#and thank you for the flags!

[losergendered]

(GVH requester, I'll put the flags I'd like used into a second ask this is so long! sorry!)

Fang from GVH is a canon transmasc nonbinary, canon queer, genderqueer, Musigender, Audiogender, Genderpunk, demiaroace dino who is partnered with Naomi! They use They/them but are fine with being referred to with no pronouns ("just Fang") by friends they feel comfortable around. They have autism, but are too busy with their special interest (music) to really look into it.

Reed from GVH is a canon queer, bigay dino who is Apagender/Gender apathetic. He's fine with He/him but honestly doesn't really care what pronouns or titles anyone uses to refer to him, as long as you're not being a jerk about it. He has ADHD and his hyperfix is Legends 'n Lore! (LnL aka "Dinosaur DND")

Trish from GVH is a buggender, bugarian, genderpunk, gay, transneu girl/qirl who has ADHD (with a hyperfixation on entomology), anxiety, and OCD. She primarily uses She/her but is fine with any neutral or neopronouns around friends that she trusts. She is questioning being Aspec, specifically Quoiaroace!

Sage from GVH is a canon trans guy, canon queer, glitterbxy, Gastrogender, chefgender, and pangay dino who uses he/him and is in a T4T Alterous partnership with Stella! He has ADHD and his hyperfixations are cooking, baking, and cute fashion!

Stella from GVH is a canon queer, panlesbian, pan femme, transmasc girl who is also Tarodesinic, Tarostrology, Astragirl, and Tarotine. She has ADHD and her comfort hyperfixations are Astrology, Tarot, and Divination in general! In a T4T Alterous partnership with Sage and crushing on Nasir!

Nasir from GVH is questioning his gender and orientation, but has been too busy to really get into it because of his parent's expectations. He is questioning being a transfem boy, transfemmasc, bigender, aroaceflux, bi futch, and a bi gaybian. He currently only uses He/him because it's what everyone else uses for him, but wants to try out He/She/They pronouns with those he trusts! He has anxiety!

Naomi from GVH is a canon queer, bipan, sciencegender, autigender girl with autism and anxiety who uses She/her primarily (but is fine with any pronouns as long as you're being kind and respectful!) She is partnered with Fang and questioning being somewhere on the Aspectrum, but is too busy with school to really know right now. Her special interests are Pretty Heroes, cosplay, science, and engineering!

Rosa from GVH is a canon trans girl, canon queer, a bi lesbian, cafegender, hibiscusgender, and rosegender! She uses She/her pronouns and has ADHD! Her hyperfixation is botany!

posted!

[sillyfairygarden]

a stranger with a sly smile.... i caught the hades brainworms so obviously i had to draw scarlet pearl (now with a companion bigb!)

[hyolks]

hey wait why are there only short people at this drive in

[orions-beltloops]

ofmd officially over everyone :((((((

[soapbubbles511]

Stede: Is this alright? 🥺👉👈

Ed: 🥹🫠🫠

[xray-vex]

🔥💜🏳️‍🌈BOYFRIEND🏳️‍🌈💜🔥

🔥💜🏳️‍🌈BOYFRIEND🏳️‍🌈💜🔥

🔥💜🏳️‍🌈BOYFRIEND🏳️‍🌈💜🔥

🔥💜🏳️‍🌈BOYFRIEND🏳️‍🌈💜🔥

🔥💜🏳️‍🌈BOYFRIEND🏳️‍🌈💜🔥

(bts video courtesy of Samba Schutte)

[medievill]

the absolute titanic balls (gn) of this show to look its queer, neurodivergent audience in the eye and say, “I know you think you’re unlovable. I know you think if you show your true self to someone, they’ll reject you. but it’s not true. none of it’s true. there is someone waiting for you, desperately, loving you more than you have ever believed, more than you could know.”

[cobbbvanth]

Fish on wheels

↳ Behind the Flag: Mermaid Day

[bizarrelittlemew]

"It's just nice to be in control." 😏 (source)

BONUS:

[confusedraven1]

jim getting izzy’s glove means so much to me 🥺🏴‍☠️🖤

[cuddlytogas]

So I accidentally almost got into an argument on Twitter, and now I'm thinking about bad historical costuming tropes. Specifically, Action Hero Leather Pants.

See, I was light-heartedly pointing out the inaccuracies of the costumes in Black Sails, and someone came out of the woodwork to defend the show. The misunderstanding was that they thought I was dismissing the show just for its costumes, which I wasn't - I was simply pointing out that it can't entirely care about material history (meaning specifically physical objects/culture) if it treats its clothes like that.

But this person was slightly offended on behalf of their show - especially, quote, "And from a fan of OFMD, no less!" Which got me thinking - it's true! I can abide a lot more historical costuming inaccuracy from Our Flag than I can Black Sails or Vikings. And I don't think it's just because one has my blorbos in it. But really, when it comes down to it...

What is the difference between this and this?

Here's the thing. Leather pants in period dramas isn't new. You've got your Vikings, Tudors, Outlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Once Upon a Time, Will, The Musketeers, even Shakespeare in Love - they love to shove people in leather and call it a day. But where does this come from?

Obviously we have the modern connotations. Modern leather clothes developed in a few subcultures: cowboys drew on Native American clothing. (Allegedly. This is a little beyond my purview, I haven't seen any solid evidence, and it sounds like the kind of fact that people repeat a lot but is based on an assumption. I wouldn't know, though.) Leather was used in some WWI and II uniforms.

But the big boom came in the mid-C20th in motorcycle, punk/goth, and gay subcultures, all intertwined with each other and the above. Motorcyclists wear leather as practical protective gear, and it gets picked up by rock and punk artists as a symbol of counterculture, and transferred to movie designs. It gets wrapped up in gay and kink communities, with even more countercultural and taboo meanings. By the late C20th, leather has entered mainstream fashion, but it still carries those references to goths, punks, BDSM, and motorbike gangs, to James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Mick Jagger. This is whence we get our Spikes and Dave Listers in 1980s/90s media, bad boys and working-class punks.

And some of the above "historical" design choices clearly build on these meanings. William Shakespeare is dressed in a black leather doublet to evoke the swaggering bad boy artist heartthrob, probably down on his luck. So is Kit Marlowe.

But the associations get a little fuzzier after that. Hook, with his eyeliner and jewellery, sure. King Henry, yeah, I see it. It's hideously ahistorical, but sure. But what about Jamie and Will and Ragnar, in their browns and shabby, battle-ready chic? Well, here we get the other strain of Bad Period Drama Leather.

See, designers like to point to history, but it's just not true. Leather armour, especially in the western/European world, is very, very rare, and not just because it decays faster than metal. (Yes, even in ancient Greece/Rome, despite many articles claiming that as the start of the leather armour trend!) It simply wasn't used a lot, because it's frankly useless at defending the body compared to metal. Leather was used as a backing for some splint armour pieces, and for belts, sheathes, and buckles, but it simply wasn't worn like the costumes above. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and hard to repair - it's simply not practical for a garment when you have perfectly comfortable, insulating, and widely available linen, wool, and cotton!

As far as I can see, the real influence on leather in period dramas is fantasy. Fantasy media has proliferated the idea of leather armour as the lightweight choice for rangers, elves, and rogues, a natural, quiet, flexible material, less flashy or restrictive than metal. And it is cheaper for a costume department to make, and easier for an actor to wear on set. It's in Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Runescape, and World of Warcraft.

And I think this is how we get to characters like Ragnar and Vane. This idea of leather as practical gear and light armour, it's fantasy, but it has this lineage, behind which sits cowboy chaps and bomber/flight jackets. It's usually brown compared to the punk bad boy's black, less shiny, and more often piecemeal or decorated. In fact, there's a great distinction between the two Period Leather Modes within the same piece of media: Robin Hood (2006)! Compare the brooding, fascist-coded villain Guy of Gisborne with the shabby, bow-wielding, forest-dwelling Robin:

So, back to the original question: What's the difference between Charles Vane in Black Sails, and Edward Teach in Our Flag Means Death?

Simply put, it's intention. There is nothing intentional about Vane's leather in Black Sails. It's not the only leather in the show, and it only says what all shabby period leather says, relying on the same tropes as fantasy armour: he's a bad boy and a fighter in workaday leather, poor, flexible, and practical. None of these connotations are based in reality or history, and they've been done countless times before. It's boring design, neither historically accurate nor particularly creative, but much the same as all the other shabby chic fighters on our screens. He has a broad lineage in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean and such, but that's it.

In Our Flag, however, the lineage is much, much more intentional. Ed is a direct homage to Mad Max, the costuming in which is both practical (Max is an ex-cop and road warrior), and draws on punk and kink designs to evoke a counterculture gone mad to the point of social breakdown, exploiting the thrill of the taboo to frighten and titillate the audience.

In particular, Ed is styled after Max in the second movie, having lost his family, been badly injured, and watched the world turn into an apocalypse. He's a broken man, withdrawn, violent, and deliberately cutting himself off from others to avoid getting hurt again. The plot of Mad Max 2 is him learning to open up and help others, making himself vulnerable to more loss, but more human in the process.

This ties directly into the themes of Our Flag - it's a deliberate intertext. Ed's emotional journey is also one from isolation and pain to vulnerability, community, and love. Mad Max (intentionally and unintentionally) explores themes of masculinity, violence, and power, while Max has become simplified in the popular imagination as a stoic, badass action hero rather than the more complex character he is, struggling with loss and humanity. Similarly, Our Flag explores masculinity, both textually (Stede is trying to build a less abusive pirate culture) and metatextually (the show champions complex, banal, and tender masculinities, especially when we're used to only seeing pirates in either gritty action movies or childish comedies).

Our Flag also draws on the specific countercultures of motorcycles, rockers, and gay/BDSM culture in its design and themes. Naturally, in such a queer show, one can't help but make the connection between leather pirates and leather daddies, and the design certainly nods at this, with its vests and studs. I always think about this guy, with his flat cap so reminiscient of gay leather fashions.

More overtly, though, Blackbeard and his crew are styled as both violent gangsters and countercultural rockstars. They rove the seas like a bikie gang, free and violent, and are seen as icons, bad boys and celebrities. Other pirates revere Blackbeard and wish they could be on his crew, while civilians are awed by his reputation, desperate for juicy, gory details.

This isn't all of why I like the costuming in Our Flag Means Death (especially season 1). Stede's outfits are by no means accurate, but they're a lot more accurate than most pirate media, and they're bright and colourful, with accurate and delightful silks, lace, velvets, and brocades, and lovely, puffy skirts on his jackets. Many of the Revenge crew wear recognisable sailor's trousers, and practical but bright, varied gear that easily conveys personality and flair. There is a surprising dedication to little details, like changing Ed's trousers to fall-fronts for a historical feel, Izzy's puffy sleeves, the handmade fringe on Lucius's red jacket, or the increasing absurdity of navy uniform cuffs between Nigel and Chauncey.

A really big one is the fact that they don't shy away from historical footwear! In almost every example above, we see the period drama's obsession with putting men in skinny jeans and bucket-top boots, but not only does Stede wear his little red-heeled shoes with stockings, but most of his crew, and the ordinary people of Barbados, wear low boots or pumps, and even rough, masculine characters like Pete wear knee breeches and bright colours. It's inaccurate, but at least it's a new kind of inaccuracy, that builds much more on actual historical fashions, and eschews the shortcuts of other, grittier period dramas in favour of colour and personality.

But also. At least it fucking says something with its leather.

[savpumpkinhead]

something about old queer people being able to finally be queer and out. something about our flag means death and good omens having older gay people who are discovering themselves and kissing eachother. something about the aids crisis and a generation of old queers being forced to hide or dying. something about young queers being able to see themselves grow old.

[mulderscully]

I've been thinking about your mouth on me all week, and I've been hoping I'd see you in Paris so I could put it to use.

[dallonismysavior]

This is Ed and Stede

And this is Taika and Rhys

[zombee]

never forget that izzy hands is funny. he's fucking hilarious. he's funny when he's having a breakdown and he's funny when he's a bad guy and he's funny when he's trying to be smooth. don't let the nonsense stop you from enjoying the parts of him that are enjoyable!!!!! he's a pathetic, sad, funny little dweeb!

[benevolenterrancy]

Art prompt of Shen Qingqiu holding the aro flag (fits his color scheme)

the real reason this man doesn't realise he's tripping every romance flag in the story