#* dove. ( susan. )

[phoenixtakaramono]

THE SEVEN WEDDING SPECIAL

“The Vought family grows by one as our distinguished captain, The Homelander, ties the knot with reformed supervillain William Butcher! Tune into VNN+ and Vought Entertainment for the most anticipated A-list superhero wedding of the century! Join us as we set the stage for the extravaganza and wish them a hopeful happily ever after.”

TY for 800+ followers on Twitter! I'd think it'd be neat if Homelander and Butcher kiss and have a Superhero Wedding Ceremony Special atop Vought Tower's helipad 🕊

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

DOVE TALE

Again and again I find myself sheepishly admitting that Star Trek, as in the original series, is my all-time favorite TV show. It's a little embarrassing to acknowledge that, north of sixty years old, I keep going back for comfort and refreshment to the corny sci-fi show that I loved as a kid.

Worse yet, for all the show's sophomoric heavy-handedness and cultural chauvinism and ludicrous science and inconsistently applied social values, I keep finding relevance, even prescience in it.

For instance, this past weekend I watched the third-season episode, scripted by the redoubtable Jerome Bixby (also author of the story that became the Twilight Zone favorite "It's a Good Life"), called "Day of the Dove..."

You may remember it: Both the Enterprise and a crew of Klingons arrive at a planet, lured there under false pretenses by a powerful incorporeal alien Entity. Through a variety of mind tricks and matter transmutation, the Entity gets the Federation crew and the Klingons trapped together aboard the Enterprise, which is hurtling out of control on course to leave the galaxy.

Onboard, the factions are allowed their own turf, armed with swords--Scotty admires "a Claymore..."

...and psychically aroused to furious hatred toward their adversaries and even toward each other. They soon discover that the conflict between them is self-renewing; their wounds heal miraculously and the Entity allows neither side complete victory.

As a kid, I always thought it was a pretty cool episode. It had plenty of action, including swordfights, and the coolest and most badass of all the original series Klingons, Kang, played by the rumbly-voiced Michael Ansara...

...towering over Shatner...

It was also the only glimpse we ever got, in the original series, of Klingon women, notably Susan Howard as Kang's wife and science officer Mara...

In the course of the show Chekov, under the Entity's evil influence, attempts to violate Mara, although it looks like she could smack his little ass across the corridor with one hand.

Along with Chekov, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura all get to work themselves up into highly entertaining angry lathers in this one. Shatner's in particularly hilarious, wound-up form here: "Look at me...Look. At. Me." And there's the great moment when the hysterical Scotty, responding to Spock's attempt to calm him, says "Keep your Vulcan hands off me," but it sounds like he said "Keep your f**kin' hands off me."

But watching it the other night, it occurred to me that this episode seems unusually relevant these days. I noticed this a few years ago about the second-season episode "The Omega Glory" as well. The theme, about the dangers of fetishizing and theocratizing America's foundational documents and other objects of patriotic regard like the flag, seems like a pedestrian, basic civics lesson. But it turns out that our society needs to be reminded of it regularly.

Similarly, with "Day of the Dove," the message might seem, at a glance, like the usual honorable but ineffectual Star Trek platitudes about the horrors of war and the bondage of bigotry and the liberating virtue of tolerance. But now, in light of the revelations from the Dominion lawsuit, it has a strikingly specific subtext. Because, of course, the reason the invading Entity is attempting to create this hellish eternal conflict on the Enterprise is that it feeds on violent hatreds, turning from yellowish-white to a happy shade of red...

...when it sucks up some delicious fury.

It creates false narratives in people's minds to stir up their bloodlust--Chekov claims his brother was killed by the Klingons; Sulu later explains that the brother is imaginary, as Chekov is an only child--and feeds both sides with propaganda to gin up enmity. Essentially, the Entity is a farmer, planting outrage so that it can harvest rage.

In other words, the Entity is Fox News, and the "news" media machine of which Fox News is the most successful and egregious example. I mean, isn't it, kind of?

In this context, some of Bixby's lines take on an extra resonance, as when Kirk speculates "Has a war been staged for us, complete with weapons and ideology and patriotic drum beating? Even...Spock...even race hatred?"

Or, when Kirk says "It exists on the hate of others," and Spock replies "To put it simply. And it has acted as a catalyst, creating this situation in order to satisfy that need."

Or, again, Kirk's desperate appeal to Kang, in the climactic minutes: "...and it goes on, the good old game of war, pawn against pawn! Stopping the bad guys. While somewhere, something sits back, and laughs, and starts it all over again."

In the end, Kang is persuaded, a truce is ordered, and the weakened Entity is chased off the Enterprise to hearty laughter from both sides...

Kang slaps Kirk on the back and for a second it looks like Kirk is going to pass out. A lovely moment; I would highly recommend it for our nation right now. But as the Entity goes flittering off the ship into space, it's all too easy to imagine it scurrying down to some TV "News" Network on some unsuspecting planet.

[el97art]

New appearance of Susan York: she went from being a bunny to a dove. She is now also chief of a secret intelligence agency.

EL97 © 2023 AD

[blunderpuff]

i hate this fucking place

[dansnaturepictures]

17/12/2023-Flowers at home including viburnum, skimmia, black-eyed Susan and rose and a Grey Silverfish last night.

It was lovely to see some colour from the flowers with a few hanging on/in flower early, there was some fuchsia still just about going too. It was a treat to see Goldfinches well at home today with Collared Dove, Magpie and Jackdaw heard nicely before dusk other at home/near home highlights today.

[rubbermaiden]

Susan Marie Shultz (United States), Digital Contemporary Artist | Artmajeur

[slowthypiglordblr]

Adventure Flock: AT Cast represented with Birds.

Jake the Duck...

and Finn the Dodo

Princess Bubblegum as a Pink and Grey Cockatoo

Her plumage befits her sweet yet limited morality.

Marceline the Marital Eagle

She's scary at first glance, but her rock'n talons and sharp beak beguile a warm downy heart.

Simon Petrikov the Crested Guan

Small, skittish, and unassuming, but this lil guy shines above all the rest in terms of quirky charm.

Betty Grof the Greater Roadrunner

Quick witted, swift footed, and unfettered even by rattlesnakes, this wacky bird will do anything for her boo.

Lady Cranicorn the Oriental Storke

Huntress Wizard the Great Horned Owl

Wise in the ways of nature and a skillful predator, but a complete birdbrain everywhere else.

Peppermint Vampire Finch

At first, one might think he's just a harmless dutiful servant. But this little nightmare is not to be trifled with.

Susan/Kira Albatross and Frieda the Tern.

Two travelers of the sky and seas, never to be parted again.

Lumpy Space Princess the Common Cuckoo

She's a lazy and apathetic moocher, but at least present when needed.

Prismo the Sarus Crane

Is there any wish in the cosmos greater than spending time with this dude?

Giuseppe the Sacred Ibis

The most wondrous and perplexing creature in all of Ooo.

Earl of Lemongrab the Barn Owl

Can be as quiet as a mouse, but has a voice that makes your ears bleed. This guy is just messed up in the head.

BMO the Junco

Who doesn't love a Junco in the winter?

Moe the Archaeopteryx

The wisest of all the birds and men in Ooo

Lemonhope the Yellow Warbler

Billy the Argentavis

The warrior ever, the hero the skies!

Flame Princess the Phoenix

The Mistress of the eternal flame

Water Nypmhs are various waterfowl

Canyon however is Pelegornis

The only one that can handle Billy's ride.

Magic Man the Peafowl

A magnificent bastard through and through.

Vampire King as the Roc

Former ruler of predators until Marcy came along.

Minerva Campbell the Caladirus

She's a helper to the end, even at the cost of her own life. (was a dove before her ascension)

Hunson Abadeer the Cassowary

The most evil of all birds.

The Ice Crown embodies the Snow Owl

Pretty self-explanatory.

The Lich in the leathery wings of the past

Killed off the dinosaurs of old, and now seeks finish off what remains.

[queenlucythevaliant]

have you ever heard it? can you remember?

i. The gulls were crying. The gulls were always crying, in her memory. Whatever far off places Susan travelled after her family was gone, she always came back to the sea.

ii. The beach at Cair Paravel was the first place in Narnia where she really felt at home. She'd wade into the water with her eyes shut and feel she could be in England, on holiday with her mother and father. She'd open her eyes, and there would be waves cascading endlessly towards her.

iii. Before long, she knew every tidepool, every shoal.

iv. There weren't any bathing suits in Narnia, but no one seemed the least scandalized when Susan took to swimming in her underthings. There wasn't anything else for it, and she had to swim. She just had to.

v. She wasn't the only one of her siblings to love the sea, of course. Edmund loved sand and sailing and reading on the beach, and Peter liked to gaze out at the ocean and think. Lucy spent even more time at the beach than Susan did; she would rise before dawn and sit on the rocks as the sun rose over the waves. Susan was never sure whether her little sister was there to greet the sunrise, or to wait for Aslan.

vi. But for Susan, it was sense-memory. Water was water, wherever she was, and it always reminded her of home. She'd go out past the breakers, pull her limbs into a familiar breast stroke, and she'd feel like she was everywhere she loved all at once.

vii. Aslan came, and she was soaking wet to greet him. He laughed, in his lion-ish way, and didn't mind at all when Susan embraced him.

viii. Somehow, Aslan never got drenched from his journeys across the sea, but he was damp as though with mist. The scent of salt and brine clung to him, an overtone to that fierce, wild smell that was his own. Susan breathed in deep, those two scents she loved most in the world.

ix. In England, back at school, she'd go to the swimming pool and imagine she was in Narnia.

x. It wasn't the same, of course. The swimming pool at her school had no crying gulls, no smell of salt, no cascading waves. There was no Aslan coming towards her from the T-line at the other end of the pool. But if she submerged herself completely, Susan could imagine.

xi. She swam with her eyes shut too often, and her coach was growing irritated. It was affecting her times in practice, which would bleed over into competition if she wasn't careful. Somehow, Susan couldn't be bothered to care.

xii. One weekend, she and Lucy snuck away to visit the boys, and they all went down to the lake to reminisce about Narnia. When Lucy and Edmund spoke of their summer sailing the eastern sea, Susan was positively stiff with jealousy. Yet when they all dove into the water in the end, her heart pounded out a rhythm of home, home.

xiii. Six years after her last trip to Narnia, Susan hadn't touched a bow in four years. She still went swimming every week.

xiv. After the railway accident, she went to live by the sea. She missed her family, and she couldn't stand to live in the places they had lived. She wanted to forget.

xv. Susan had missed the salt air. She had missed the waves. There was a feeling of home by the sea that she couldn't quite place; a soothing echo of long ago dreams and fairytales.

xvi. But there were the gulls crying, "Can you remember?" and it broke her heart all over again.

[cowboyfromh3ll]

Masterlist 🦇

These are my red dead fanfiction compiled into one list! Keep in mind some of these are 18+ and contain content some may not want to read. See warnings accordingly.

Will be updated overtime

My College AU

Majors/Student Life

Arthur Morgan

Say Yes To Heaven (18+)

Say Yes To Heaven Part 2 (18+)

Playing Dangerous (18+)

My Love Is Not Mine All Mine (Angst)

My Love Is Not Mine All Mine Part 2 (Angst)

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Fluff, Angst)

Somethin' Stupid (Fluff)

The Passion Of Lovers (Fluff, Suggestive)

Cola (18+)

I Love My Boyfriend (18+)

Shy!Reader HC (Fluff/18+)

Toxic Traits HC

Not Allowed (18+)

Favorite Body Part (18+)

Genius Of Love (Fluff)

More Shy!Reader HC (Fluff/18+)

Falling In Love HC (Fluff)

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

HC For Being Told S/O Was Killed By O'Driscoll (Angst/Comfort)

NSFW HC (18+)

Love/Hate (Angst/Gore/Comfort)

John Marston

Ameliorate (18+)

I Love My Boyfriend (18+)

Shy!Reader HC (Fluff/18+)

Toxic Traits HC

Favorite Body Part (18+)

More Shy!Reader HC (Fluff/18+)

Nobody (Fluff)

MX (18+)

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

Taking What's Not Yours (18+/Dead Dove Do Not Eat)

Charles Smith

Flint and Cedar (Fluff)

Closer (18+)

Lovers Rock (Fluff)

Shy!Reader HC (Fluff/18+)

To The End (Fluff)

Toxic Traits HC

Million Dollar Man (Fluff/Angst)

Intimacy HC (Fluff)

Favorite Body Part (18+)

Genius Of Love (Fluff)

HC For Reader In Past Abusive Relationship (Fluff/Comfort)

More Shy!Reader HC (Fluff/18+)

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

General/Relationship HC (Fluff)

HC For Artist S/O (Fluff)

Kieran Duffy

Saint Denis (Fluff)

Heaven Is A Bedroom (18+)

Bounce (18+)

Toxic Traits HC

Favorite Body Part (18+)

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

Hc For Being Told Their S/O Was KIlled By An O'Driscoll (Angst/Comfort)

Kinks HC (18+)

Javier Escuella

Tu Mi Adoración (Fluff)

Toxic Traits HC

Let's Go To Bed (18+)

Intimacy HC (Fluff)

Favorite Body Part (18+)

General HC

HC For Reader In Past Abusive Relationship (Fluff/Comfort)

General HC

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

Deathwish (Angst/Gore)

Kinks HC (18+)

Eagle Flies

Why Do I Cry (18+)

Every Man Gets His Wish (18+)

Toxic Traits HC

More toxic traits HC

Shy!Reader HC (Fluff)

Favorite Body Part (18+)

Kinks HC (18+)

MORE Kinks HC (18+)

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

Music HC

Short S/O Hc (Fluff)

Dutch Van Der Linde

Toxic Traits HC

Favorite Body Part (18+)

Pregnancy HC

HC For Being Told Their S/O Was Killed By An O'Driscoll (Angst/Comfort)

Hosea Matthews

HC For Being Told Their S/O Was Killed By An O'Driscoll (Angst/Comfort)

Kinks HC (18+)

Sean Macguire

Toxic Traits HC

Favorite Body Part (18+)

General HC (Fluff)

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

Kinks HC (18+)

Micah Bell

Toxic Traits HC

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

HC For Being Told Their S/O Was Killed By An O'Driscoll (Angst/Comfort)

Kinks HC (18+)

Lenny Summers

Pregnancy HC (Fluff)

Kinks HC (18+)

Mary Beth Gaskill

Relationship/Sex HC (18+)

Tilly Jackson

Realtionship/Sex HC (18+)

Karen Jones

Relationship/Sex HC (18+)

Molly O'Shea

Relationship/Sex HC (18+)

Susan Grimshaw

Relationship/Sex HC (18+)

Abigail Roberts

Relationship/Sex HC (18+)

[grandma-susan]

@helluvaoutlaw

If the mourning dove could sing in hell, it would be a rare song to hear. But right here in hell, where the nights were bright a sailor's delights not even a hellborne swan could shed a tear. That was the color that filtered through the old maid's curtains. No matter how many layers, Pride's grotesque bruised night sky would bleed through the fabric as if it was flooding her modest Tudor home. An evening reminder that all blood would darken black and show the yellow fatty streaks of where it had stained through.

The gramophone's needle caught an unintentional groove and the horn let out a loud crackle that made a certain little creature whimper and look up at the old soul that had cranked it. Susan was curled up in her chair, a heavy blanket wrapped around her, asleep. Her tea sat half drunken on the side table, biscuits partially eaten and what seemed like an unfinished crumpled note sat on a small saucer soaking up the tea from her teaspoon.

Hell's night skies were abhorrent, and the day light skies were no better. The only thing anyone could do was to heavily drape the windows if you wanted any respite from the permanent crimson sky. At least in her corner of town it was rather quiet. At least here you could hear the little chips, chirps and lowly sleepy growls of breathing beasts in the distance. And unlike many parts of hell, the rustle of Pride's limited plant life, or at least...that was how she had left it hours ago before the clock had chimed for dinner and rest. What scuttled around her garden beds were presumed nothing more than skull faced rats, roaches and the occasional cannibal brat. Nothing more and nothing less...Especially half eaten carrion from Wrath.

[abybweisse]

Ch209 (p4), The queen of tragedy

⚠️ Long post ⚠️

You might be wondering where that heading comes from. I'll get to that in a bit....

So, we are back to recent events, where Finny and Doll fight over Snake, each one claiming the other is the enemy. Both parties are involved in deception; he wonders why they helped him but lied the entire time. Out of the circus troupe, he seems to have been closest to Doll, and she never told him the truth about the circus. He also becomes particularly close to Finny, who immediately likes his snakes, but Finny doesn't inform him about the true fates of his circus friends. Then there're our earl and Sebastian, who lead him to believe the circus members are still alive and just on the lamb.

Why would the people closest to him all lie to him?

Then we get a couple scenes before his and Finny's assignment begins.

But this flashback switches from what Snake is recalling... to what a reaper is reviewing. Born March 15 -- the Ides of March -- to an actress named Sarah Kemble. More on her at the end. Death on December 9, 1889, from blood loss.

The expression on this (new to us!) reaper's face makes me wonder what he's thinking. He says "no additional remarks", but I believe he's thinking some additional thoughts.

He must realize there's something odd about Doll, who is holding Snake's body and grieving over him. Doesn't he realize she's a bizarre doll? Has he not taken note of the blood transfusion equipment in the room down the hall? What about all the veins popping up all over her body? Hasn't he been informed about the search for Undertaker and his moving corpses?

Does he not yet have info from Othello regarding Layla/Al? We have to keep in mind that this is all probably happening around the same time that Ronald and William are taking Layla/Al into custody, so this reaper might not be fully informed and so might not know what all signs to look for.

Besides, Ronald is sent to Norfolk ahead of the impending deaths, because there was word a bizarre doll is stationed there. He just has to figure out which person it is. Ronald can't tell who the bizarre doll is just by looking, so he has to wait and see who starts acting like one.

This reaper apparently isn't sent to investigate FOL Orphanage, suggesting HQ didn't have similar intelligence regarding a bizarre doll there. If he's not looking for one, he might not bother to take much notice of Doll's appearance or the medical equipment.

Everything is happening at about the same time:

Mey-Rin and Ran-Mao are heading to their next meeting spot while Polaris makes his report to real Ciel and Undertaker. Heathfield is arrested, and the legal investigation there is still underway.

Ronald and William are dealing with Layla/Al, with the intention of taking her back to HQ for examination. Baldo, Lau, and the others are still planning their getaway; they have not yet escaped the sanatorium.

Othello is probably at HQ, working out the finer details of the transfusion machine he has just recently confiscated from the underground facility at Bath. Beyond that, the dove he sent back to HQ might be the only call for help he's requested to deal with Undertaker.

And this reaper is (as far as I can tell) just responding to the assigned task of collecting souls from Snake, Susan, and the head matron. He really might not be in the loop about Undertaker and his moving corpses... just yet.

This gives an easy setup for him to go about business as usual and leave Doll to her grieving. If he doesn't confront her and just leaves, she can ask Undertaker to turn Snake into a bizarre doll -- even if it's just to be her companion. Undertaker would see old goals of revenge in Snake's cinematic records and could potentially turn him against the Phantomhives, through creation of his "episodes" by cherry-picking the memories and goals that would compel him to seek that revenge again. If that happens, we could get Snake confronting our earl and Sebastian... where Sebastian fulfills the implied threat he makes (to Baldo, about any servant who turns against their master) in ch51.

So, there's that.

Then we have a couple other things to discuss: the current date and Snake's mother.

It's December 9, 1889. This works great with my Mother3 theory, which states the contract should end before our earl is officially 14 years old. December 13, 1889 is the eve of that birthday, and it's also a Friday the 13th. This is highly symbolic because of when his father is born and when his paternal grandmother dies. I'm sure there are absolutely zero coincidences in this.

We will go back a few days (again) for the start of our earl's and Sebastian's assignment in Brighton, then we will catch up to December 9th with them. During this time and soon after, they will receive word about the other three assignments, as word trickles in. Or perhaps they are bombarded with all the reports in quick succession. Then we've got another four days for them to finish not just their own assignment but also their contract. Perhaps their assignment finishes around the same time as the others. If so, they have three or four more days to address whatever they have learned.

Now onto Snake's mother. She's based on a real person, or a combination of a few people in a notable family. My own initial research pulled up a Fanny Kemble, who was a British actress who lived in this time period but was too old to be Snake's mother. She bore a daughter named Sarah (Kemble) Butler, but Sarah wasn't an actress. Fanny was well known as a former actress and an abolitionist -- who separated from her husband (Butler), partly over disagreement about slavery -- and returned to the stage, where she renewed her focus on the works of William Shakespeare... performing public readings of his plays.

Discussing the chapter in Discord, I got word -- from @mjmj2994 -- about a Sarah (Kemble) Siddons who was an actress, though she was from the mid-18th to early 19th century. Her mother was also a Sarah Kemble. Turns out that Sarah Siddons (née and a.k.a. Sarah Kemble) was an aunt to the Fanny Kemble I'd found! Small world, eh? Anyway, Sarah Kemble/Siddons (wiki article here) became known as the "queen of tragedy" for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth and other Shakespearean tragic characters -- including numerous cross-dress performances as Hamlet himself. Even though Yana-san would have to change the timeline to fit our Sarah Kemble, this is most likely the historical reference for her. Here's more information about the Kemble family line and their extensive involvement with the acting industry.

Our Snake comes from an esteemed family of actors, and I suppose we are to assume he's an issue who was so quickly covered up and forgotten that he was perhaps never even named. Who was his true father? And how did he come to have such strong snake-like traits? We might never know.

Now we wait to see if this reaper does anything about Doll. And then onto our earl and Sebastian in Brighton!

[weird-an]

tw: abuse, toxic dynamics, Billy trying to get Steve to hurt him, oh dicks too, probably unnegotiated d/s dynamics, is there a dove in here?

Harrington is a good lay. The best about it isn't even his fat cock or how he fucks Billy so hard it hurts, it's that he doesn't give a shit about Billy.

Harrington pulls his hair and tells him he isn't gay because they are just two guys blowing off steam and from behind Billy looks like a girl anyway. Another asshole in the closet, but at least this one knows what he's doing. He doesn't ask about Billy's bruises or why he shows up in the middle of the night with a sixer and some condoms. It's great, because Billy doesn't have to fucking think.

One day Neil is in a mood again, yells at Susan during dinner and grabs Billy's arm so hard he can still feel his hand on it hours later and there's a scratch on his cheek from Neil's wedding ring, showing him what family is all about.

Billy is hurting, but not enough. He doesn't get days like these when he's so far on the edge and he should fall, but doesn't. Sometimes he wants to burn, but can't get the fire started.

He's halfway through his pack of cigarettes and Harrington opens the door, a smirk on his lips. "Always comin' back for more, Hargrove."

Billy doesn't bother answering, just fumbles with Harrington's belt. They don't make it to the bedroom, not even the couch. Their cocks rub against each other and Harrington's low growl makes Billy shiver.

Harrington's hand digs into the bruise. The pain is only a weak echo of what could be.

"Hit me," he hears himself say. His back is tense. He won't flinch, if he sees it coming. He has years of practice.

Harrington's fingers are on him, but lifting up his chin, making him look in brown eyes. There's a line between them.

"Didn't you just have enough?" Harrington presses his lips against the scratch on his cheek. It tingles.

"Pussy," Billy spits. He has to poke Harrington until he snaps. He did it once, he can do it again.

"No." Harrington doesn't let go of his face. Bucks his hip against Billy's. Billy tries to swallow the moan. The sound that still escapes is more of a whine.

Harrington's lips brush against his. His other hand wraps around Billy's cock. Thumb circling the tip lazily. Billy feels hot, like he has laid in the sun for too long.

"You don't get to hurt yourself," Harrington murmurs. "That's what you come to me for."

"Hit me," Billy repeats, voice broken like he is on the inside.

"No." Harrington squeezes his dick. Billy groans against his lips. "He isn't in charge. You're not in charge. I am."

He begins to pump Billy's dick, slow and lazy, like they have all the time in the world. Presses featherlight kisses on Billy's neck.

"If you're good, I can make you come until it hurts."

Billy's head swims and somehow Steve words make sense.

[rhysdarbinizedarby]

Our Flag Means Death Season 2: Exclusive First Look

Vanity Fair joins Stede, Blackbeard, and the rest of the cast on set in New Zealand for an exclusive early look at the second season, debuting on Max in October.

BY SARAH CATHERALL (AUGUST 24, 2023)

Only the fans of Our Flag Means Death can determine whether they’ll be satisfied with the show’s second season, which debuts on Max in October. But if you ask Fernando Frias, who directed three of the season’s episodes, he sounds pretty confident: “If my life depended on saying whether it’s yes or no, I would say yes.’’

It’s December 8, 2022, and the principal actors on Our Flag Means Death as well as the 800-plus extras and crew members have three days left of their three-month shoot for season two. Things are starting to get emotional. “You’ve been the most amazing crew I’ve ever worked with,” says one actor as he wraps his final scene. Frias says it’s like leaving “a long summer camp,” adding, “it’s like a family.”

Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet. COURTESY OF NICOLA DOVE/MAX.

The series created by David Jenkins was a surprise breakout hit when it debuted in the spring of 2022, building a fiercely devoted fan base with its silly yet emotional deadpan, and defiantly queer take on the adventures of real 18th-century pirates. Everyone involved in Our Flag Means Death is eager to preserve the surprises in store for season two, which kicks off with gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and softhearted bad boy Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) ruefully separated after finally realizing their love for each other at the end of season one.

It’s “going to be unexpected and surprising, but also very pleasurable and satisfying for those who like the show,” promises executive producer Garrett Basch. It “doesn’t follow the expected route,” teases Con O’Neill, who plays Blackbeard’s devoted enforcer, Izzy. All that means is we’re not at liberty to share too much about what happened on set that day, which included emotional conversations, new cast members, banter with the Kiwi crew, and some seriously killer costumes.

But these exclusive new images give a hint of what is in store. There are fresh faces—Minnie Driver will guest-star as the real-life Irish pirate Anne Bonny, and Ruibo Qian joins the cast as the mysterious merchant Susan—and a lot of New Zealand actors and locations, now that the production has decamped across the Pacific.

“The viewers will see the scope of their world has expanded based on the fact we’re able to get to these amazing locations within a short travel time,” says executive producer Antoine Douaihy. “You will notice a marked difference between the two seasons in terms of the scope and the scale.’’

Minnie Driver joins the cast this season as Anne Bonny. COURTESY OF NICOLA DOVE/MAX.

There will be plenty of familiar faces too, of course. On set that day in Kumeu, New Zealand, a rural area about 20 miles outside of Auckland, are Waititi and Darby along their fellow returning cast members O’Neill, Vico Ortiz (Jim), Kristian Nairn (Wee John), Joel Fry (Frenchie), Matthew Maher (Black Pete), Leslie Jones (Spanish Jackie), Samson Kayo (Oluwande), Ewen Bremner (Nathaniel Buttons), Samba Schutte (Roach), and more. New onboard are two Kiwi actors, Madeleine Sami (most recently of the Australian mystery-comedy Deadloch), and Samoan-born Anapela Polataivao. And there’s one returning figure impossible to miss on the soundstage: The Revenge, the stately ship that Blackbeard—a.k.a. Ed—commandeered at the end of season one. In real life it was carefully transported across the Pacific Ocean from the show’s original Los Angeles soundstages.

The Revenge is vast and impressive, much larger in real life than it appears onscreen. But it’s not the only stunning scenery in store. There are around 50 sets involved in the production of season two, including the 30-acre forest behind the Kumeu Film Studio, Piha Beach, and the wild, black-sand Bethells Beach.

Waititi, who also executive produces the series, was part of the push to film season two in his native New Zealand. “Taika is an extraordinary talent and what’s really great about him with his international success is he’s remained very committed to New Zealand and very loyal to our industry,” says Annie Murray, the CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission. “The beauty of filming in New Zealand is that you can find incredible varied locations within a very short driving distance. [And] when you get to those locations you can turn your camera in any direction.’’

Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet, filming at New Zealand’s Bethells Beach. COURTESY OF NICOLA DOVE/MAX.

The scope of the season is very evident back on set, as well. There’s a whole other pirate ship in addition to The Revenge, plus sets for a floating market, Stede’s cabin (empty when we visit), and the Republic of Pirates first glimpsed in season one. Behind the scenes it’s a maze of wardrobe, wig rooms, and dressing rooms. In another facility, props are stacked on shelves, ready to be taken away to storage as soon as filming wraps—vases, plates, antique furniture, and piles of mannequins replicating dead bodies which were used in one of the battle scenes.

Costume designer Gypsy Taylor joined the production this season and has designed hundreds of costumes, checking with everyone on set that day to make sure everything is in place before cameras roll. Taylor says each of the principals have six to eight looks in this season, and that every item—every leather belt, wig, bit of jewelry, even a mermaid tail—has been made by her 60-strong workshop. The costumes this season have a “Mad Max, ‘streets of New York’ feel,” says Taylor. “David Jenkins was keen to give the series a cool rock-and-roll vibe…so we had these rock-and-roll elements with an 18th-century twist.’’ As is evidenced in the image below, even Stede’s crew winds up with some unexpected new looks over the course of the season.

Wherever it is these Revenge crew members have found themselves, there’s something that surprised them. COURTESY OF NICOLA DOVE/MAX.

Two armies are part of the action in season two, all of them needing elaborate costumes—around 150 Chinese pirates and a fleet of 100 navy officers. Even the breeches are in studded black leather, and punkified. Says Taylor, “The theory behind their costumes is they would’ve stolen from other pirates…. Although our Wee John has started to become quite the seamstress, so he’s knitting this season.’’ True enough: Nairn is wearing what looks like a hand-knit sweater on set that day.

Wee John isn’t the only pirate getting into crafts. Nancy Hennah, who has managed the hair and makeup for both seasons, points to Blackbeard’s wig—made in London—and tattoos as Waititi works on set. With 14 tattoos on his right arm and 10 on the left, plus plenty of scars, he needs at least an hour in the makeup chair. “Taika wanted most of the tattoos to look like he’d done them himself,” Hennah says. “Like on slow days on the boat when there’s nothing much to do, they sit around and give each other tattoos.”

She gives a hint of a storm in one episode: “One of the hardest days here in makeup was when they were caught in a storm on the back of the boat. [The cast] were saturated for a whole day, which caused havoc with things like tattoos and hair, wigs and beards.’’

Taika Waititi as Blackbeard, who begins the season with a broken heart. COURTESY OF NICOLA DOVE/MAX.

By mid afternoon, Con O’Neill is taking a break in his trailer. He pulls his slim, leather trousered legs up to a corner seat. A candle blazes on the kitchen bench as the veteran actor talks about the physical endurance required during the shoot. “It’s been frantic,’’ he says. His signature gray hair barely moves, frozen by the team of hair stylists who arrived on set around sunrise. (All interviews with actors in this story took place before the SAG-AFTRA strike). 

Izzy “goes on a remarkable journey” this season, says O’Neill. “He understands what love is and whom he’s in love with.’’ On a series featuring a variety of joyful queer relationships—not just Stede and Blackbeard, but Black Pete and Lucius (Nathan Foad), Jim and Oluwande, and Spanish Jackie and her many husbands—Izzy’s unyieldingly straitlaced devotion makes him an odd man out. By the end of season one many fans speculated that Izzy was driven by something at the intersection of love and obsession. This season, according to O’Neill, Izzy gets even deeper into that dynamic. “Physically it’s been quite demanding, and also emotionally it’s been quite demanding to be playing a man enraged by unrequited love, who’s basically a hopeless romantic, and to be able to play all that and also remember that this is fundamentally a comedy.’’

Though the show is often warm and fuzzy when it comes to feelings—one of Stede’s mottos in season one is that when faced with challenges, “we talk it through as a crew”—Izzy represents the darker, more violent side of pirate life, which the show doesn’t shy away from either. “What I love about this show is it does allow itself to swing between the two,” O’Neill says. “We’re almost operatic in our darkness at times, and then we swing back to the sweetness of the simplicity of the love of our two guys. It’s been challenging just to get the tone right.”

“We’ve gone further this season than we did last season with those tones,” he continues. “So sometimes it’s quite interesting to remind yourself that you have to take your foot out of the tragedy—literally, your foot—and put it back into the comedy.”

With a season behind them to build the dynamics between the characters and the actors alike, on set there’s been “a lot more spontaneity and script revisions based on what’s happening day-to-day,” says Douaihy. “The cast are so comfortable with one another and their characters, that they move through it naturally.’’

Leslie Jones as Spanish Jackie and Taika Waititi as Ed a.k.a. Blackbeard. COURTESY OF NICOLA DOVE/MAX.

The way O’Neill puts it, they’ve also built trust with Jenkins, their showrunner, to follow some bigger swings. “I don’t think David Jenkins is ever going to follow an expected route. I’d hate to drive in a car with him.” Thinking of the fans who will greet the series when the show returns in October, O’Neill continues, “I think they’re going to appreciate what [Jenkins] wants. Season two does stick to the original premise that we created in season one, which is take it on to other levels.’’

One character leveling up in a major way this season is Jim, the quiet badass (there are knives involved) played by the nonbinary actor and activist Vico Ortiz. “Jim really evolves in season two,” they say. “They’re a bit more chatty and a bit more conversational…. Most of the first season you see Jim in disguise, hiding, but in this one you see them a bit more [thinking,] Oh, this is my chosen family, and I feel good. There’s a bit more zaniness and a bit more softness.’’

Like O’Neill and several other castmates, Oritz had attended their share of fan events by the time season two began filming, and the entire cast and crew returned to the high seas with a strong sense that their show had taken on a life of its own. “It’s so beautiful to see that people are finding community within the fan base. It’s about creating spaces where we feel safe and seen, and it’s so great to see that so many people watch the show and feel validated in their experiences, whatever that may be,” says Ortiz. “A lot of people that watch the show are like, “Yeah, I’m a guy and it’s good to see all these dudes being vulnerable.’ We can just shake up [ideas about gender].’’

Ruibo Qian joins the cast this season as Susan, a merchant with secrets of her own. COURTESY OF NICOLA DOVE/MAX.

Basch admits the fan following surprised some of the team, “but it made a lot of sense” too. After years of television shows and movies that built up the potential of queer romance only to stop short, Basch thinks the fervor for Our Flag Means Death “says that shows in the mainstream aren’t delivering that promise or that setup, and we have. That’s really why the fans have gone wild for it.”

That promise, it’s safe to say, is kept in season two, and then some. On set that day in December, for example, there was a major romantic moment between two key characters. But we’d risk Ed Teach’s wrath if we told you any more.

Source: Vanity Fair

[p1325]

My book collection so far

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice

Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights

Louisa May Alcott - Little Women

Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre

Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility

Edith Wharton - The Age Of Innocence

Jane Austen - Emma

Gustave Flaubert - Madame Bovary

Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey

Edith Wharton - The House of Mirth

Jane Austen - Persuasion

Louisa May Alcott - Good Wives

Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Scarlet Letter

Charlotte Bronte - The Professor

Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina (Part 1)

Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina (Part 2)

Jane Austen - Mansfield Park

Anne Bronte - Agnes Grey

Thomas Hardy - Far from The Madding Crowd

William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair (Part 1)

William Makepeace Thackeray - Vanity Fair (Part 2)

Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos - Dangerous Liaisons

Alexandre Dumas fils - The Lady of the Camellias

Henry James - Washington Square

Louisa May Alcott - A Garland For Girls

Henry James - The Portrait of A Lady (Part 1)

Henry James - The Portrait of A Lady (Part 2)

Jane Austen - Lady Susan. The Watson. Sanditon

Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Thomas Hardy - Tess of the D’Urbeville

Edith Wharton - The Mother’s Recompense

Daniel Defoe - Moll Flanders

Henry James - The Wings of the Dove

Edith Wharton - The Customs of the Country

Kate Chopin - The Awakening

Jane Austen - Juvenilia  

George Eliot - Middlemarch (Part 1)

George Eliot - Middlemarch (Part 2)  

George Sand - Nanon

Henry James - The Ambassadors

Elizabeth Gaskell - Cranford

Thomas Hardy - Under The Greenwood Tree

Edith Wharton - Summer

George Sand - Indiana

Henry James - The Bostonians

George Eliot - Silas Marner

Henry James - The Golden Bowl (Part 1)

Henry James - The Golden Bowl (Part 2)  

Edith Wharton - The Twilight Sleep

Emily Eden - The Semi-Attached Couple

Edith Wharton - The Glimpses of the Moon

Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Lady Audley’s Secret

George Eliot - The Mill on the Floss

Elizabeth Gaskell - Mary Barton 

Fanny Burney - Evelina 

George Sand - Little Fadette

Emily Eden - The Semi-detached House

Charlotte Brontë - Shirley I

Charlotte Brontë - Shirley II

Daniel Defoe - Lady Roxana

Theodor Fontane  - Effie Briest 

Edith Wharton - The Cliff

Thomas Hardy - Two on a Tower

Frances Hodgson Burnett - A Lady of Quality

Louisa May Alcott - Moods

Edith Nesbit - The Incomplete Amorist

Frances Trollope - The Widow Barnaby (Part 1)

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #328 - Francesco De Gregori, Titanic, 1982

I dischi che ho scelto il mese di Giugno hanno un valore ancora più personale, e sono legati da un fatto. A metà Maggio per aggiustare due tegole lesionate salendo in soffitta per fare spazio ho ritrovato degli scatoloni, e in uno di questi, catalogati in buste di carta, come quelle del pane, vi erano dei dischi. Ne ho scelti 5 per le domeniche di questo Giugno. Il primo era nella busta Dischi di Angela, il nome di mia madre. Interrogata, e felicemente sorpresa di aver ritrovato quello scatolone pensato perso dopo un temporaneo trasloco da casa, mi ha raccontato che non comprò il disco appena uscito, ma dopo qualche anno, dopo aver visto un concerto dell'artista di oggi, uno dei più grandi autori della canzone italiana.

Francesco De Gregori era stato lontano dagli studi di registrazione per tre anni: il 1979 era stato l'anno straordinario di Banana Republic con Lucio Dalla e di Viva L'Italia, disco fondamentale e che contiene una storia particolare. Fu infatti il tentativo della RCA, la sua casa discografica, di promuovere l'artista a livello internazionale. Fu ingaggiato Andrew Loog Oldham, leggendario scopritore e primo produttore dei Rolling Stones, che portò con sé una schiera di tecnici e turnisti britannici, e lo stesso De Gregori registrò delle versioni in inglese di alcune delle sue canzoni più note (Piccola Mela, Rimmel, Generale, una versione di Buffalo Bill con Lucio Dalla) con i testi tradotti da Susan Duncan Smith e Marva Jan Marrow, poetessa statunitense che rimase in Italia per un decennio, collaborando con numerosi artisti (Ivan Graziani adatta un suo brano, Sometimes Man, per Patti Pravo, che diviene una dedica per lei, intitolata Marva).

Decide quindi di concentrarsi su un disco che da un lato riprende progetti giovanili sul recupero delle musiche tradizionali, e dall'altro sia una sorta di concept album. Su questo ultimo punto, fu decisiva la lettura nei mesi precedenti le registrazioni di un libro, L'Affondamento Del Titanic di Hans Magnus Enzensberger. Prodotto da De Gregori con Luciano Torani, Titanic esce nel giugno del 1982. È un disco dove De Gregori lascia da parte la canzone d'amore (solo un brano è riconducibile ad una canzone romantica), musicalmente molto vario e che sembra, attraverso il racconto della mitica nave e del suo tragico destino, una riflessione faccia faccia, personale e spirituale, con il mare, i suoi messaggi potenti e profondi. Si apre con Belli Capelli, l'unica canzone d'amore, che lascia lo spazio a Caterina, emozionate omaggio a Caterina Bueno, cantautrice fiorentina che fu la prima a credere nel giovane De Gregori, chiamato come chitarrista nel 1971: i versi «e cinquecento catenelle che si spezzano in un secondo» sono un omaggio ad un brano di Bueno, «e cinquecento catenelle d'oro/hanno legato lo tuo cuore al mio/e l'hanno fatto tanto stretto il nodo/che non si scioglierà né te né io». La Leva Calcistica Del '68 è uno dei classici degregoriani, toccante racconto di un provino calcistico di un dodicenne nel 1980, con uno dei testi più belli del Principe (E chissà quanti ne hai visti e quanti ne vedrai\Di giocatori tristi che non hanno vinto mai\Ed hanno appeso le scarpe a qualche tipo di muro\E adesso ridono dentro al bar\E sono innamorati da dieci anni\Con una donna che non hanno amato mai\Chissà quanti ne hai veduti\Chissà quanti ne vedrai). La parte centrale del disco, musicale ed emozionale, è la cosiddetta trilogia del Titanic. L'Abbigliamento Di Un Fuochista, cantata con Giovanna Marini (grande custode della musica tradizionale italiana, recentemente scomparsa) racconta una storia di emigrazione attraverso il doloroso dialogo madre-figlio sullo sfondo della tragedia, e De Gregori in un disco successivo, altrettanto famoso, La Donna Cannone (1983), inserirà un brano, La Ragazza E La Miniera, che è la prosecuzione narrativa di questo brano. Titanic, dal meraviglioso ritmo sudamericano, è il brano metafora della questione sociale: la divisione in classi, prima, seconda e terza, che accomuna la nave alla società. I Muscoli Del Capitano inizia come Il Tragico Naufragio Della Nave Sirio, canzone popolare resa celebra da Caterina Bueno, e molti notarono lo stile particolare del testo, un riferimento alla narrazione futurista del progresso, della potenza meccanica, al mito dell'acciaio e dell'industria. La canzone, meravigliosa, sarà oggetto anche di numerose riletture, e ricordo quella convincente di Fiorella Mannoia in Certe Piccole Voci (1999). Il disco si chiude con il riff, spiazzante, di 150 Stelle, sulle bombe e i bombardamenti, con il simpatico rock'n'roll di Rollo & His Jets, che nel testo cita due dei suoi migliori collaboratori, Peppe Caporello (bassista mezzo messicano soprannominato chicco di caffè) e Marco Manusso (chitarrista con quel nome strano) che insieme con Mimmo Locasciulli suonarono nel disco. Leggenda vuole che per gli arrangiamenti dei fiati Caporello volle un paio di scarpe di tela Superga bianche. Chiude il disco il pianoforte, dolcissimo e malinconico, di San Lorenzo, in ricordo dei bombardamenti del 19 luglio 1943 sul quartiere romano di San Lorenzo ad opera degli alleati. Canzone stupenda, è anch'essa ricchissima di riferimenti: i versi su Pio XII che incontra la gente si rifà ad una famosissima fotografia (scattata però, ma si seppe anni dopo, davanti alla Chiesa di San Giovanni In Laterano, nell'agosto del '43 dopo la seconda sequenza di bombardamenti), il verso Oggi pietà l'è morta, ma un bel giorno rinascerà è presa dal famoso canto partigiano di Nuto Revelli.

Il disco, con in copertina il merluzzo su un piatto in un frigorifero accanto a un limone tagliato fotografato da De Gregori e colorata da Peter Quell, fu anche un successo di critica e di vendite: nonostante non ebbe traino da nessun singolo, vendette 100000 copie nel primo mese, regalando le sue canzoni stupende, con De Gregori che fu il primo a ripercorrere le orme del Battiato de La Voce Del Padrone, unendo nel modo più convincente la tradizione cantautorale, in questo lui un Maestro insuperato, con il grande pubblico.

[garadinervi]

Furious Flower: A Revolution in African American Poetry, (ink on paper in portfolio), Edited by Joanne Veal Gabbin and Susan Facknitz, Cover design by Sang Yoon (James Madison University), Typography by Christopher Kuntze, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy and James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, 1994, Printed letterpress on Mohawk Superfine paper at Rutland, VT, Edition of 300 [Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.]

Feat.: Samuel Allen, Alvin Aubert, Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, Michael S. Harper, Naomi Long Madgett, American, Haki R. Madhubuti, Sterling Plumpp, Sonia Sanchez, Elizabeth Alexander, Gerald William Barrax, Dr. Joanne Margaret Braxton, Toi Derricotte, Rita Dove, Mari Evans, Dolores Kendrick, Pinkie Gordon Lane, E. Ethelbert Miller, Raymond R. Patterson, Eugene B. Redmond, Sherley Anne Williams, Jerry Washington Ward Jr.