#Yvonne Simone

[modelcoutureee]

[fat-models]

Yvonne Simone at Christian Siriano SS 20

[lagloiredenosperes]

[spenglernot]

STORIES TELLING: NED LOWE AND THE DEATH OF POOR REPRESENTATION IN OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH

In history, Ned Lowe was one of the most sadistic and violent pirates in the early 18th century, so he’s an obvious choice for a villain for season 2, episode 6 – Calypso’s Birthday.  What is interesting is what the OFMD writers chose to do with him.

Lowe announces himself to the crew of the Revenge with great fanfare (cannon ball attack) and gets right to the point.

Ed is thoroughly unimpressed.

Cut to Ed and Stede tied up while Ned attempts to set the mood so he can monologue about why he wants to kill Ed.

Ed knows what’s coming. He is going to suffer but he still can’t be arsed to meet Ned with anything but vaguely bored dismissiveness (and Stede is happy to play along).

Up on the deck, Ned prepares the crew for his big, dramatic moment of symphonic torture.

Note that the Revenge crew is tied down, braced by vices and generally unable to protect themselves from imminent torture and possible death, but their spirits are up. They don’t seem terribly fussed.

Then Stede uses his people positive management style to happily orchestrate a worker uprising in Ned’s crew.

Ned’s crew responds instantly; severing their allegiance to Lowe and telling him off.

The crew sails away and talks profit sharing while Ned dully threatens to hunt them down.

Ned is now a prisoner of the Revenge crew and seems entirely disinterested in his own survival.

And Ned sinks to the depths, without struggling at all.

There is a lot going on in this episode: pay and labor equity direct action, gay love engagement bliss, kink humor, Stede being a hero and saving his crew by playing to his strengths, then having to decide whether to kill in cold blood and feel the consequences of that choice. Ed having one more reason to be done with piracy (while being so impressed with and fond of Stede), and then watching his man make a fraught choice and having to deal with the fallout from that. (And, damn, I haven’t even mentioned the passionate sex bit.) Anyway, back to the point.

Now for the the meta part

The Ned Lowe sequences are perfectly in keeping with OFMD’s signature blend of madcap violence, humor, and big emotional gut punches. But something about Ned Lowe just strikes me as off for this show.

Ned is seriously threatening the crews’ lives, so why don’t they take him seriously?

Why does Ned have such a boring, throwaway backstory?

Why is Ned so nonchalant about his own death; like it’s a foregone conclusion?

Why does Ned have a silver violin and silver spurs on his slip-on dress shoes?

Why is Ned sartorially monochromatic?

And then I realized who Ned reminds me of.

This guy,

Earnst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever (1971)

And this guy,

Scar in Disney's The Lion King (1994).

And this guy,

Xerxes, 300 (2006).

And it sure seems like Ned Lowe isn’t just an episodic villain. He is an archetype of the one-dimensional, stereotypical queer-coded villain that has been endemic in film and television throughout history. The OFMD writers have a lot to say about what to do with this kind of character:

Don’t respect him.

Feel free to openly mock him.

Don’t let him take your joy, even though he will hurt you.

He won’t disappear on his own. You have to throw something at him (take action) to make him go away.

Once he’s in the water, he’s content to drown. He’s not into what he’s doing any more than you are.

Oh and, just to be clear,

The LGBTQIA+ community has a very long history of turning shit media into better stories. So, hey, big media, prepare to have your crap characters wrecked (improved).

Now, back to our transformative pirate show with rich, complex queer characters and a multi-layered plot that surprises me every week and makes me feel big feelings - most of all, joy.

Final thought: I do wonder if Ned Lowe is monochromatically silver as a tribute to/poke at, Hollywood and the silver screen.

This meta was written before OFMD season 2 has fully aired. No idea what’s going to happen in the finale (and I’ve generally fled social media to avoid spoilers). I’ll be back, looking at everyone’s fascinating posts after episode 8 airs.

[manikas-whims]

MC, Tara, Yvonne and Simone need to have a Girl's Night or something like that in canon..where they just end up crashing at Captain Jenna’s place lol..

I wanna see some girls having fun..is it too much to ask for..

[purplespacekitty]

every now and then, the spirit of angsty rock musicals possesses me and I descend into a cycle of listening to, watching, acting out, talking about and singing Jesus Christ Superstar for about 2 weeks straight. during this time period, the falsettos of Ted Neeley and Ian Gillan, masterful ad libs of Carl Anderson, sorrowful balladic notes of Yvonne Elliman and all those who came before and after them consume my every waking thought. I become compelled to listen to every version of “Heaven On Their Minds” and “Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)” I can find, even the ones recorded with shitty iPhone cameras and mics. my voice goes hoarse singing along with Judas’ lament over blood money and Simon’s overenthusiastic powerpoint to Jesus about how great he is. I obsess over how cunty Judas’, Herod’s, Caiaphas’ and Pilate’s outfits are by production. I weep over the kiss of betrayal as Judas and Jesus are separated for the last time. I learn new stuff about the singers and productions every time.

I soak up the inevitable poetic tragedy of it all and then I go back to our regularly scheduled programming.

[balsanja]

[notchainedtotrauma]

I do want to point out that the popular poets and popular poems here, the Mary Oliver type, are rarely from Black poets (I’m very keen on the “Black” of it all). You might see Audre Lorde in passing, maybe Lucille Clifton, but very few Black poets are widely circulated, reblogged, screenshotted on this site and  for me that’s a difficult pill to swallow. And they’re quite easy to find too, so...This has nothing to do with “representation” or “diversity” but about erasure and who seems to exist in the poetic imagination.

[fantastic-nonsense]

any time I think about these two exchanges I get uncontrollably angry thinking about what we could have had if Dan Didio and the rest of DC editorial during the New 52 era hadn't been so ridiculously awful

"Babs couldn't wear glasses," "Babs can't be a librarian," "Oracle can't be mentioned in ANY context" I hate them. I hate them so much. The Killing Joke can remain canon and be REPEATEDLY focused on but Barbara Gordon can't be a librarian or be recognized as a disabled character in literally any way. What a joke.

[letterboxd-loggd]

Olivia (1951) Jacqueline Audry

May 13th 2023

[forensicated]

Ginathon Episodes: Episode 232

At the end of the last episode there was an explosion at the Lord Banbury pub where the summer party is being held. Most of the Sun Hill staff are able to make their way outside on their own feet, some with light injuries and most just shocked or coughing from the smoke. Gina looks for Adam but noone has seen him come out yet. There's secondary bangs inside the building from the structure being unstable and Gina quickly calls for a fire officer to come assess the situation. Tony can't wait and runs back in to find Adam and get him out before the building collapses. There's a further collapse that blocks the exit but Tony manages to kick the fire escape doors open and carries an unconcious Adam out over his shoulder.

Unknown to everyone except Gina, Adam has been receiving racist hate mail for quite some time through the internal mail. Back at the station and unaware of what has happened, Rob slips an envelope into Adam's pigeon hole whilst wearing a glove.

The pub is sealed off and SO13 are called to attend. Sam suggests a gas leak but Gina says none of the witnesses or officers mention smelling gas. She did spot Wayne Radford driving away when she arrived however. Instantly Rob is riled. "It could be a bomb!" Jack tells him not to get ahead of himself and to go make himself useful.

The latest news is that Adam is critical and Gina heads to her car to go and be with him at the hospital. Jonathan arrives, having rushed to the scene. Gina is still obviously in shock and worried about Adam but assures Jonathan she's OK and that it would take more than an explosion to get rid of her. Jonathan hugs her and says their last few conversations had been snapping and things could have ended so differently. He offers to go with her but she assures him she'll be ok and doesn't know how long she'll be so she'll call him when leaving.

Back at the station, Jack has found the note in Adam's internal mail and has started to think that he could have been targeted by a racist. Rob says he was sent one too and that it has to be Wayne Radford, panicking when Jack won't be swayed.

Gina is still sat at Adam's bedside when Neil comes to see how he is doing. It still doesn't look good as he's inhaled so much smoke. [Out of interest, they're saying it doesn't look good. but noone appears to have contacted his wife. It's Gina who's at his bedside for hours. This is all of a day after she called him out for being jealous she was seeing Jonathan too...] The next 24 hours are critical.

The next morning Adam starts to come round with Gina at his bedside. Jonathan is worried as he hasn't heard from Gina. It's early days but the signs are good. Jack tells uniform that the explosion was caused by a bomb and that Adam received a racist hate note.

Rob and Terry look into The Radford's involvement in the potential planting of the bomb. Rob watches the CCTV from a furniture shop across the road. Wayne arrives 2 minutes before and carries a parcel from the boot in the direction of the pub. Wayne gets back into his car seconds after the explosion and drives off. When spoken to, Wayne tells them that he was dropping off a birthday cake at Mario's, the bistro around the corner from the pub for a surprise party. Before they can leave the Radfords, it appears as though the 'bomber' may have struck again. Jerome Taylor, a local black councillor, reports he has been beaten up, told to leave Sun Hill and that he's been receiving hate mail. Rob doesn't look all that convinced, not least because it's been him and Taylor sending Adam the hate mail. He's horrified to hear about the bombing and Adam being hurt however - aware that if the notes are discovered to have come from him and Rob it makes them the most likely suspects.

Adam recounts what he remembers to Gina though it isn't especially helpful. He tells her that Denise has already asked him to leave Sun Hill over the hate mail. Gina admits he gave even her quite a scare and made her wonder if it was worth it. Adam tells her that she'll never walk away from the job as she has 'copper' coursing through her veins. She just smiles and says she's going to make times for other things - relationships for one.

Adam: "You mean Jonathan. For you to even be considering resigning there must be love in the air." Gina: "Oh give over!" Adam: "It's nothing to be ashamed of. You should tell him how you feel." Gina: "It's not me is it... all that lovey dovey stuff." Adam: "So you do love him then." Gina: "Something like that." Adam: "You can go out into the streets, take on dangerous criminals but when it comes to the man you love, you can't say three little words"

Jonathan and Gina finally catch up where she apologises for not ringing. Gina spots Lance before she can take Jonathan to her office to tell him something special and asks him to wait a moment. Tony has told Gina that Lance is struggling after he was unable to go help Tony get Adam out the pub and she goes to speak to him to make sure he's alright. Now Lance has gotten his phone and jacket back from Gina he's rather concerned by some messages that he has received. One in particular asks him to meet him by the gents toilets in the pub - where the bomb was - sent moments before it exploded.

Gina finally gets chance to speak to Jonathan. She wants to tell him that she's fallen in love with him and wants to prioritise their relationship, but unfortunately Jonathan is fed up of playing second best to the job. He speaks over her and tells her he thinks it's best to split up. "It's not that I don't love you, Gina. I'm sure I always will but I can't be in a relationship where I'm playing second fiddle." "But that's what I was going to say to you!" "Being a copper is what you are. It wouldn't be fair for me to try and change it, you'd only resent me for it anyway. It's time to call it a day." The barriers come slamming down again and Gina turns her back on him. "You know it's for you too... it's best all round." Instead of replying and telling him the truth - that she wanted to make more time for them and loves him - she shuts down and literally turns her back on him rather than let him see the truth, tears pricking her eyes.

She also turns down an invite from the relief to go out for a drink, still sounding rather choked ad she does.

[tfblovesmusic]

CW: caricatures of Chinese people.

One of the best renditions of this English baroque operatic gem on moving media! Even one of the vocalists, Michael Chance (LE-FLUTING-SWOON!), said, "I have never had so much fun as I had in this production. 'Antic Hay' reigned supreme - both on and behind stage. clever, clever stuff from (David Poutney and Quinny Sacks) - how they made this unstageable semi-opera work as cohesive entertainment is extraordinary."

Speaking of Papa Chance, my favorite part has to be "Let the Fifes and the Clarions!" I can watch the scene (as well as "No Kissing At All") on repeat ALL DAY LONG!

[fkmarrycill]

I learned that the dress is from the 2024 A/W collection of Irish designer Simone Rocha. 🤓

Y'all... 👀

[iveryne]

♰ ꓹ old french names. ── ── fem , masc.

feminine.

marie ꓹ jeanne ꓹ marguerite ꓹ yvonne ꓹ madeleine ꓹ marcelle ꓹ marth ꓹ lucienne ꓹ renee ꓹ helene ꓹ josephine ꓹ lucie ꓹ fernande ꓹ gabrielle ꓹ angele ꓹ odette ꓹ therese ꓹ augustine ꓹ elise ꓹ blanche ꓹ francoise ꓹ cecile ꓹ genevieve ꓹ emilianne ꓹ mathilde ꓹ leontine ꓹ claire ꓹ julienne ꓹ irene ꓹ amelia ꓹ amelie ꓹ aline ꓹ camille ꓹ aimee ꓹ victorine ꓹ reine ꓹ rosalie ꓹ francene ꓹ clemence ꓹ solange ꓹ valentine ꓹ augusta ꓹ alphonsine ꓹ celine ꓹ clementine ꓹ clotilde ꓹ philomene ꓹ celestine ꓹ felicie ꓹ irma ꓹ rosa ꓹ caroline ꓹ elisa ꓹ alexandrine ꓹ ida ꓹ therese ꓹ simone

masculine.

fabien ꓹ germaine ꓹ gautier ꓹ valeray ꓹ antoine ꓹ andre ꓹ edouard ꓹ roch ꓹ amoux ꓹ lothaire ꓹ thiery ꓹ clement ꓹ armand ꓹ cyril ꓹ didier ꓹ florent ꓹ gilles ꓹ gustave ꓹ matthieu ꓹ valentin ꓹ yanis ꓹ luc ꓹ loris ꓹ rene ꓹ regis ꓹ emeric ꓹ marcel ꓹ laurent ꓹ ambroise ꓹ sacha ꓹ nael ꓹ basile ꓹ amir ꓹ albin ꓹ gauthier ꓹ verdell ꓹ arsene ꓹ sylvain ꓹ aymer ꓹ olivier ꓹ jehan ꓹ sanson ꓹ perceval ꓹ rolant ꓹ guillame ﾉ guillalme ꓹ estiene ꓹ charlon ꓹ franceis ꓹ jasque ꓹ peire ꓹ loeis ꓹ lohier ꓹ yvain

[uwmspeccoll]

Wood Engraving Wednesday

LINDA HOLMES

English wood engraver Linda Holmes (1950-2015) has provided engraved illustrations for three publications by the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Press of Appletree Alley. One of those books is Printing as Art: William Morris & His Circle of Influence printed in an edition of 150 copies by Juanita Bishop and Appletree Alley's founder Bernard Taylor in 1994. The book presents correspondence held at Bucknell University by William Morris to T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, William Butler Yeats to his sister Elizabeth (Lolly) Yeats (co-founder of the Dun Emer Press and the Cuala Press), and Elizabeth Yeats to Emery Walker, as well as reprinting George Bernard Shaw's essay "Shaw on Modern Typography."

Linda Holmes trained as a journalist with the BBC and became a presenter for the network's Newsnight from 1980 to 1983. In 1985, she and her husband, BBC journalist David Holmes, retired from London to Walpole, in Suffolk. In 1989, Holmes attended Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (now Camberwell College of Arts) to study wood engraving under Simon Brett and Yvonne Skargon. Holmes enjoyed a 25-year career as both a wood engraver and a painter until her death from pancreatic cancer at the age of 65.

View more posts with wood engravings!

[dearorpheus]

Are there any non-fiction you can recommend for people who are fascinated by your blog (especially the elements of dark eroticism, morbidity and horror)?

🖤 love that you are loving!

i will try to stick to non-fic (also refraining as best i can from re-recommending texts from previous asks but there is of course bound to be some overlap): - The Severed Head: Capital Visions, Julia Kristeva -> read about Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations for Salomé (x, x)

and supplement w Baudelaire's Une Martyre "in which the narrator lovingly contemplates the beauty of a woman's severed head at rest upon a nightstand"

- Masochism: Coldness and Cruelty & Venus in Furs, Deleuze - The Sadeian Woman: And the Ideology of Pornography, Angela Carter - Aesthetic Sexuality: A Literary History of Sadomasochism, Romana Byrne - Perverse Desire and the Ambiguous Icon, Allen S. Weiss - "Must We Burn Sade?", Simone de Beauvoir -> read also about Erzsébet Báthory, the Bloody Countess. supplement your readings with Borowcyzk's Immoral Tales (1973), Julie Delpy's The Countess (2009), Alejandra Pizarnik's La Condesa Sangrienta and/or, if you have the stomach for it:

Lorna's death in Hostel Pt II (2007), inspired by the Countess^

- Anaïs Nin's diaries + Henry and June - Abject Eroticism in Northern Renaissance Art, Yvonne Owens

Hans Baldung Grien "gave powerful visual expression to late medieval tropes and stereotypes, such as the poison maiden, venomous virgin, the Fall of Man, 'death and the maiden' and other motifs and eschatological themes, which mingled abject and erotic qualities in the female body"

- Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture, Per Faxneld - The Library of Esoterica's Witchcraft - the biographical Taschen on H.R. Giger's oeuvre—biomechanical, Lovecraftian-tentacular fused limbs, bodies, systems, overtly phallic/yonic symbology, darkly psychedelic... very much fantastically erotic; I have my eye on the 40th Anniversary Edition

Giger, as we know, having designed the xenomorph from the Alien (1979) series to have an intensely sexual evolution:

- DEFINITELY read about+explore ero guro (see also: Bataille's L'histoire de l'œil / Story of the Eye! though it is fiction)

brief introductory articles here and here but it's truly so rich and decadent... delve into it!! film, lit, manga, history, so on... -> watch Nagisa Ōshima's In The Realm Of The Senses (1976) too

- if you can read French by any chance, Le Corps Souillé (The Soiled Body) by Eric Falardeau looks incredible; if not, this excerpt alone is delightfully provocative even in isolation - similarly, L'espirit de plaisir: Une histoire de la sexualité et de l’érotisme au Japon (The Spirit of Pleasure: A History of Sexuality and Eroticism in Japan) by Philippe Pons and Pierre-François Souyri is something I'm hoping might see an English translation

^an excerpt from an interview with the authors

- The Art of Cruelty + The Red Parts, Maggie Nelson - Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles & Practice of Nineteenth-Century Surgery, Richard Barnett - The Butchering Art, Lindsey Fitzharris - Death, Disease and Dissection, Suzie Grogan - The Theatre and Its Double, Antonin Artaud - Men, Women, and Chainsaws, Carol J. Clover - House of Psychotic Women, Kier-La Janisse - The Monstrous-Feminine, Barbara Creed - Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers, Sady Doyle - The Lady From The Black Lagoon, Mallory O'Meara