dear universe

[kindkit]

Please send me a show in which everyone is lesbian, gay, or bi. Not a show like Queer As Folk or The L Word that's specifically about a queer community, but an ordinary show that's about space adventures or pirates or demon fighters or cops or lawyers or boring white suburban middle-class couples. Just, all of them are LGB (some of them could be T, too, because that would be awesome, but they're also L, or G, or B). No straight people. Even the incidental characters with just one or two lines have to be wearing a Pride button or something.

A show like that might, just possibly, begin to make up for all the shows (even now) without any queer characters, or the ones where the queer characters are speedily killed off, or the ones that queerbait and then say "Nope, these characters are straight," or the ones that have an unspoken quota system for queer characters so there can only be so many.

I eagerly await your response in this matter.

Sincerely,

Me

Comments

[rydra_wong]

In particular it's comforting to know that the ending is good, because I keep having my heart broken by open canons with queer characters (also unspecified-sexuality but queer-readable characters, who always end up being specified as straight). It has literally gotten to the point where it's hard for me to enjoy queer characters' storylines, because I'm waiting for something awful to happen--queer character is killed, queer character ends up sad and alone, queer character is de-queered somehow, same-sex relationship is devalued in favor of a het one, etc. etc.

*nodnodnod*

If you'd like, I can give you some Black Sails spoilers of the most generalized/vague nature re: these things, because I think you'll generally find them good to know and it will increase your enjoyment.

(Right now I am trying so hard to sit on my hands and not blurt anything until I know your spoiler preferences.)

I've been reading through Tumblr posts from when the show was airing, and people were (for the same reasons as you) so afraid that the show would do [various things it does not do], and nobody really believed/expected/dared hope it would do [things it does do].

[kindkit]

No, I trust the reassurances I've seen from you and others. I don't need specific spoilers. (Almost the only time I want spoilers is when it's "Is this character actually queer or is this just a tease?" or "Is this queer character going to be killed, and is it going to happen right after they've just kissed their love interest for the first time?" or "Is this same-sex relationship going to turn out okay?" It sounds as though Black Sails mostly avoided these pitfalls.)

[rydra_wong]

The one thing I feel obliged to mention is that they do kill one canonically queer character (in a plotline which I swear reads as "WARNING: HETERONORMATIVITY KILLS").

And I think it's dramatically justified (and balanced by the truly impressive number of surviving queer characters, and especially certain other things they did that season), but it is a thing.

I've seen a lot of posts from LGBTQ fans saying they felt very respected and well cared-for by the show.

(Also, your icon? THAT IS BLACK SAILS.)