#going heel

[burningcomputerpersona]

My mind wanders as I settle in Neck deep in calculated time wasted And time well spent I fight for hours to conjure these constructs to be misled But it's just another day It's getting hard to rationalize The pursuit of prestige on these 10-hour drives So will you still salute me as this ship starts sinking Cause these sails are made from wishful thinking The curtain's been pulled So string me up from your rope string lights As they burn blue and bright We felt like kings as we walked through the alley that night So call me a cynic As I pray on the optimist You're all just martyrs Looking for a sword to fall on So sharpen your blades as you sharpen your tongues It's getting hard to rationalize The pursuit of prestige on these 10-hour drives So will you still salute me as this ship starts sinking Cause these sails are made from wishful thinking So much to lose and less to gain I'm a shovel against an avalanche I only have myself to blame But I'm doing okay (I gathered all my things and fled the scene) (I traded parties for wandering aimlessly) (Around the streets outside Columbus) (But I'm doing okay) It's getting hard to rationalize The pursuit of prestige on these 10-hour drives So will you still salute me as this ship starts sinking Cause these sails are made from wishful thinking It's getting hard to rationalize Leaving loved ones behind with those tears in their eyes So will you still salute me as this ship starts sinking Cause these sails are made from wishful thinking

Rationalize by Action/Adventure

[shkika]

W1 design is done finally!!

W1 is both of the V models having combined themselves into one machine! Here are some notes on it! There's a lot to this fucker I think, but I'll do my best to cover what's most important.

Design notes:

More fragile areas are usually using V2's standard tougher plating. Main examples are the base of it's limbs, as the less of it's arm it potentially loses the better, it's head (which has 2 brains inside!), kneecaps and it's shooter arms, which are less powerful but made to handle guns and weaponry with more finesse.

Note! The knuckleblaster largely is off-colored, because it is a creation of V2's before their merge (she was not made with it). She made it before they combined. Has modified only it's hand after their merge (blue).

Big surface areas or places where blood often ends up use V1's plating. So like it's chest, forearms, punching fists and so on!

Their eye looks like that, because it's cool. and. 2 brains.

Their wings are a combination, because of limited resources. If it could use all of V2's it would as they are better protected.

Character/lore notes:

The V's do NOT fight for the body. Actually any disagreement on actions it must perform are VERY dangerous and scary they prioritize reaching a solution as FAST as possible.

Not functioning correctly can mean death. That being said differing opinions specifically are okay as long as they reach the same final conclusion on what to do. Nobody is panicking if they disagree on what their fave color is.

The two brains send requests incredibly fast between each other to operate the body. Both have full control over the body and must operate it together. This is a VERY processing heavy task and an inefficient one so it requires a lot of blood. It is a VERY hungry machine.

W1 combines before the events of the game! W1 would go through the events of the game in place of just V1.

[hadesoftheladies]

being unwilling to accept degradation on any level as a woman makes people so mad at you lmao. no i will not exist and walk around like i am here to be performative art and not a human being fuck you

[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.

[p4nishers]

i think it's time i admit i have the biggest fatest crush on 1941 crowley. like dude.

[bunnyboy-juice]

NO MORE ASSOCIATING THINGS WITH FEMMES ONLY BECAUSE THEY ARE PINK!HYPERFEM FEMMES ARE GREAT AND I LOVE YOU CAMPY FEMMES WHO EMBODY PINK BUT ALSO JESUS CHRIST CAN YOU GUYS NOT GO MORE THAN ONE DAY W/O TRYING TO SHOEHORN FEMMES INTO BEING ONLY PINK UWU BABIES. I AM FEMME AS IN GRASS AS IN DIRT AS IN TREE BARK AS IN WEEDS SPROUTING THROUGH THE SIDEWALK CEMENT. FEMME AS IN GENDER NONCONFORMITY AS IN FUCK YOU MY FEMININITY IS WHAT *I* SAY IT IS. FEMME AS IN DEPTH AND DARKNESS AND WARMTH AND TERROR. FEMME AS IN CAVES. FEMME AS IN LIGHTNING. FEMME AS IN AN AMALGAMATION OF TRAITS THAT I HAVE DECIDED ARE FEMININE REGARDLESS OF WHAT SOCIETY SAYS. FUCK IS IT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND?!???

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Cruel and Unusual Punishments (the PSA episode).

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[superhell]

house md is wild because house tells wilson that he’ll sacrifice many things but never himself and then he sacrifices himself for wilson. and then he sacrifices himself for wilson. and then he sacrifices himself for wilson. and then he

[canisalbus]

Alright.

.

[fountainpenguin]

Etho sending Joel a letter in the mail telling him to take down the giant statues of Etho at the entrance of his base... "I know you hold me in high regard, but maybe your obsession has gone too far and I think it would be for the best to take those down-"

Joel, sending a letter back: "Wasn't me. Someone worked really hard on them though so I moved them to your base."

crying. they are so silly.

[burningcomputerpersona]

Therapeutic parked car conversations Will lead us through this year's congregation Our bleeding hearts and broken bones I'll see you when I get home Don't you wait up for me Don't wait for me Some things are meant to be lost So I'll make the best of bad advice and bad news Cause this is who I am, and all I'll ever be I had your best interest in mind Could you say the same for me Oh the tables have turned You tied me up in forget-me-knots I left you hanging on my back porch So call this self diagnosis I'm a product of your afterthoughts (your afterthoughts) Like petals pulled from roses (they wilt away) Pick me through I love you nots Don't you dare stop and wait for me Don't wait for me Some things are meant to be lost So I'll make the best of bad advice and bad news Cause this is who I am, and all I'll ever be I had your best interest in mind Could you say the same for me Could you still say the same for me How did we let it get this far We both know I'm worth more than this How did we let it get this far We both know you're worth more than this How did we let it get this far We both know we're worth more than this  

LXVI by Action/Adventure

[catcze]

N.sfw

//////

You cannot convince me Wriothesley could keep his mouth shut while getting head. Every time is just like the first, he's going to moan with a softness that's absent from his normal speaking voice, his hand buried in your hair as he shakily urges you onward... And if you just... Stopped? The Duke might be gruff when it comes to business, but with his lover, he's not going to use force. He's going to bite his lip, squeeze his eyes shut and swallow his pride before letting out the most desperate little "Please.."

NSFW!! 18+ ONLY !!

Oh?? My god ?? Dude this has lived rent-free in my brain this whole day I hope you know.

Goodness, yk, I can see Wrio as the kind of person who prefers to give rather than receive, you know? Who gains pleasure from knowing that you're feeling good. It's not often that you get to go down on him, but oh each time is worth remembering.

Fuck, and can you imagine the small, aborted thrusts? Ones that he can't help, so desperate from the feeling of your mouth just there. How, against his better efforts, his body is so desperate for you to take him deeper into your throat that he twitches and jerks even as he tries to keep still because he doesn't want to be rough with you.

Wriothesley who pants, voice raspy as he says your name so sweetly, the word practically a plea. His whole body is tense, like a coiled spring taut with restraint. A flush is high on his cheeks and sweat drips from his brow just from you cockwarming him with your mouth.

"Sweetheart, you're killing me here," he says, voice shaky as he chuckles. He had thought it harmless to let you have your fun when you asked earlier, but oh, he hadn't expected this.

The hand still in your hair goes to cup your jaw, feeling the way your mouth stretches open around his length, and gently guides you to look up up up at him so he can meet your eyes. And the sight of you on your knees, between his thighs and looking up at him with his hard length in your mouth— the slightest of quirks to your lip like you know how desperate you've made him— nearly makes him cum right then and there.

Wriothesley barely manages to hold his shit together, but his cock twitches in your mouth, betraying how badly he needs you.

"Baby." His voice is so so so breathless, so raspy. His thumb rubs against your bottom lip, and the slightest of moans escapes him when your tongue flicks against the underside of his cock. "Don't tease— Sweetheart don't tease me, please. I'm already so hard for you, it hurts."

And it's true— Wriothesley looks nearly delirious from how badly he wants to be deeper in your throat— looks like he'd beg a thousand more times, would whine your name and tell you how good you look as much as you want, if only to get another inch in your mouth. So you have mercy on him, and after a deep breath, you sink down the rest of his length, until he's so deep in your throat that you gag— and with a choked yell of your name, Wriothesley's cock jerks as he cums, flooding your mouth and throat with the taste of his spend.

[epicfirestormer]

*Clenches fist* thematic color scheme,, opposing narrative before converging and becoming one,, Nimona being the one to both push and close the gap between them,,

[veinsfullofstars]

"Still trying to intimidate me? Cute."

(ID: Kirby series fanart of Meta Knight and Galacta Knight based off of a couple dynamics template by @/ReddsMess on Twitter. Original template and source below the cut, as well as a HAL language variant. Top-left panel - high-angle shot of MK lit from above, standing firm and glaring up through his mask, his wings curled out and breaching the panel in places, subtitled "Well well..." Top-right panel - low-angle shot of GK lit from below, looming in the air and leering down through his mask, his wings curled out and his hands spread wide in challenge, both of which breach the panel in places, subtitled "Look who came to see me..." Bottom panel - MK & GK stand next to each other, the latter leaning towards the former and gently caressing the side of his mask with the back of one hand, grinning smugly and wrapping a wing around the knight, subtitled "My Knightmare." MK stands stiffly with his fists clenched at his sides, blushing vividly and glaring away from the warrior. A little flurry of white hearts emanate from GK, while one small one hovers above MK. END ID.)

Started 03/30/24, finished 04/02/24.

---

HAL language variant:

Original by ReddsMess (template link) NOTE: The artist has marked 16-18+ in their bio, so browse at your own risk!

[pixlatedvampire]

💗

insert "these boots are made for walking" joke

[cringefailvox]

guy notorious for violently removing people from his personal space and who blew sir pentious halfway across the city for tearing a tiny scrap from his already tattered coat lets rosie sweep him off his feet and spin him around like a doll. i'm so in love with their dynamic