#our alts :3

[gigifujijifu]

Yohei is Michi's retainer and bodyguard, and today is his birthday. Michi will buy him whatever he wants as a gift later but for how they're just enjoying Moonfire, where Yohei will probably be expected to carry Michi through the obstacle course >>;

[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.

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

atp phil’s like “ffs i wish i could hit you with a car then i wouldn’t have to be stuck with your annoying dramatic ass 🙄”

[sufroyo]

these were supposed to look like photographs but i gave up with the frames 👍

[r0semultiverse]

Small indie artists in need of support for moving out by September!

💜 These lovely folks [@QuinsCurse (they/them) & @sswitchblade03 (xe/xem and he/him)] are part of a small queer-owned Youtube community I'm in. 💖

💖 If you could lend a helping hand by reblogging & queueing this post up until the start of September, I'd greatly appreciate it & I'm sure these fine folks would too! 💜

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

"Hi everyone! Requests are officially closed as I am opening emergency commissions! Please consider supporting me as we are getting kicked out and have managed to find a place that’s affordable but need to save up 5k by the end of the month! Anything helps! I also have a dontations page if you are willing to help do that! All the money received from commissions will be going to the deposit! https://ko-fi.com/quinscurse/commissions https://ko-fi.com/quinscurse/goal?g=32"

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

"https://ko-fi.com/sswitchblade03/commissions https://ko-fi.com/sswitchblade03/goal?g=0 EMERGENCY COMMISSIONS!! My roommate ‪@QuinsCurse‬and I are needing about $5000CAD for a down payment on a new place as we need to be out of our current place by September! Every bit counts! My goal is to be set to $3000CAD. I will draw anything (coloured and rendered) for $5 CAD each! If you are willing to give more it will be appreciated. Examples of my work below!"

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

[ebonytails]

Happy Disability Pride Month!

The Disability Zebra for the Pride Animal series is finally here! (The series where I take requests and design animals based on flags) I designed this all the way back in March, and thanks to everyone's feedback, I was able to narrow it down! (Special thanks to @yomcloud for a lot of helpful notes :-]c) This will never be perfect, but I've gotten a lot of love and joy from myself and disabled friends seeing this little guy :-]

You can get this guy on Redbubble! For local conventions, I'll be selling this as stickers with the gray outline!

Fun Fact! Zebras are also used as a symbol to represent rare diseases! This is based on the quote "When you hear the sound of hooves, think horses, not zebras." In regards to what doctors should consider when diagnosing a patient. This ends up with many disabled people not getting the right diagnosis, being ignored, or their conditions not being researched enough. All this because something is considered "rare", when in fact people with these disabilities are still large in number, diagnosed or not- a lot of disabled people even feel that their diagnoses may even be more common than we think. Because of this, the animal has been embraced by what doctors may call "medical zebras", now being used to represent many different disabilities considered "rare" such as Ehler's Danlos Syndrome, CACP Syndrome, and many more!

If you are disabled or know someone who is disabled, this pride animal is for you! If you are or know someone who is considered a "medical zebra", I hope this zebra brings you joy!

[punkeropercyjackson]

Percy's fashion sense in my head

[luv-indigo]

OlNF Week Day 3: Crossover

at first, I really struggled to come up with something for today. i originally drew them playing with lalaloopsy dolls but then i was like…. what if they were the lalaloopsy dolls

also cheyomi step 2 outfit reveal?! crazyness. (@olnfweek2024)

black eyed version!! don’t rlly know which one i like more though tbh

[arsenicflame]

The thing about Jack's Izzy is that he was never supposed to be Jack's Izzy. It was supposed to be a temporary thing, to teach Ed and Sam a lesson, to escape their constant tugging at him to decide who he was going with. He'd been beginning to feel more like their favourite toy, a pawn in their endless stupid fight, than a person whose opinion they actually cared about. He tells them he hasn't decided, that he doesn't want to decide, but it goes over their heads every time, too focused on "winning" him.

So when it comes to it, after Hornigold's gone, after they've won, and they're asking him again before he's even had chance to clean the blood from his sword, let alone his hands, he just blurts out "Jack"

To say everyone's shocked is an understatement. Sam and Ed's shocked "What's?" are only drowned out by Jack’s own. It's not like he hasn't known the whole time he was never in the running, he hadn't even asked Izzy because he knew he'd just laugh in his face. He loved Izzy just as much as they did, but it was never the same for Izzy. He never had the drive of Sam & Ed, the passion, the potential. He was Calico Jack, too stupid, too immature, too much of a drunk to be a worthy captain. (never mind that Izzy had always seen through that cover, seen the way he used the act to keep himself safe, seen that he was never really as drunk as he acted, seen the way he played people to get what he wanted. It didn't matter. He wasn't Ed or Sam, and that's all that really mattered in the end)

Izzy sits firm in his split second decision, telling them that he's fed up with all this bullshit, and Jack's the only one who listens to him, so he's going with him. Jack's not stupid enough to question Izzy further, so they take one of Hornigold's fleet & a handful of crew who hold no loyalty to the other boys, and set sail before it has a chance to turn into another mutiny.

The thing is, Izzy never really intended to stay. His plan was to leave with Jack for a month or so, fucking around achieving nothing while his boys got their heads out of their asses, then go back once hes actually had space to make a decision, to decide who he wants to be, free of anyone else's expectations. Only, having Izzy there to impress makes Jack pull his act together fast. He's desperate to prove he's worthy of Izzy's time, cutting back on all the dicking around and making a genuine effort to be a worthy Captain for him. He's not perfect by any means, but they're actually doing ok.

And for Izzy, it's like someone's lifted a weight off of his shoulders. He hadn't realised it until he was away, but being with Sam & Ed had felt crushing towards the end, both of them expecting so much from him, wanting him to be someone who wasn't quite him, wanting him to help them build a legend. And maybe he wanted that, maybe he would love it in another life, but it's also nice to not have expectations. Jack never wants him to be anything other than himself, and it's been pretty nice, learning who Izzy Hands is. He thinks he might like the guy.

So it goes from there. A month passes and Izzy makes no mention of meeting up with the others. Then two, then three, and before long he's forgetting that he ever seriously planned to leave. He stays, and they make it work, together. It's not perfect, it was never going to be, but they have something that makes them both happy. And that's enough.

[puckpocketed]

19/10/2024 - IA @ SJ

luca cagnoni celebrates his first ahl goal (get tucked idiot!!)

[eternalgirlscout]

Some of you might remember Teen & Wolf, the Lasers and Feelings hack that @freelanceplatypus and I designed with our beautiful brains a while back. It's a joy to announce that, after playtesting, editing, thinking up better jokes, and editing again, a full version with an illustrated rule book is available for free to download!

The gorgeous cover you see in this post was illustrated by @soymikki. One million thanks to Mikki, as well as to Rachel @snailparent and Cass @ambientmagic, the best playtesters we could ask for.

Please enjoy the game! Let us know if you've played it, tell us all your teen werewolf stories, and keep howling at the moon!

[pokemonruby]

more or less how this whole debacle has been going

[art-that-fucks-you-up-tournament]

SET NINE - ROUND ONE - MATCH ONE

"David" (1501-1504 - Michelangelo) / "David" (c.1440s - Donatello)

MICHELANGELO'S DAVID: its literally insane in person like its massive and the detail is crazy. popular for a reason! (@looktoyourkingdomz)

DONATELLO'S DAVID: Everybody's heard of Michelangelo's David (boring) (overdone) (overrated) now get ready for Donatello's David (amazing) (sassy) (underrated) (stunning). He has his hand on his hip all sassy like and if you see pictures of him at certain angles he has GREAT HIPS. His hat sort of looks like one that a Victorian woman might wear at a picnic if you don't look too closely at it. I absolutely adore it unironically. (@princeoftheroses)

("David" is a marble sculpture created by Michelangelo. It is 5.2 m × 2 m (17 x 6.5 ft) and located in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, Italy.

"David" is a bronze sculpture by Donatello. It is 158 cm (62 in) tall and housed in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello.)

[screentunes]

🎂

[abc04]

🍏ace, aro, and aroace regressor flags!

[PT: (green apple emoji) ace, aro, and aroace regressor flags! /end PT]

this is our take on these flags! for any regressors who identify as the above (ID in alt)

[televisionforwhales]

Started listening to re: dracula and reading the comments

The bit may be old (to you!!) but I'm very charmed that it made it to Spotify