#toma in magazine

[tomatoliciousheya]

[oldcountrybear1955]

Issue Man Magazine June 2019 - Mitchell Slaggert - Photographed by Claudio & Tomas

[knittinganddrinkingtea]

Annelot de Waal by Tomas de la Fuente for Telva Magazine June 2017

[sincericida]

ANDREW GARFIELD in Star Magazine (April 29). (source)

My considerations:

«(...) Andrew had heard of her remarkable abilities and was intrigued," says the insider. "He was impressed that she went to Oxford and thinks she's incredibly passionate about helping people.»

REALLY, Andrew!? 🤦🏽‍♀️

«Andrew "is looking for something long-term," says the insider.»

And there we go by the husband nº5 without children - since the grifter witch hates children and compares pregnancy with parasite? Wasn’t he the one who was desperate to have a family with children?

«Their friends have high hopes Kate could be the one.»

What friends, exactly!? Coz Ellie and Trevor really don’t.

The person who wrote this article received how much to do this? Or did she write because she was threatened with a curse from the grifter witch (as well as deuxmoi) if she did not write? (Apparently, the writer of the article is a ag stan (X))

Ugh.

[dustedmagazine]

Joris Rühl — Feuilles (Umlaut)

Photo by Eric Sneed

French clarinetist Joris Rühl has worked in a variety of composed and improvised contexts with musicians like Michel Donéda, Xavier Charles, Ninh Lê Quan, Eve Risser, Axel Dörner and as a member of Orchestra Onceim. But by my count, Feuilles (leaves in French) is the first release centered around his compositions. Over the course of 50 minutes a group of like-minded musicians including the composer on clarinet, clarinetist Xavier Charles, Jonas Kocher on accordion and Toma Gouband on percussion navigate their way through the patiently modulating open-form composition. Rühl’s orchestration maximizes the full range of microtonalities, rich overtones and burred timbres of paired clarinets, Kocher’s command of the accordion’s reedy shimmers and half-stopped wheezes, and Gouband’s expansive, delicate palette of drums, percussion and abraded surfaces activated with mallets, stones, branches and other found materials.

The release is accompanied by four video excerpts from the recording session, revealing some of the strategies employed. The two clarinetists sit across from each other enveloping the exacting textures and timbres of Gouband’s gestural activities and Kocher’s hushed, organ-like harmonics and open-bellows hisses groans and gusts. Watching Gouband as he thoughtfully chooses from his table of drum sticks, leafy branches, array of smooth and coarsely textured stones to activate bells, tuned bowls, cymbals and a large floor tom and transverse bass drum is transfixing. These clips provide an intimate sense of the balance of form and freedom as the four traverse Rühl’s score.

But on to the recording itself. The piece begins with hushed harmonics colored by the micro abrasions of rubbed stones and the resonant sounding of a beaten drum. The four patiently let the sound accrue over the course of the first eight minutes of the piece, letting densities subtly ebb and flow. The introduction of pattering percussion and the gently welling of accordion chords signals a shift toward a more active section of the piece as dynamics build. Skirling clarinets pierce the calm like oscillating sine tones, morphing into buzzing overtones and whistling harmonics that settle in to lower registers buoyed by low end accordion. And then things break into counterpoint honking clarinet lines cascading against thundering drum resonances. The piece progresses with a section of atonal hocketed lines transitioning to sputtered percussive reed pops, key clicks and metallic crumples resolving into long tones that quaver against each other. Here, hints of tonality provide an effective contrast to what has proceeded. As the piece moves toward its final section, densities gather around the lower registers of the instruments and the pacing slows to mirror the hushed opening moments of the piece. Rühl’s compositional form and the masterful reading by the members of the group weaves all of these morphing elements into an engulfing variegated whole.

Michael Rosenstein

[abdulraveman]

TV LIFE 2023年2月17日号

[mejakeme]

[chinemagazine]

Comprendre l'économie politique de la Chine

La Chine doit procéder à des changements radicaux si elle veut réaliser son plein potentiel de développement économique

De Project Syndicate, par Zhang Jun et Tomas Casas-Klett – Alors que la Chine est aux prises avec d’énormes défis – notamment un secteur immobilier en implosion, une démographie défavorable et un ralentissement de la croissance – les doutes sur l’avenir du plus grand moteur de croissance mondial s’intensifient. Ajoutez à cela l’essor géopolitique de la Chine, ainsi que les tensions croissantes…

[kaiijo]

DATES WITH HIM — [WIND BREAKER]

characters: suo hayato, kiryu mitsuki, umemiya hajime, hiragi toma, kaji ren, togame jo content: gn! reader notes: i did not come up with the date idea in suo's! also i recommend reading the mentioned works in suo’s part and listening to the song in kaji’s! obvious togame bias i’m sorry (but i’m also not)

suo hayato ✶ bookstore date

you saw the idea of a bookstore scavenger hunt date and it was too cute to resist. with your list in hand, you and suo make your way to your favorite neighborhood bookstore. the old lady who runs it greets the two of you before attending to other customers. suo leans over your shoulder to look at the first item. “find a joke to make your partner laugh.”

you make your way to the joke book shelf, where suo picks up a paperback titled 100 dad jokes to make anyone bust a side! he flips through it and lands on a page. “which days are the strongest?”

“i don’t know, which ones?”

he stares at you dead in the eye as he answers, “saturday and sunday. the rest are weekdays.”

you can’t help but snort and roll your eyes, and suo says, “we’re counting that!” and you check it off the list because you don’t know if you can take another cheesy dad joke. 

you read out the next bullet point: “find a puzzle to conquer together.”

you find and complete a crossword puzzle in a magazine (you kept the magazine with you to buy later). your scavenger hunt list leads you through the travel section to talk about your dream vacation spots; the children’s section where you find your favorite childhood books; and the cookbook aisle where you find a recipe you both want to cook together. finally, the last task challenges you to find a poem that describes your partner.

you and suo split up in the poetry section for that. you thumb through pages and pages but nothing is able to capture just how you feel for suo. you find one finally just as he walks over to you, a poetry anthology in hand. you read to him kevin varrone’s “poem i wrote sitting across the table from you” and he recites joy harjo’s poem “for keeps.” 

your heart feels like its about to burst as he finishes and you take his hand in yours, bring it to your lips for a kiss. his gaze is soft as he leans forward and presses a kiss to your forehead.

kiryu mitsuki ✶ arcade date

you pout as you watch the final pac-man score flash on the screen in big, pixelated numbers: 150 to 170. kiryu ruffles your hair affectionately. “we’re all tied up again,” he says. “two to two. what do you want for the tie-breaker?”

you peer around the arcade, glancing at the flashing screens of various games. there’s street fighter, space invaders, and other classics but it’s the air hockey table that catches your eye. you nod at it. “settle the score over good old-fashioned air hockey?”

“sounds good,” he says and you two make your way over to it.

just as you arrive, another couple shows up. “oh, shit,” the other guy says when he and his girlfriend approach at the same time. 

“sorry,” you say. “you guys can have it if you want.”

“no, no, you two came first,” the girlfriend says.

“it’s seriously fine!”

“no, really, it’s cool!”

you’re all at a standstill, neither party willing to takeover the table. instead, kiryu pipes up, “there are four pushers, why don’t we play on teams? a friendly competition.”

“i’m down!” the girl smiles and turns to her boyfriend. “what do you think?”

“i say we crush ‘em!”

“ooh, those are fighting words!” you call, looping you arm through kiryu’s. “ready to kick some ass, mitsuki?”

“always.”

the competition is fierce — the other couple is a lot better than you thought and you’re playing best of seven rounds. it’s the tie breaker and you narrowly manage to block a shot from the other guy. the puck bounces off the sides, hurtling across the board towards kiryu, who easily deflects it back. the volley goes back and forth and there are far too many times it almost sinks into their goal.

the other couple just blocks a shot again and the puck is heading for you. you hit it at the right angle and it just ekes past the defense, sliding into the goal to end the game 4 to 3. you congratulate each other on a good game and kiryu sighs, “i guess that settled the score between us too, huh?”

“what do you mean?”

“you made the winning goal.” he holds out the tickets he’s won. “let’s go get you a prize.”

umemiya hajime ✶ farmer’s market date

“whoa! these squash look so good! how did you grow them? did you plant them in may or june?” umemiya’s eyes are wide and bright as he listens intently to the farmer’s answer. you don’t think you’ve seen him this excited before, which is saying a lot given his enthusiasm for almost anything. 

she smiles warmly at the two of you, asking, “how many would you like?”

“three,” you reply, reaching for your wallet, but umemiya is holding out the money for her before you can even open your bag. 

the farmer shakes her head, gently pushing his hand back. “it’s on the house,” she says, plucking a packet of seeds from a small wooden crate at the edge of the stall. “and i’ll throw these in too, all free of charge!”

“oh, please, we insist,” you begin to protest but she just shakes her head again. 

“it’s been a long time since someone has been this curious about my produce,” she chuckles, “and i’m not about to make a lovely young couple pay for this! all i ask is that you two raise the squash lovingly.”

“we will, i promise,” umemiya says, taking the bag of squash from her. as you two continue through the farmer’s market, umemiya interlocks your fingers, using his other hand to motion to the other stalls you pass. 

he says, “we have tomatoes and cucumbers already but we need mushrooms! oh, those look good!” he already leading you to another vendor, surveying the cartons of wood-ear mushrooms. you raise a brow in amusement as he buys five cartons, humming a cheery song. 

“what’s all this for, again?”

he beams at you. “the summer barbeque!”

“ahh, right!” you smile. “the infamous summer barbeque.” you glance around the market, pointing out a stall selling sausages and other meats. “i think we’ll want to get some protein, then, since your boys eat enough for a hundred men.”

“babe, you’re a genius!”

hiragi toma ✶ cooking date

make dinner at home for date night, they said. it’ll be fun, they said. you think anyone who said this is a fun, stress-free date is a total liar.

“alright,” you sigh as you clean the frying pan of egg residue for the third time. “well, fourth time’s a charm!”

hiragi pops a stomach tablet out of its packaging and chomps down on it. “you said that the last two times.”

“this one’s going to be the one!” you chirp, reaching for the egg carton. “it has to be, since these are our last four eggs.”

hiragi lets out a long, heavy breath before slipping his apron back on. “okay, one more time.” 

hiragi throws a large tablespoon of butter down the pan, tilting the pan from side to side as the melting butter coats the surface. you crack the four eggs into the measuring cup and beat them with a whisk, tipping a little drop of it onto the butter. it sizzles promisingly and you and hiragi share a glance and nod, then you pour the eggs in.

you stir the eggs quickly with a pair of chopsticks, stopping as you see the omelet beginning to smooth. hiragi tilts the pan to let the uncooked egg mixture start to cook, doing his best to keep the curds even and level. 

the new portion of eggs scramble and you spoon your chicken rice mix into the center of the omlet, roughly shaping it into an football-shape as hiragi kills the heat. “good?” you ask him, motioning with your chopsticks at the pile of rice.

“good.” he lifts the pan. “hot pan, coming through!” he places it on the damp rag on your counter. you slide the omlet to the edge of the pan, carefully wrapping the rice with egg on both sides. hiragi’s already moved to get a plate and you hold your breath as he slides it carefully onto the plate.

success.

you let out collective sighs of relief. 

kaji ren ✶ concert date

you had spent hours in an online queue to get kaji tickets to see his favorite band for his birthday. luckily, the venue isn’t too long a train ride from makochi but when you severely undersold how many people can cram themselves into the venue.

kaji’s grip is firm as you weave your way through the crowd, pushing closer to the stage. some guy jostles you, grumbling under his breath, only to apologize when he faced kaji’s cold glare. your boyfriend manages to get the two of you to a decent spot near the front, just off right of the center. 

“what song are you most excited for?” you ask him, speaking as close to his ear as possible. the din around you is getting louder and the crowd more electrified, so you know it’s starting soon.

“wasted nights,” he replies easily. 

you hum, “that sounds familiar. it’s on the playlist you made for me, right?”

his mouth lifts into a small smile. “yeah, i think it’s number eleven or twelve.” just as he is about to add something, the lights around you begin to flash and pulse as the ambient music dies down. the band comes out to thunderous cheers as they take up their instruments. 

even though you don’t know the band well, you can’t help but jump and dance with the crowd, and you sing along to parts you can remember. kaji’s not one for rowdiness himself but he thrives off the energy from it — you can see it in the way he bobs his head in rhythm, the way he seems completely in his element. as the fourth songs in the set transitions into the fifth one, a slower ballad this time, he wraps an arm around your shoulder and pecks your cheek. “thank you again,” he says. “i’m glad i’m here with you.”

you burrow further into his side, swaying to the music. “happy birthday, ren.” 

togame jo ✶ pottery class date

you tilt your head as the pottery wheel slows to a stop, examining the mug you were instructed to make. the rim is uneven and it’s leaning towards the left. togame’s isn’t any better given that his mug looks shorter and stouter than the rest of the class and the handle is fully too long. when the pottery teacher walks over, she offers a sweet smile. “beautiful work,” she says. “they both have a unique charm to them.”

“thanks, we totally meant to make them this way,” you say and she carefully brings them to the shelf where the other attendees’ mugs sit waiting for the kiln. 

oddly enough, seeing your mugs together makes them look somewhat normal, almost like an eclectic set, and when you glance at togame, he meets your eyes and you two try to suppress your laughter, togame’s broad shoulders shaking with effort. as you stand side by side, washing your hands in the classroom’s sink, togame smirks. he reaches over and claps a hand on your shoulder, leaving a large, damp terracotta-colored handprint on your shirt. 

you narrow your eyes and do the same, this time on the side of his own t-shirt. his hand touches your back and yours grazes his chest. you could probably do this forever but someone clears their throat behind you and you apologize as you actually finish cleaning up, stepping aside for another couple to wash themselves off. 

togame drapes an arm around your shoulder as you leave the building, saying, “i think i won, babe.” 

you know he’s talking about the stains all over both of your clothes but all you do is smirk at him. “i think i won, actually, since this is your shirt.”

he shrugs. “i wish i could be mad, but you look too good in my clothes to complain.”

bonus!

you return two weeks later when your “unique” mugs are primed for glazing. you two agreed to keep the final designs on your pottery a surprise so you sit as far away from each other with your backs turned. in the end, you two had similar ideas — he chose your favorite color as a background and painted on a pattern of your favorite flowers while you glazed your mug in orange and black with an attempt at a the lion face on the shishitoren jackets, albeit yours is way less threatening and much cuter. 

your mugs sit in each of your cabinets at your homes in all their uniquely beautiful glory, your new favorites — well-used and well-loved. one day, they’ll be together again, side-by-side in a cabinet that you two shared together.

[izzabela]

Till Death Do Us Part - Lin Kuei x fem!reader (scenario fic)

in which your on-screen death affects each brother differently

a/n: me when i get attached to a character and watch them fucking perish

ship[s]: kuai liang, bi han & tomas x fem!reader

warning(s): post-kanon/non-canon

=====================

Kuai Liang

You open the door to the huge media room in Johnny's home. Courtesy to the big bucks he was making.

Johnny invited everyone that was part of the armageddon fight a couple of years ago to watch the "pre-pre-prerelease" of the latest Mortal Kombat universe installment, and boy was it decently big.

Mileena, Kitana, Tanya, and Khameleon were present. Ermac, well, Jerrod was also here sitting with Liu Kang on their left. Kenshi sat with Raiden, and Jax, while Johnny was with Kung Lao, Ashrah, and Syzoth.

Of course, you, Kuai Liang, Bi Han, and Tomas were present as well. You four sat in the very back of the theater room, conversing amongst yourselves before the movie began.

"Are the pleasantries over?" Bi Han complains. "I cannot believe I took time off for dilly-dallying..."

Comedically, Johnny gets up and begins to welcome everyone to his home and hopes they enjoy the movie.

"And yes, blueberry ice cream," Johnny quips. "Pleasantries are over."

Little chuckles and laughs are scattered around the room, and you turn to see your grandmaster grumble even more.

"I do hope you enjoy this, love," you whisper to Kuai Liang. "Johnny and I worked very hard on this movie."

"And I?" Kuai Liang parrots. Suddenly, you're on screen with huge guns and a kick-ass attitude.

The rooms erupts with claps and cheers, your friends turning around to point out the obvious fact you're in the film. You chuckle as you watch yourself relive the moments of you and Johnny during a solo mission you were sent on.

"Sister, is this the retelling of that mission you and Johnny went on?" Tomas asked, eyes sparkling. You nod, a finger over your lips as you force him to hush and watch the movie.

Kuai Liang kind of thought Johnny wasn't all that great in acting or directing, but this film shut his prejudices about the actor up. Kuai Liang fell in love with yours and his character. Though Cage was not acting in it, it was clear the actor who was portraying him nailed it.

As scenes changed from dry, arid deserts, to the vast greenery of Outworld jungles, the climax of the film came. At this point in the movie, Kuai Liang had grown so attached to your character to the point you could hear him talk to himself.

Little "no, don't do that!" or "smart girl" was heard from his lips. He was enthralled, and it pleased you to see that he was enjoying the fruits of your long, arduous labor.

At the climax, you and Johnny were running away from an abandoned fortress littered with booby traps and enemies. You both exhausted your gunpowder, and your character only had one magazine left.

The problem, though, was that enemies were growing and incoming, and the exit was still a couple of meters away.

"Almost there!" Johnny's actor yells, chest rising and falling as you and him run across the corridor of the fortress. Kuai Liang watches in anticipation as the screen switches to the enemies, who triggered a booby trap of falling pillars.

"Agh!" you cry out, watching as the pillars cam crashing down. "A fucking failsafe mechanism!"

"Language," Kung Lao blurts out, earning a chuckle from everyone in the room.

As the scene plays out, your character falls behind a bit due to a crack in the ground, and you trip cover yourself. A collective gasp is heard around the room, but it only gets louder as everyone watches a pillar fall and crush your leg.

"Oh no!" Kuai Liang breathes. You giggle as you watch him watch your scene.

As the enemies close in on you, Johnny's actor tries to help you up, but to no avail. He's heaving, ho-ing, and doing all he can, but the enemies can be seen just down the hallway.

"Go, Johnny!" you yell, pushing the actor forward. "I'll hold them!"

"No, are you crazy?!" he yells back at you, planting his feet as he tries to lift you by your armpits. "We're getting you home, and that's final!"

You grab the collar of your costar and bring his face close to you, glaring into his soul as you utter out your final command.

"I ain't making it out, Johnny," you wheeze as the realization sets in on Johnny's character. "You're running out of here, and in three ticks, I'm shooting that loose pillar at the weak point the block the exit off."

Johnny's character is wide-eyed, "You don't seriously-"

"You've been a friend, Johnny," your character says proudly, a slight wobble in your smile. "Live for me, will ya?"

You push him with the last of your strength to the door of the hallway. The monsters are in, and you use up ten of your bullets to shoot a couple of the mobs down. You get s couple more shots in, four specifically, meaning you have one more left.

"One Mississippi," you breathe, looking behind you as you take aim at the loose end of the pilar.

"Two Mississippi," you load the bullet in, closing an eye to perfect the aim.

"Please, elder gods no," Kuai Liang whispers.

"Three Mississippi," the shot rings out, and the pillar falls to completely block the exit out of the monster's reach.

As you watch your own death begin to play out, you feel a slight burn as Kuai Liang's hand grips yours. If it was warm earlier, you were experiencing burns at this point. It didn't help that his grip was tight.

You turn to Kuai Liang and realize his eyes were wide in horror. He remembered that the joint mission was rough, he saw you sleeping in the healer's room for weeks.

But the fact this was what could have happened, the fact that maybe something like this actually happened.

It burned him.

Three squeezes on your hand, a nonverbal signal created in case you two were too busy doing something to say it.

Or in rare cases, watching you die on the silver screen.

You lean to his side and whisper loud enough so only he could hear.

"I love you too."

He doesn't say anything for the rest of the film, but the burning sensation goes away, finally.

What doesn't is his hand, and you could live with that for this evening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bi Han

"You're going to like this movie, darling," you say giddily, snuggling into Bi Han's bicep as you both cuddled on a couple's bean bag.

"I still do not think his portrayals of our work is accurate," Bi Han grumbles.

Johnny had just finished filming another movie for his cinematic universe, this time based on the Lin Kuei and their epic heist at the old fortress.

As you and Bi Han whispered amongst yourselves, your eyes glaze over all figures present in Johnny's movie room.

The imperial family, Khameleon, and Tanya sat on the plush leather recliner-chairs. Next to Kitana was Raiden, and next to him was Kung Lao and Fujin, Raiden's sister.

Kenshi was also here (his powers allowed him to watch movies? you thought). He was sitting by Jax and Suchin, and next to those two were Takeda, Hanzo, and Tomas.

The two elders were watching the ninja's tickle the young Hanzo, who was riled up in a giggle storm.

And of course, you cannot ignore Kuai Liang and Harumi, who sat on the recliner-chairs as well. They were talking amongst themselves too, pointing to everyone with little smiles on their faces.

Suddenly, and without warning, the lights dimmed and Johnny appeared in front of the screen.

"Thanks for coming guys!" Johnny bows. "Now, let's all sit down and enjoy the show!"

Everyone claps as Johnny makes room on Kenshi's free side, inserting himself in the calm duo.

"Let's see how well he understands our culture," Bi Han mutters as the movie plays.

It took a lot for Bi Han to be impressed. Sometimes, you wonder how the hell you managed to bag such an unimpressable man.

But Bi Han remained silent and slightly (ever so slightly) wide-eyed at the accurate portrayal of his clan and culture. For secrecy reasons, the Lin Kuei could not be named.

But everything from costume, fighting style, culture, even speech, was practically perfected.

Then, there was your character.

Guns strapped to your back, knives in hilts on your thighs, and clothes a little too risqué for battle, you were the side kick for this mission.

"Is that..." but before Bi Han could say anything, everyone is cheering and looking back at you.

You smile and wave your hands in embarrassment and shyness, especially when Kitana compliments you.

"Finally, seems Earth is getting things right about women."

As the movie plays, Bi Han can feel himself getting attached to all these characters, especially yours. Yes, you were literally the character, but the writing, facial expressions, the subtle acting made him like your character even more.

Which was a shame when the climax came.

Of course, since it's Hollywood, things had to be exaggerated. Instead of the movie playing how real life happened, in which you and Bi Han made it out alive and with a couple of scratches, Johnny took the creative approach.

"This place can't exist anymore," your character explains to your costar.

"But we have the scrolls!" he exclaims, papers jumbled in his hands. "No one will know how to create the magic again!"

As you bickered, enemies began to draw near to the sounds of your voices. You both turn and realize the skeleton army draws closer to you two, and the ability to make a choice becomes slimmer and slimmer.

As you both ran towards the main door, the archway collapses last second, and you're unfortunately stuck underneath the jagged rubble.

You cough blood out (fake of course), but it doesn't stop Bi Han from making a strangled noise from the back of his throat.

You watch intently at Bi Han, then the movie. Of course it was fake, but his reactions weren't. The genuine worry on his face, the fact his brows were bent upwards and down, the little frown his mouth makes.

Your acting got him hook, line, and sinker.

"My friend," your character manages weakly, taking out a single explosive and a matching remote.

"You have to get out of here!" your costar exclaims, uselessly digging around the rubble to try and pull you out.

Gently, you stop him and look at the tears that stream from your costar's face.

"My legs are done for... this is all on you, bud," you smile, more blood seeping through your mouth.

One last fist bump, and your costar runs past the door, not looking back once as his tears fall completely off his marred and dirty face.

"You're gold, kid," your character says finally, before detonating the explosive and sealing the palace entrance shut.

You can hear sniffles and muffled sobs from your friends around the room, but they pale in comparison to Bi Han's expression.

The usually scowling, borderline angry-looking man you called yours was shocked. Mouth agape slightly, and his brows were turned upwards completely. You could see that there was a vein in his neck, and looking down more his hands were balled into a fist.

It also didn't help that bits of his powers were seeping through, and the air around you and him grew colder and colder.

"Bi Han?" you tread carefully with your words. Your hand does the same as you gently place it above his, the chill nicking your fingers a bit.

It's worth it, though, as his powers began to subside. In fact, Bi Han himself looked like he was melting into your touch.

He took your hand and placed it on his cheek, practically nuzzling into it and ignoring the movie now.

As the movie finished up, and everyone was back to chatting amongst themselves, Bi Han's cheek remained in your hand.

You don't talk to him, though. You two were stuck in your own world of silence, comfortable silence, as Bi Han practically soaked your touch in like a sponge.

And while sometimes you playfully shoved him off, you knew that right now he needed this more than anything.

You smile softly, engaging in conversation near you as Bi Han continued to hold your hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tomas

"I have been dying to watch this movie since you told me you were starring in it!" Tomas exclaims as you two follow Johnny upstairs.

Johnny chuckles, "She really did a number on me, Smokey Bear. I was in bedrest for a week!"

You laugh nervously before Tomas kisses you cheek and praises you for Johnny.

"The strongest woman I know after Madam Bo," you giggle and ruffle his hair. "My love."

Johnny opens the door to reveal a set up similar to drive-in movies. The movie would he projected against a white tarp, and everyone was on the ground with blankets, air mattresses, or pillows.

The royal family, plus Tanya, Khameleon, and Jerrod, sat on the biggest air mattress Johnny had.

Kenshi, Jax, and a new friend, Sonya, were next to the imperial family. They were just talking about work, as usual.

The stars of the show were Raiden, Kung Lao, Ashrah and Syzoth. Kung Lao was trying to explain how pillow fights work to the Zaterran, but you're so sure something was lost in translation.

Finally, on blankets to the far back, were Bi Han, Kuai Liang, and Harumi. That's where you and Tomas would be sitting, with the lovely couple and the fifth wheel brother.

"Good evening everyone!" you greet everyone, and they all wave back in equal joy. As you sat with your group, you and Harumi caught up with one another as the men talked to each other about other things.

Your conversation was cut short when Johnny claps for everyone's attention.

"Thank you everyone for coming!" he announces with gusto. "You all should be grateful to know me, my connections are out of this world!"

Kung Lao sighs and rolls his eyes, "Sit down, you're in the way!"

More chuckles erupt from the room, and Johnny grumbles about how Kung Lao isn't funny before he gets the projector running and playing the film.

Inspired from a mission you and Johnny went on, partnering with the OIA as well, you guys were on a mission to find traces and a hint of the Black Dragon. Of course, the mission was a lot smoother and no one died, but Johnny definitely exaggerated it.

As the movie plays, Tomas is immediately drawn in with Johnny's and your character. He loves Johnny as an idol, but your character was something to admire.

Flamboyant, guns blazing, and loud as always, your character was the intelligent femme fatale. Just like you were in real life, all of your qualities were written in perfectly.

As the movie plays, Tomas is very obviously immersed with the way Johnny directed the film. Scenes flowed perfectly, and Tomas was vocalizing his love for the writing every second the film was playing.

From office settings, to fantastical settings of Outworld, to the streets of Japan, the movie plays similar to reality until the climax.

You, Johnny's actor, and the other OIA actors are running away from a hoard of Black Dragon goons. As you guys run away, gun shots ring out behind you as the villains shoot and try their hand at watching your blood spill.

"Johnny! You still got the goods right?" your character double-checks with your costar. He turns behind you as you all continue running, holding rolled up scrolls with a thumbs up.

"No time for this, guys, keep it moving!" the Jax Briggs actor yells, sprinting even faster.

Tomas watches intently, hugging a pillow close to his chest as his eyes are wide and mouth ajar. Tomas is shaking his head, as if he knows what's going to happen.

As your characters keep running, you realize that there are more shots coming from above. Looking up, your character realizes there's a sniper up on a chopper (when you shot this scene, you just ignored how unrealistic it got).

More shots come down, and you realize that he's targeting Johnny. The scrolls were sensitive, and the fact your characters swiped it like candy from a store meant no one was allowed to live after reading its contents.

"Johnny, watch out!" your character screams, jumping over him and taking a shot in your abdomen and right above your breast. Audible gasps are heard around the room, but it's Tomas's reaction that gets you.

He's angry, pissed beyond belief. His brows were down, his fingers digging into the pillow as he watched your character mutter out cringey last words and a dying breath.

Tears. There are also tears in his eyes as he watches your character pass completely. They fell as Johnny's actor and the others run away from your lifeless body. They fell as the actors cried on their own.

They fell as the credits rolled.

As everyone sang their praises for the movie, Tomas stays rather still, arms around the pillow as the angry tears keep falling. You move closer to him, covering his face as you talk to him in a voice only he can hear.

"Tomas? Darling?" you ask him as you wipe his tears. "Let the pillow go, talk to me..."

Obeying, he drops the pillow quickly to replace it with your waist. Soft, warm, you were not the person in the movie- you were alive. If the grip around you was tight already, he somehow made suffocating.

Like a child with his favorite toy, he did not want to let you go at all.

"Got yourself a dog, huh?" Johnny teases, reaching to ruffle his hair. Except he gets rejected with a glare and a dangerously low voice.

"You're never having her again, you scumbag."

You gasp at his rudeness, apologizing on his behalf as Johnny rants to Kenshi about how mean Tomas was being. Even so, Tomas didn't let go. You figured that it had something to so with his past, but pressing wouldn't do him good.

Instead, you wrapped your arms around him as stroked his hair. Soft downward strokes, you also drew circles on his back to get his beathing in order.

Even as people left, he did not let go, and you were okay with that.

=====================

and that's a wrap on all my requests!

please answer this poll as i am gonna be starting more writing projects

thank you all so much! and i'll see yall in the next fic!

[tomatoliciousheya]

cr. on watermark

[nieves-de-sugui]

A Quick History of BL

As someone who wrote a thesis on this very subject a few years ago, here is the short version of how BL has evolved throughout the years. For the new comers ❤ 

a minute of silence for the original form of this post that tumblr decied to not save right after I saved it

I am going to go with a chronological approach. Unfortunately, I cannot put everything in one post so if there’s any questions about this or that aspect of the history of BL that you want to know and it’s not talked about here, you are welcome to ask me directly :)

Context and influences - Japan in the 60′s

Before the US forced Japan to open its borders to the outside world in the 1800s, homosexual practices were common place between budist monks, samurais and kabuki actors. During the Edo period (1600s to 1800s) there was a very rich amount of poetry, art, books (such as Nanshoku Okagami (The Great Mirror of Male Love) by Ihara Saikaku) and codes of conduct about how to have a good master/aprentice relationship, kinda like the greeks if you know what I mean. However, with the arrival of western influences, in order to become a more “civilized” country, it was all put in the closet. 

Yet, in the 60′s Japan started to pick it up again through literature about young androginous beautiful boys (aka bishounen). On one hand, in 1961, the novel Koibitotachi no Mori (A Lover’s Forest) by Mari Mori was published. It tells the story of a young and beautiful 19 year old worker and a half french half japanese aristocrat, and their tragic romance. On the other hand, Taruho Inagaki wrote Shounen ai no Bigaku (The esthetics of boy-love), an essay on aesthetic eroticism (of which he wrote a lot of). All this was know as Tanbi (lit. aesthetic) literature. It generally refered to literature with implied homosexuality and homoeroticism such as works by Oscar Wilde, Jean Cocteau, etc. And of course, Mori and Inagaki. 

In chinese tanbi is read as danmei (term used to refer to BL novels in china today, ie: The Untamed it’s all connected friends).

From the birth of Shonen Ai  to Yaoi - 70′s to the late 80′s

Around the beginning of the 70′s, shoujo was being revolutionized by the Year 24 Group, a generation of women manga authors (mangaka) who started to explore new themes. Among them, their interest in tanbi gave birth to a new subgenre: Shounen ai. 

Their most known manga were:

Kaze to Ki no Uta (The Ballad of the Wind and Trees) by Keiko Takemiya, and Toma no Shinzo (The Heart of Thomas) by Moto Hagio

Their stories are characterized by having suffering eurpoean bishounen in boarding schools, living an idealized perfect love (meaning passionate) that, despite the tragic end of one of them, lives forever in the other. 

As this genre starts getting popular, more and more fans of these stories start making their own self published manga, aka doujinshi, of the genre. It is around this time that the term Yaoi is coined. Meaning “YAma nashi, Ochi nashi, Imi nashi” (no climax, no fall, no meaning). Basically PWP fanfiction, for the most part. Doujinshis could be considered an equivalent of fanfiction in manga form.  It is also here that the term Fujoshi (aka Rotten Girl, for liking rotten things) starts being used to refer to women readers of yaoi. 

With this rise in popularity come the start of the commercialization of the genre. Which meant the publication of magazines dedicated solely to yaoi/shonen ai/BL. The most popular yaoi manga magazine at the time was June. The common trait of their stories being the therapeutic power of the love between the mains. The traumatized character would heal throught this newfound love.

Most of the stories at this time happened in the West (Europe or the States) as the exploration of these dark themes intertwined with homosexual romance and homoeroticism still feel safer to explore as a foreign concept. One example would be Banana Fish (1985).

Commercialization and Yaoi Ronso -  90′s 

As more publishing houses pick the genre up, the term Boys Love is used to include every type of manga about homosexuality made for women. 

The increasing amount of BL series sees a changes in its themes: 

the start of the “gay for you” trope where one mantains their heterosexuality despite being in a homsexual relationship, 

the uke/seme dynamic (mirroring hetero realtionships) also relating to physical appearence (one being more feminine, the other being more masculine), 

the use of rape as an act love (sexual violence has always been present but here it becomes a staple),

anal sex as the only type of sex, 

older and more masculine men start to appear 

they now happen in Japan

Good examples of the presence of these themes in manga are Gravitation (1996) or Yatteranneeze (1995).

However in 1992, Masaki Sato (a gay activist/drag queen) wrote a letter in a small scale feminist magazine attacking yaoi and pointing out how it “represented a kind of misappropriation or distortion of gay life that impacted negatively upon Japanese gay men”. The female readers of yaoi responded, defending the genre as a means to escape gender roles and explore sexual themes that was never meant to represent the realities of gay men. This is know as the Yaoi Ronso (Yaoi Debates).

The debate ended with both sides understanding more of each other, with mangakas starting to include queer views in their works. It also started the academic reasearch of BL. 

Yet, it is a debate that has been restarted more than once, as it is still relevant despite the evolution of the genre.

more on this on another post

Globalization and coining of BL - 2000′s 

By the beginning of the 2000s BL is being sold all over the world (like all manga), and has become a stable industry. We could say it has finally become it’s own genre. 

Some of the most well known manga series, to us (in the west), of the time are:

Junjou Romantica 2002 Koi Suru Boukun 2004 Love Pistols 2004 Haru wo Daiteita 1999

all of these have anime adaptations for the curious ones

We also start seeing short anime adaptations or special episodes of the most popular series, with questionable themes, such as: adoptive father x adoptive son  (Papa to Kiss in the Dark 2005), father x son’s friend (Kirepapa 2008), etc... 

However the themes remain more or less the same. Junjou Romantica’s love story starts with a non-con sex scene by the older one (masc, seme) to the younger one (more feminine, uke) addressed years later in the manga btw. Koi Suru Boukun’s love story is triggered by aphrodisiacs and rape. They’re still very present in the stories but slowly going away. A mangaka that represents this era could be Natsume Isaku (Candy Color Paradox 2010).

Change is slow in Japan. Even though the voices of LGBT+ people started to be taken into account in the genre it is not until later that we see it reflect in the mangas themselves. However, we can already see the start of this in Doukyusei (Classmates) (2006) by Asumiko Nakamura. Also Kinou Nani Tabeta? (2007) which is actually part of a more mature genre: Seinen.

It is my personal (subjective) theory that the BL of this era was the one that got popular outside of Japan, which is why we see lots of references to the themes, tropes and dynamics of this time in today’s BL series. 

The LGBTzation of BL and the rise of webtoons - 2010′s to 2020′s

Slowly but surely LGBT characters and themes enter the scene of BL. Existing simultaneously with the previous tropes and themes, we start seeing a shift in these stories. We now see:

characters that identify as gay or some type of queer

discussions about homophobia

more mature themes about life and romance

At the same time as we get the usual love stories with the usual themes, a new trend starts to take over. And we get simultaneously, cute, sometimes questionable but light love stories:

Love Stage 2010 Ashita wa Docchi da! 2011 Kieta Hatsukoi 2019

More profound stories and darker or more complex themes:

Blue Sky Complex 2013  Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai 2011 (mafias) Given 2013 (suicide) Hidamari ga Kikoeru 2013 (deafness)

And others that adress the queer experience in a more mature way (which might actually fall into the Seinen genre)

Itoshi no Nekokke 2010 (slice of life, queer characters) Smells like Green Spirit 2011 (two ways to deal with a homphobic society) Strange 2014 (relationships between men) Shimanami Tasogare 2015 (an LGBT group helps a closeted gay) Old Fashioned Cupcake 2019 (you know this one 😉) Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu 2020 (the end of the world)

As queer stories are explored, BL mangakas and mangakas from other genres start to consider more stories about queer people such as the Josei Genderless Danshi ni Aisaretemasu (My Androgynous Boyfriend) (2018) by Tamekou, or the Shoujo Goukon ni Itarra Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi (The story of when I went to a mixer and there were no women) (2021) by Nana Aokawa. 

Still, we can see two realities live side by side. Doukyuusei gets adapted into an impactful animated movie in 2016, meanwhile Banana Fish gets an anime adaptation that keeps the homoeroticism but not the homosexuality.  

For those who might be interested. Here are some of the authors that represent the first half of this era, where they start to include newer points of view:

Scarlet Beriko, HAYAKAWA Nojiko, KURAHASHI Tomo, OGERETSU Tanaka, Harada, KII Kanna (Stranger by the Sea), etc...

And authors that while keeping classical themes break the stereotypes in a subtle manner:

CTK, ZAKK, Jyanome, Cocomi, Hidebu Takahashi, SUZUMARU Minta, etc...

Mangakas also no longer stick to one genre only. They explore whichever of them they want, from BL to Seinen to others. 

ie: Tamekou, 

or Asumiko Nakamura

The curious case of Webtoons

With the digitalization of mangas, throught Renta and Lehzin, it has become easier (and more expensive) to access these stories. Korea makes and appearence with their webtoons. Through the lack of piracy protections and the majority of them being digital, manhwa (korean webtoons) sees a rise in popularity. Through the digital medium the influencee can be the influencer.

However, like many other East Asian countries they have consumed BL, without hearing about the conversations about BL. So they end up mantaining the older themes and stereotypes that newer BL is trying to leave behind. Therefore, we end up with a mix of old and new, ie:

Killing Stalking 2016 Cherry Blossoms After Winter 2017 Painter of The Night 2019

Additionally, it is also thanks to the easy access to internet that Omegaverse, with its higher dramatic stakes (that parallel hetero dynamics), enters the mangasphere in 2016. It has grown in popularity ever since.

With the Thai BL Boom of 2020, Japan rediscovers its own BL market and starts investing in it more. Which is why we get live action adaptations of BL manga that was popular years ago (Candy Color Paradox was a manga from 2010), the more recent ones (The End of the World With You) or new anime adaptations (Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai in 2020). 

more on this in my japanese live action BL post

What has it become now? is it BL? ML? or Seinen? Or is it all just gay manga?

It is clear that Shoujo manga (with BL, Josei and Seinen) is exploring queer themes such as gender and sexuality more and more. Japan is interested in this conversation, not only in manga (Genderless fashion). Which brings up the current question in BL studies: Does it make sense to keep these categories?

As a response to BL, ML (Male Love), which is made by gay men for gay men, started happening (around the 70s too). And Bara (gay manga porn) in response to Yaoi. However both gay men and women read BL and ML. We also see other themes being explored through BL, such as friendship (in BL Metamorphose), food (in Kinou Nani Tabeta), male relationships of all kinds (in Strange), and different queer views on life and its challenges (in Shimanami Tasogare). More and more what is LGBT and what is BL is merging, the line is blurred. 

Conclusion

BL has been in my life for longer than it hasn't. It is through shoujo and BL that I have come to understand people and romance.

It is flawed, like everything else this life, but it's flourishing in many ways.

The genre feels old and new at the same time. 

We can still find shounen ai/tanbi elements in more modern manga (All About J). Or the gay for you in a new light (Itoshi no Nekkoke). Or more educational manga on queer issues (My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame). BL has around 50 years of existence but it is also being born anew in Thailand and Korea. 

BL manga will continue to evolve in acordance to Japanese tastes, as it is still a local market. Hopefully the korean webtoons that get popular will be the more daring ones in their themes. Who knows where it will go from here? The only thing we know for sure is that it will continue to change. Isn't it exciting?

A post on the evolution of live action BL in Japan is coming, to complement this post.  As well as a more detailed explanation of the Yaoi Debates and gay manga.

[knittinganddrinkingtea]

Annelot de Waal by Tomas de la Fuente for Telva Magazine June 2017

[sincericida]

hi been lookign for this foreverrrr and cant find it but do u have a link to the andrew garfield vid where he talks about his views on love and says "you would love absolutely anyone if you knew your story" would be massively appreciated!!!

Dear, I’ve never seen this video, and all the search everywhere on Google takes us to this link from People Magazine:

“Yes, I do believe in love at first sight but I also believe that you would love absolutely anybody if you knew their story.”

I swear in 2024, that phrase makes me roll my eyes. He love the swindler witch’s past? Some people are just evil.

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 9, Number 3

Emergency Group

As AI takes over the creative professions, it may seem pointless for actual, struggling human beings to sit down to listen to music made by other human beings, to think about what they hear and to string together sentences about how they felt about that music and what it means. But, in a sense, Dusted has always been a bit pointless, as have many of the under-heard, under-loved musics we follow. Still, since there’s no money in it, we can’t be starved out. We may not win an us-against-the-machines battle, but there’s no reason to surrender. And so, this month, we gather our low-tech resources to consider another batch of excellent, under-the-radar releases from folk artists and metal thrashers, jazz improvisers and pop craftspeople. Contributors include Bill Meyer, Ian Mathers, Jennifer Kelly, Justin Cober-Lake, Jonathan Shaw, Tim Clarke, Bryon Hayes, Margaret Welsh and Andrew Forell—not a robot in the bunch.

Joseph Allred — What Strange Flowers In The Shade (Feeding Tube)

What Strange Flowers In The Shade by Joseph Allred

We’ll be dealing with the pandemic’s fallout for years to come, but some consequences are lined with silver. Locked up in a grad school apartment, Joseph Allred spent a lot of time getting acquainted with the less-handled items in their sizable collection of instruments. Best known as a mystical acoustic guitarist of the Takoma school and a spiritually astute singer, they also have a lengthy, if less documented, history of appreciating and performing plugged-in music. What Strange Flowers Grown In The Shade arose from Allred’s deep dive into the delights of effects pedals and a Fender Jaguar guitar. Bolstered by remote contributions by the Rolin-Powers Duo, Magic Tuber Stringband, and others, Allred set the sound-mixer for slow stir and the spotlight for the center of the resulting thick swirl. The outcome sounds a bit like Mike Cooper might if you packed him off to a cold, damp clime with nothing to play but choral recordings, and he embraced the circumstances (don’t try this at home, folks; Cooper would be more likely to embrace your neck with an asphyxiating grip if you did him such a disservice).

Bill Meyer  

 John Atkinson — Energy Fields (AKP Recordings)

It may have taken John Atkinson just two weeks on a residency in Wyoming (surrounded by the sounds of coal mines, wind farms, oil refineries, and hydropower plants) to get all of the field recordings he microedited into the four tracks that make up Energy Fields, but it took him another two years to figure out how to stitch them together. In that time, his longstanding interest in both the manipulation of found/sourced sound and in climate issues haven’t exactly dated. On the industrial rumble of “Black Thunder” and the galvanizing drones of “Spiritual Electricity” you can practically see the extractive machinery Atkinson was surrounded with, whereas the record’s second half moves to a calmer, more meditative and even hopeful place. The results are evocative and sometimes troubling soundscapes deeply rooted in our current ecological moment.

Ian Mathers

 Emergency Group — Inspection of Cruelty (Island House)

Inspection Of Cruelty by Emergency Group

Two side-long slabs of fusion-y free improvisation are led by long-time Dusted favorite Jonathan Byerley (Plates of Cake and Anti-Westerns), with seasoned jazz players Robert Boston and Andreas Brade in tow. WFMU DJ, writer and bassist Dave Mandl rounds out the foursome. A 1970s futuristic cool hangs over the whole enterprise, in its chugging rhythms, its radiant runs of electric keyboards, its motorific jams. You are meant to sniff out hash-scented whiffs of Silent Way into Jack Johnson-era Miles Davis (despite the lack of brass) in all this, but Return to Forever is a closer match, and maybe CAN, too. There’s an underpinning of jazz, but it wigs way the fuck out from there. I’d give the edge to urgent, driving “Part 1,” nearly half an hour long but constantly evolving, ever fascinating. “Part 2” is shorter, but not by much, but also less visceral, more of a head piece. It dozes deep into a psychedelic dream, where fairy dust keyboard notes drift down from pastel skies, sparkling all the way, and deep pulses of bass power the machinery that makes the illusion work. I’ve never loved keyboard-heavy fusion but I like this, go figure.

Jennifer Kelly 

 Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double — March On (self-released)

March On by Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double

When percussionist Tomas Fujiwara convened his odd sextet a few years ago for their second album (2020's March), he had them record some extra material intended as segues between tracks. He decided the session warranted its own album, and new digital-only release March On centers on the 30-minute titular improv. The freedom of the set should suit fans of the artists involved (including Gerald Cleaver, Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook, Taylor Ho Bynum and Ralph Alessi). Each of those musicians write and perform surprising, free-sounding music, but with careful composition structuring the adventures more carefully than might be expected. “March On” puts them in full improv mode, a task that succeeds largely because they've learned to interact so well with each other in a variety of ensembles over the past decade or so.

The Triple Double structure still holds, offering surprises in one level simply by changing configurations. The band's name suggests basketball, and the group plays a never-stagnating motion offense. We move from a horn duet to a guitar battle to a drum-guitar-trumpet trio with ease. Given the crowded space, each musician stays out of the others' way while still finding moments to become a focal point. The album closes with Halvorson and Seabrook briefly partnering for “Silhouettes,” 45 seconds of weird tone an unsettling conversation. It closes the album well, hinting at more mysteries within an ongoing conversation.

Justin Cober-Lake

 Full of Hell and Primitive Man — Suffocating Hallucination (Closed Casket Activities)

Suffocating Hallucination by Full of Hell & Primitive Man

A glib assessment of this collaboration between noisy grind band Full of Hell and the doomy monster that is Primitive Man might note: it’s 26 seconds of Full of Hell and 34 minutes of Primitive Man. For sure Suffocating Hallucination is dominated by the agonizing assaults of volume associated with Primitive Man’s excoriating, magma-paced music. But folks should recall just how adventurous the last few Full of Hell records have been, replete with excursions into hair-raising harsh noise and muscular hardcore. Open your ears to the textures of the record’s first two tracks (the sublimely titled “Trepanation for Future Joys” and the aptly titled “Rubble Home”) and you’ll hear both bands at work, responding to each other’s force and fury. Is that good? Depends on your appetite for unhappiness. This reviewer is compelled by the record’s final 18 minutes, in which the haunted factory sounds of “Dwindling Will” leach into the perversely magisterial “Tunnels to God.” As novelist Stephen Wright once observed, “If you can’t ascend, you might as well descend.” This music will get you there.

Jonathan Shaw

 Drew Gardner — The Return (Astral Spirits)

The Return by Drew Gardner

Folks following American “don’t call it primitive” guitar music have likely noted Drew Gardner’s redoubtably picking in Elkhorn, where he handles the usually-electric, six-string side of their bases-covered attack. Most folks don’t get to sound so sure in a minute, and it turns out that Gardner is a man with a past. He has been multi-instrumentalist since the 1980s, and during the mid-1990s he was an active participant in San Francisco’s free jazz scene. Around the same time, saxophonist John Tchicai had a teaching gig in Davis CA; he retained Gardner as a drummer, and when Gardner had a chance to record at Guerilla Euphonics in 1995, he returned the favor. Also on board were Church of John Coltrane alto saxophonist Roberto de Haven and, on one track, Marco Eneidi, also on alto. Gardner and bassist Vytas Nagisetty stoke the furnace, alternating a full head of steam with more judiciously applied rumblings, and the twinned reeds give Gardner’s themes a distinctly pre-electric Ornette feel. No doubt there’s a good reason why this music didn’t come out at the time, but it wasn’t on account of the music’s quality.

Bill Meyer

 Hourlope — Three Nights in the Wawayanda (self-released / Tymbal Tapes)

Three Nights in the Wawayanda by Hourloupe

Hourlope is a collaboration between Anar Badalov and Frank Menchaca, and Three Nights in the Wawayanda is the third part of an ambitious trilogy that began with Future Deserts, continued on Sleepwalker, and reaches its fantastical culmination here. Hourlope pair elusive electronic backing with Mechaca’s measured spoken word delivery, and the results are frequently beguiling. It feels like music from another time, both harking back to the origins of ambient electronica in the 1990s and reaching forward to imagine fresh new musical forms. The album’s finest moments are the more abstract, beatless pieces, such as the Fennesz-esque “Thumper,” and centerpiece “Green Navy/Rain,” a stunningly evocative two minutes in which Menchaca’s words perfectly complement the eerie atmosphere of the music.

Tim Clarke

Brett Naucke — Cast a Double Shadow (Ceremony of Seasons)

Cast A Double Shadow by Brett Naucke

Wine, beer and spirit clubs are not new, but the Asheville-based VISUALS winery is taking the concept beyond liquids with its Ritual of Senses club. It’s pairing rare, locally fermented products with components meant to delight the other senses. Packages are meant to arrive at the solstices and equinoxes and include a seasonally appropriate auditory component. Brett Naucke’s Cast a Double Shadow is included in the club’s winter solstice edition. Having spent most of his life near Chicago, the sound artist is now based in Asheville, hence his participation. Naucke blends a sonically diverse array of genetic material into a recombinant organism well-suited to survive the longest and coldest wintery night. Icy synths and brittle samples are bolstered by a lushness that carries a kernel of warmth inside of it. Bubbling arpeggios create the illusion of motion, and since a moving liquid cannot freeze, Naucke’s compositions remain lively amid the pervasive frostiness of the hibernal season. Those lucky enough to pair these ice-melting sounds with VISUALS’ liquid accompaniment will surely enjoy a synaesthetic intoxication. Imbibe responsibly, folks.

Bryon Hayes    

 The Natural Lines — S-T (Bella Union)

Matt Pond may not be Matt Pond PA anymore, but he’s making the kind of clever, earnest indie rock as always, with some of the same people, notably Chris Hansen, his longtime guitarist and co-producer. This self-titled full length follows on the 2022 EP First Five, revisiting pensive, string-soothed “Spontaneous Skylights” and adding ten new warbly gems. “Monotony” feels like a COVID song, specifically a song about a musician’s experience of COVID, its clamped guitar stuttering as Pond sketches adapting to a smaller world. “When you start to think about the way you breathe, it doesn’t mean you believe in monotony,” he observes in a wavering voice that struggles to remain upbeat. But the music swells and with it, Pond finds his footing. “Climb the drums to feel the fall, stab the strings to feel anything,” he sings. Later, “A Scene That Will Never Die” turns moody introspection into bell-clear, chiming triumph. Pond’s voice is always bruised, rueful, real, but the music surges in waves of joy. If you’re still climbing out of the last couple of years, take heart. Matt Pond is, too, and he’s got a new band and an album to help.

Jennifer Kelly

 No Cosmos — you iii everything else (Lighter Than Air)

You iii everything else by No Cosmos

Montrealean jazz trumpet player Scott Bevins inhabits a fluid convergence of jazz, electronics and R&B in this eight-song debut, drawing out languid, lucid melodies in brass and roughing them up with a battery of percussion from drummer Kyle Hutchins. Bright, reiterative bell-tones frame “kindergentlepatient” in Reichian pointillism, but the trumpet rings out a long-noted, clarion melody, a little echo clinging to it like a shadow, flickering underneath. “Almost Lost You,” an early single, slaps a slinky downtempo beat onto musing post-Miles cool, and floats traceries of soul vocals over its slouching groove. Less overtly accessible, but ultimately more rewarding, “0 to me to me to me,” ruptures its Rhodes-chilled serenity with continual explosions of drumming. I like it best when Bevins lets the chaos slips into his stylized precision.

Jennifer Kelly

Party of the Sun — Capsule III EP (Trailing Twelve)

Capsule III by Party of the Sun

Backwoods psychedelia springs up like mushrooms in the wilder parts of northern New England. Party of the Sun, an acid folk trio from the Monadnock Region (where yrs truly also resides), made these gently expansive tunes on a working sheep farm, following in the muck crusted footsteps of MV+EE, Sunburned and Akron/Family. Akron/Family, admittedly, hailed from New York, but the resonance is strong anyway, especially to that first slow-burning album, where the creak of rocking chairs, the rumble of thunder, seeped into translucent, transcendent melody. Here, “See Space” is all murmur-y, sunlit radiance, guitar and keyboards picking out glittering patterns under Ethan McBrien’s soft, considering tenor. “Forget Me Knot” coalesces out of a cloud of buzzing sonics, warm, widely spaced guitar chords emerging like the emerging light of morning. Harmonies swell, in a natural way, and drums thump up a climax, as the song balloons from quiet contemplation to something epic. “Smoke Bush,” with its subtle thread of female harmonies, eddies and swirls and lilts like a lost 1960s folk off-take. These tunes grow naturally out of reverie and solitude, but they don’t stay that way. They invite you in.

Jennifer Kelly

 Anastassis Philippakopoulos — piano1 piano2 piano3 (Edition Wandelweiser Records)

2020 was a rotten time for too many things to count, but it was a great time to stop and settle into some new music. That opportunity could not have been on anyone’s mind when Elsewhere Music released Anastassis Philippakopoulos: piano works mere weeks before the lockdowns began, but it was a perfect response to the moment. The Greek composer’s compositions, as performed by Melaine Dalibert, were distillations of reflection and deliberate action. This album, which contains earlier works performed by a different pianist, exchanges pith for elongation, but in other respects it’s a continuation of Philippakopoulos’s poetic dialogue between profound silence and unassumingly beautiful sound. Each note bears the weight of consideration, as though the composer carried out a moral inventory before committing to its placement in moderate proximity to another one, and the restrained touch of Serbian pianist Teodora Stepančić honors the music’s austerity.

Bill Meyer 

 Sif — Darkstalker (Self-released)

Darkstalker by Sif

Nuthin’ fancy here, folks, just 25 minutes of satisfying blackened doom. Richard Murphy has been making records as Sif for a few years, and the project has gotten progressively heavier, shifting from bummer drone meditations to this current thumping and crunching incarnation. The tape’s opening track “Kingseeker” slowly morphs from a repetitive churn to a sludgy groove, which situates the sounds in Louisiana’s long metal tradition (just what goes on down there?). It’s beautifully paced and just recalcitrant enough to insist on returning to the opening riff, rather than seeking any sort of catharsis. The title track spends some time foregrounding Murphy’s chops on bass, with the sort of heaviosity-worship one associates with Conan. Tremolos and more varied textures eventually cut into the song, with some heroic intent. But mostly Murphy wants to wield tone like a mace to your forehead. Hit me again, man. It’s good.

Jonathan Shaw

 Ultrabonus — El Gimnasio en Casa (Kitchen Leg)

EL GIMNASIO EN LA CASA VOL.1 by ¡ULTRABONUS!

Recorded a lifetime ago (well, in 2020, same difference) and released this past December, the unprocessed immediacy of El Gimnasio en Casa bears no left-in-the-can staleness. Berlin-based, multi-national four-piece Ultrabonus offers brief, melodic garage-punk tunes delivered with crisp, swaggery style by Argentina native Ignatz B. The title charmingly translates to “the home gym,” and the sunny lo-fi psychedelia is appropriately threaded through with calisthenic noodling. Nothing groundbreaking here, but Ultrabonus does what it does very well. Fun, cool stuff.

Margaret Welsh

  99Letters — Makafushigi (Disciples)

Makafushigi by 99LETTERS

Japanese producer Takahiro Kinoshita’s companion piece to his 2022 Kaibou Zukan (Anatomy Picture Book) takes his concept of gagaku techno into a seamy, industrial and far darker direction. Makafushigi (Mystery Tape) is, like its predecessor, built on samples of traditional instruments and vocal styles used in Japanese Imperial Court music. Introduced from Chinese and Korean sources, Gagaku music has continued under Imperial patronage since the 10th century. As 99Letters, Kinoshita fuses these ancient sounds with modern electronic music in ways that are as malevolent as the demons of mythology and as sinister as the underbelly of organized crime and ultranationalism in contemporary Japan. The tracks on Makafushigi are washed in a seamy mix of grit and clamor, a grim, grimy world of back alleys, dingy bars and low-tech manufacturing. It’s a haunted netherworld as alienating as it’s compelling. Fans of Haxan Cloak & Demdike Stare will find much to like here.

Andrew Forell

[abdulraveman]

TV station 2023年3号