#thoughts on dramas

[alltomevibes]

Summer 2024 Watchlist

It is officially summer which means I am out of school and have time to just sit !!! watch !!! and do nothing !!!

which means - here's my drama watchlist & my thoughts on everything so far:

Dare to Love Me - i started this yesterday and let me j say I flew through those 2 episodes. I decided to brave the comments on MDL to see what people were saying, and then i ignored them LOL because yeah. this show is highkey silly goofy but i love it! the FL is endearing to me and i hate how nowadays every woman has to be Strong and Confident to be loveable and it's like - no. i love the fact that she gets choked up, that she tries and fails, that she is mad clumsy, that she's clearly talented but has been burdened by lack of self-esteem like yes!!! she's human i love it give me MORE. and don't get me started on the ML. i love him - i love THEM your honor. currently at a 9.0 rating for me, we'll see if it keeps up.

Dating in the Kitchen - this has a 8.0 rating for me and i want to keep going (i only watched 1 episode and it's been two weeks since then) because i watched This Isn't What I expected THREE (3!!) times and i LOVE that movie and when I saw there was a drama based on it, i wanted to give it a go but i am STRUGGLINGGGG. imma keep it pushing because, look. i watched the movie 3 times. it's def worth it. (maybe)

Fight for My Way - this has a 9.5 rating rn, and i am stuck in the middle of episode 15. i have been stuck on the middle of episode 15 for a HOT minute. my interest in this show dropped like crazy, i am trying to hold on.

Good Morning Call - my roommate for two years (and sadly no more a ha ha) recommended this show to me and we watched the first episode together and it was cute! i liked it, so it's on my list. currently has a 8.5 rating, but it's low on my priorities (when it comes to dramas), so im gonna pirate it whenever i have time💀

Lovely Runner - don't even talk to me about this show if you want a short conversation - I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS SHOW BRO. look at my tumblr, it's all lovely runner rn and I HAVE NO REGRETS. 9.5 rating - won't get a 10 because it ENDS SOON. this is my type of show, i LOVE this type of show the cinematography and everything IM EATING IT UP. it got me out of my drama funk its so nfjsdfhdsifsd

The Midnight Romance in Hagwon: let me just say! i watched this yesterday and i flew by the two episodes. lovely runner x tmrih on my tumblr? yes. this show is a much slower-pace show and I LOVE IT. YEs! Give me real life, give me real conversations! I love this show, i love the micro-expressions, i love the fact that WHJ is the MAIN LEAD FOR ONCE LIKE YES SIR, GIVE ME ALL THE BUTTERFLIES and i've never seen this actress before JRW but she is absolutely gorgeous and i love the FL! these people are not acting, they ARE the characters and im so !!!!! 9.0 rating because i skip the intro every time (sorry)

Will Love in Spring - this is on pause on episode 15 because the ending actually has me severely messed up rn. i have been in love with li xian's acting since gogosquid and i absolutely adore chen mai dong. i adore the way zhuang jie says his name ALL the time like she can't help it. I adore zhuang jie and just the way she operates through life - she's so clearly flawed when it comes to romantic love, but she is so clearly filled with love and always tries her best and !!! zhou yu tong is eating her character up rn, i've never seen her act and this was such a good intro to her BUT WHAT ZHUANG JIE SAID TO MY BOY IN EPISODE 15????? locked up. i have never felt so disrespected in my life and i had to give it a pause because i know she's gonna apologize but i needed that on the train. not the next episode. actually, not even on the train!! IN THE STREET BEFORE HE DROVE OFF AFTER DRIVING HER HOME AFTER SHE ACCUSED HIM OF FORCING HER!!!! That's when she should have apologized, but fidjofdshifudsf i love her so much i know why she couldn't IM JUST IN AGONY RN. anyways, let me breathe lol cause the way i was holding my breathe writing that is,,,,,. yeah. has an 8.5 rating rn, will probably go up to 9.5 because the fact that i actually had to stop watching because of emotional damage is crazy.

thats my list (and crazy descriptions, so sorry) that i'm watching rn! i would 10/10 recommend these to everybody (except dating in the kitchen im highkey struggling)! if you guys have any recs based on what i shared or wanna be friends on MDL j let me know :)

[rudjedet]

[glassrooibos]

Everything stays right where you left it huh guys

[bixels]

Hot to the Touch

(Sunset x Thea)

[8pxl]

PSA 🗣️ another scammer using genAI without disclosing it

pixlgirl has been posting generated AI (targeting fandoms) without disclosing it, passing it off as their genuine art and has apparently scammed at least one person into ‘commissioning’ them. this is a public PSA so yall can block them, and not interact. please do not harass them!

it’s incredibly shitty to be disingenuous while posting AI but even shittier to scam people with it 🤢 stay diligent yall

[fence-time]

[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.

[super-sootica]

I'm so fascinated (respectfully) by people who experience sexual attraction.

That's wild, you were just going about your business one day and what? The puberty fairy gave you an intense desire to kiss some thighs? You looked around and saw a bum and were like 'nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to grab that bum' It sounds made up.

[waterghostype]

crusty kid

[wosstue]

Sometimes I wonder what Gothamites think of the different Robins.

This kind of spiralled from Gotham Tok on my fyp all the time, so here’s how I see the progression of how Gotham sees its Dark Knight and Boy Wonder’s:

Pre-Robin Batman:

“Batman isn’t real”

“Batman’s a cryptic”

“Batman is a concept made up by the Gotham PD to scare off criminals”

They don’t believe he’s real. The only people who have actually seen him are hospitalised or in prison, or mentally deranged enough that no one would even believe them.

Enter Dick Grayson:

“What do you mean you saw colour… in the Gotham sky? You mean the red tint every night?”

“Batman and Robin on the paper? No that’s definitely staged. Why would there be a child running around in a leotard, and what, do you think Batman is human?”

They don’t believe again. But they see him grow up, they see meta’s in Gotham led by him. And they accept maybe Robin is an actual person running around with the bat that… might be a person, I mean he has ‘man’ in the same but who knows?!

Enter Jason Todd:

“What do you mean Robin got younger? I thought Robin was in San Francisco now.”

“There’s actual candid shots of the bat and the bird now… maybe it is more than a wives tale.”

First clear pictures on the paper and on the news. People start to actually believe both Robin and Batman exist. But they also knew Robin was in san Fransisco, and taller than 4”10.

Enter Tim Drake:

They don’t notice a single difference between the extremely short 16 year old Jason, and the 13 year old Tim. Goons do however notice the kid wears more armour now and has trousers… good for him.

Enter Stephany Brown:

Any civilians that actually saw her thought it was a costume and a badly picked one, dressing up as a vigilante in Gotham is waiting for someone with a bone to pick.

Enter Damian Wayne:

“Is… robin shorter again… and since when does he stab criminals?”

They once again can’t get a clear picture of Robin. He’s always in the shadows! And he’s fast. Also multiple villains swear he can sound like all sorts of different people. Why can he sound like Amanda Waller?! Goons continuously shit their pants when he just decides to fuck with them and sound like whatever villain they were hired by.

[zhouxiangs]

MY STAND-IN (2024) | Episode 1

[tilhii]

my friends convinced me to start 9-1-1 and this guy’s taken over my life

[skitskatdacat63]

"Fernando" S1E4 - Fernando Alonso & Carlos Sainz Sr.

[katabay]

some mk1 kenshi and johnny cage sketches because I feel so so so normal about them

[outer-stars]

"hey, it's that waybright kid"

[alena-draws]

"Come on Spikey, you know smiling suits you better"