance to his father.

Elongated acoustic workouts, coaxed into being by vocal moans, cries, curves and yowling volleys. Big swooping diversions counterpointed with angelic gasps and gleeful tail-kissing departures — it's all a little uncanny, unsettling; eyebrows are raised, questions asked. This four-track EP — counted as an album, due to its length — is a bet-hedging work-in-progress introduction to the Buckley Jr groove thing. Though bristling with dynamic interplay between voice and guitar, it veers to the histrionic, making prospects for his future career seem both tantalising and daunting.

On 'Eternal Life', his highflying conceits narrow and harden into a simplistic new aquarian worldview, cheating the performance of the emotion it aims for. 'Mojo Pin' raids the Led Zeppelin ballad blues style to good effect, but his ten-minute scat rework of Van's 'Young Lovers Do' is a pointless and ponderous exercise in grandstanding.

Buckley is certainly a talent of his own making; Edith Piaf's 'Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin' is both focused and totally disarming. Live At Sin-é captures Buckley still shaping his identity, hopefully the promise it displays will come to fruition on his forthcoming (real) album. (6)

© Gavin Martin, 1994