#i was insanely bored | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cuddlytogas · 2 months

Text

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.

#everyone say 'thank you togas' for not including a long tangent about evil rimmer in red dwarf 5x05 #Our Flag Means Death #Togas does meta #and yes these principles DO fall apart slightly in s2 and i DON'T like those costumes as much #don't get me wrong they're fun and gorgeous - but generally a bit less deep and more inaccurate. so. :(#I'm not sure this really says anything new about Our Flag but I just needed to get my thoughts out #i hate hate hate Gritty Period Drama costumes they're so boring and so ugly and so wrong #god bless OFMD for using more than 3 muted colours and actually putting men in heels (and not as a shorthand for rich/foppish villainy) <3 #looking at that Tudors still is insane like they really will go to any lengths to not make men feel like they've got bare legs XD #image descriptions in alt text #and yes i DID just sink about two hours into those so you'd better appreciate them

1K notes · View notes

warlenys · 4 months

Text

every birthmarks everybody dies parallel takes twenty years off my life

#this can’t have been intentional but then like. the boring thing #they absolutely rewatched birthmarks before writing that ending #so maybe it was #wish i could’ve gone into that writers room and strangled them all to death with my bare hands #also someone must have pointed this out already but i don’t think i’ve seen it if they have i think i would’ve gone insane then and there #house md #hilson #+

1K notes · View notes

symphonyofsilence · 1 month

Text

What drives me even more insane about this scene is how you'd expect Gojo to imagine High school era! Geto in the crowd. Or at least not the cult leader, worst of all the curse users Geto Suguru. But no, it's the cult leader Geto. It's Geto as Gojo last remembered him. As Geto last was. Whatever choices Geto made, wherever his choices led him and them, however he was, whoever he was, traumas and messed up ideas and bad choices and ill reputations and scorns and all. Gojo wanted Geto Suguru there. Not any ideal version. Not any "what if" version. Not any "at some point in time before things went downhill" version. Not any "when your hands weren't stained with innocent blood" version. He knew very well what he wanted. And he wanted it all the same. He wanted Geto Suguru. However he was. He just wanted him to be there. He just wanted him to be.

And he didn't want him to help him, he didn't want him to fight with him even if they were strongest together and always fought together for a while. He just wanted him to be there in the crowd and cheer him on. He just wanted him to stand there and give him one of his sweet, heartwarming smiles that shaped his eyes into crescent moons. He just wanted him to be. Then even if Gojo had died in the end anyway, he would have been satisfied. It would have been worth it. Only if Geto was there.

#his love is so pure! it's so real! it drives me insane!#'this is pure love' playing in the background while Gojo said his last words to Geto before his death was a perfect choice!#people died because the strongest sorcerer alive didn't make any move against his batshit boyfriend for 10 years #then couldn't burn his body after he had to kill him. and then froze like a deer in spotlight after he saw his body in the subway #and the same thing is true for Geto his dead body literally came to life to protect Gojo #(the very first case among Kenjaku's many hosts during centuries) even after Gojo had killed him! and he bore no grievance towards Gojo #even in his last moment. to the point that even Nanako & Mimiko knew that Geto had no problem dying by Gojo's hands.#'Whether you come as a lover or an executioner I am ready to receive you.'#jjk #jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #geto suguru #suguru geto #satosugu #gege akutami #my two cents

1K notes · View notes

shwarmadillo · 10 months

Text

literally how that conversation went down

#okay this is my last meme for tonight I think. time to go insane in my room for a bit #good omens #good omens spoilers #good omens s2 #story time is boring time

3K notes · View notes

moneyndior · 2 months

Text

luke castellan who absolutely looks and holds you like it’s the last time.

he observes—no, memorizes each perfection in your face. the colour of your eyes, your nose shape, how your lips slightly pierce together under an awkward situation and how your gaze softens when you look at him. he’s almost got you down to the last molecule.

luke doesn’t understand how nobody else can tell when you’re uncomfortable. it’s so obvious by the way your eyes drop in the this-is-too-much-for-me way and not the usual i-got-2-hours-of-sleep way. luke doesn’t understand why people still go up to you and ask you to help them when your shoulders are tense—which is the biggest indicator that you’re angry.

annabeth just says it’s because he’s in love, he says it’s just because you’re you. he tries to understand you so you don’t have to. luke understands that you like to cuddle this specific way and not the other way.

he sees your eyes shine just before you’re about to fall asleep—as if it’s the final warning to tell you that he loves you more than anything before you fall unconscious. luke’s tight grip doesn’t lessen as your breathing falls into a rhythm, his fingers entangled with yours as he had a hand on your hip and his chin resting at the top of your head.

luke has gotten every inch of you memorized. he’s preparing for the day that it will be his last day looking up at you, his head resting on your lap. he’s making sure he’s ready for you to be his last sight—and he’s making sure he remembers everything. he cannot pass on without memorizing how you try your best to smile to bring him comfort when you’re crying.

he’s making sure he doesn’t regret a thing.

#—LUKE CASTELLAN #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan x you #luke castellan imagine #luke castellan blurb #percy jackson x reader #pjo x reader #i made this in 10 minutes #i was bored sorry #also i need reqs or i’m gonnna go insane #fanks or wtv

918 notes · View notes

lastoneout · 2 years

Photo

I want whatever the fuck it is they have

#OKAY LISTEN cas and toast is SO VALID and I love them #BUT I am also FASCINATED by whatever the hell is going on between merlin and toast #we don't see them together often but lord when we do?? absolute insanity #the most boring man on earth with the most batshit woman alive #10/10 we love to see it #bapc #bapc spoilers #bee and puppycat #bee and puppcat lazy in space #toast/merlin #do they even have a ship name #bapc toast #bapc merlin

7K notes · View notes

ar-mage-ddon · 6 months

Text

to put it lightly i was possessed

#khml #kingdom hearts missing link #kh #kingdom hearts #kh brain #kh player #keykid #brainplayer #plain (kh)#i need u guys to listen to me. i think calling them Plain would be really funny /j (also /srs i really do find it hilarious)#anyway. i was really bored and i wanted to draw smth so i doodled a little brain as a warmup #and then i had a thought (<- my first mistake)#ive actually been thinking abt them for weeks but decided to materialize them today. they make me feel a little insane ngl #myart

449 notes · View notes

voidzphere · 26 days

Text

hey utmv fandom so um important question

do ectobodiez have jiggle physicz or am i going insane

#killz yapz #utmv #undertale au #sans au #yeah no i think #im just going insane #yeah #tw ecto body #cw ecto body #silly #im bored #ell oh ell

276 notes · View notes

sonknuxadow · 17 days

Text

i think people give elise too much shit for her little outburst at the end of sonic 06 because if i was running a country at 17 and had been repressing my emotions for 10 years straight and one day i got kidnapped like 500 times and ended up befriending the guy who rescued me and while spending time with him i felt like i really got to be myself and have fun for the first time in forever and formed a really meaningful relationship with him only for some weird demon rat thing to show up and kill him right in front of me just to make me cry so the destructive fire god that my dad sealed inside my body would be unleashed and then in order to save the world i had to reset the timeline and forget we ever met i would have become the joker

#posts that sound insane to people who dont know the sonic lore #been htinking about sonic 06 again lately #also i didnt know how to work this in but remember the scene where she jumped off eggman's airship not knowing sonic was gonna catch her .#yeah #also i think its pretty obvious that she wasnt actually gonna let the world end so she could stay with sonic #considering she ended up blowing out the flame anyway. she just had a lot of feelings about it. which shes allowed to do #anyway. people alwasy say elise is boring and has no personality or character #but i think shes interesting. once you actually start paying attention to her #also i dont even ship sonelise but i think its pretty clear that sonic and elise meant alot to eachother #even if i prefer to make it platonic in my mind #people who say sonic hated elise just hate elise themselves and are projecting that onto sonic #< TO BE CLEAR PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS CAN STILL BE VERY DEEP AND MEANINGFUL #idk if my wording on that was weird

159 notes · View notes

captain-noir · 1 year

Text

‘louis should go to therapy’ and ‘louis should work on himself’ and ‘louis deserves better than lestat’ are for the boring, conventional yellow bellied normies. i sincerly hope he gets worse. i hope he sells everyone he loves and cares for down the river for lestat’s radioactive dick. i hope he turns into the most predatory vampire akasha accused him of being and i hope he does it with a twinkle in his eyes

#interview with the vampire #louis de pointe du lac #he is an insane little man who has managed to convince you lot of his innocence #he is performer too #he's weaving this macabre and wacky story about monsters dressing up as humans #he has a human farm!#a private hangar #a vampire doctor #a fleet of human servants at his beck and call #and he wants to bring about an apocalypse for both the human and vampire species because he is bored #he is not right in the head #there's something reptellian in modern louis #he kissed and married lestat when his mouth was full of his priests viscera #he is the worst #i love him to bits

2K notes · View notes

iiflywithmeii · 1 month

Text

it hurts finally accepting that nothing will get better

536 notes · View notes

puppyeared · 8 months

Text

Close ups!

#bored in animal crossing so I was fucking around taking pictures of very small details #insane how much work goes into the decorations #and then you have to ANIMATE that shit? hell nah #animal crossing #png #photos #photo set #acnh #new horizons #I also took pictures of bugs and fish maybe I’ll post em later

523 notes · View notes

bylrndgm · 3 months

Text

ME AND MICHAEL

insp. | @cloudycleric (x)

#byler #mine #mine:gif #mike wheeler #will byers #flashing gif #thank u ollie for inspiring this <3 #i know guys this is my new style - and will be for a while -#<- until i get bored of it lmao #also??? the psd file for this? insane #hope u enjoy :D #queue

205 notes · View notes

moderndaypandora · 1 year

Text

The LAYERS needed in a modern/human Dreamling au. Some level of Endless family dysfunction, obviously. Hob's family can be be dead or not, it's all good. Are they old enough to have individually gained the awareness they are off-puttingly intense and should hide it a bit at first, or still in that "no, why would I need to Elsa this" stage?

Option A is both of them trying to play it cool, like "don't scare him off" except they so badly want to go from zero to sixty.

(Death and Desire have ruthlessly drilled Dream with flashcards about how to react appropriately in situations.

Desire: it's your one-month anniversary, what do you do?

Dream: [hesitantly] NOT propose?

Desire and Death, conferring, because that's technically correct but the delivery was suspect.

Death, encouragingly: Good start. And? 

Dream: a nice dinner and maybe a walk?

Desire: well done!

Death: and for a three-month anniversary?

 Dream: give them a key to my flat.

Desire: [airhorn] NO. RED CARD.)

Option B makes them the classic anecdotal "my grandparents got engaged within seven days of meeting each other and still are happy together".

(Death, rubbing her temples: so you met this guy--

Dream: Hob

Death: -- Hob, and within 1 day you gave notice to the Registrar's Office and figured out the best day to get married. And Hob agreed to this?

Dream: NO.

Death: oh thank go-

Dream: Hob SUGGESTED this.

Death: . . .

Dream: are you going to be a witness or not?

Death, 29 days later in the Registrar's Office, to Hob's witness: Is he sane?

Johanna Constantine, drinking heavily from a large flask: unfortunately yes, by all legal definitions.

Death: fuck

Johanna: [passing the flask over] if your brother's even a tenth as intense as Hob, they'll be fine. Probably.

Death, brightening: Is Hob that bad? 

Johanna: You know how sometimes you meet somebody and think "oof, they're a bit much, best give them a wide berth"? 

Death: yeah.

Johanna: Hob's like a camouflaged hole in the ground of muchness. Except he's done the hole up all nice and he knows that sometimes you just want to be left alone in the hole to sulk and rattle the spikes for a bit, and occasionally get a F&M hamper tossed in.

Death: [hmmmmmmm'ing approvingly]

Johanna, morose: the bastard.

In the background, Hob and Dream are pressing their foreheads together and basking in each other's presence)

#dreamling #the sandman #it's underappreciated how many red flags hob probably is buried under his amiable exterior #he looked at dream of the endless and went 'yeah'#not even as a 'i can make him better'#very much as a 'i can vibe with his current state and frankly even if he was worse i'd still be like that's my husband [shrug emoji]'#'what am i supposed to do? i knew who he was when i married him'#everybody around them: [extremely done with their shit] STOP ENABLING HIM #hob: he's my goth sweetheart #dream's entire family: he's ten sulking cats in eyeliner and a dramatic coat #hob: i know :D i love him!#johanna constantine is like 'hob's insane'#and everybody's going 'oh no don't be so mean he's just a little boring next to dream'#johanna: he saw dream being dream and went 'i need to stamp my name on him. how do i permanently tie us together'#johanna: he'd never safety pin a condom but i can just see the gears turning in hob's head about how to get to spend more time with dream #johanna: just radiating smug contentment over his insane wet cat #hob: i cannot wait to spend the next 60 years with that man #hob: and ideally die in our sleep together still holding hands #death and johanna: [staring at him over their fourth round of drinks]#dream: [heart of eyes and pink of cheeks]#dream: we should never not be holding hands #hob: okay but what if occasionally we stop holding hands just to then appreciate the feeling of starting to hold hands again #dream: [mulling] acceptable #death and johanna could probably start an entire benefriends or actual romantic relationship entirely based on judging dreamling

1K notes · View notes