that fannish meme, day 2
Jun. 28th, 2022 06:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkit2. Your newest fandom.
Oh, there's this little show about pirates. I've been very quiet about it, probably haven't mentioned it more than once.
Or twice.
Per hour.
I got very lucky with timing. I started watching a few days after the S1 finale aired. At that point I'd started seeing some mentions of the show, but it hadn't become a Big Thing yet, so I wasn't feeling my usual "You can't make me watch it!" backlash to the Big Thing of the moment. And I managed to go in almost entirely unspoiled, knowing only that there were pirates and queer content.
Imagine my delighted surprise.
Over my fannish years there have been many, many, many shows that had a lot of subtext, or UST, or outright queerbaiting that the show never intended to turn into anything else. I've found myself saying over and over again that all I want from entertainment is genre content (e.g. sff, mystery, adventure genres like pirates) with actual canonical queer* relationships** in the main cast, preferably including the leads. I haven't found it very often. There always seemed to be a weird but bright line between queer texts (realistic and/or soapy drama) and genre texts. Which is why, some decades after first reading it, I still vividly remember how I felt when Point of Dreams, the second of Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett's Astreiant fantasy novels, made the subtextual attraction between the male leads text.
I got that feeling again from Our Flag Means Death. I don't think I've stopped being happy about it since.
OFMD is gloriously queer. It's not just the 3 3/4 canonical queer relationships (three couples, one guy who may be involved--openly and acceptedly--with half of one of the couples, and one guy who wants to make love to the sea). It's the nonbinary character who doesn't get (or take) any shit from anybody. It's the fem gay man who is smarter and wiser than all the rest of the characters put together, and who defeats the bully with words. It's the big tough man who sews, and the small tough man who can be a dick but loves his boyfriend, and another big tough man who blushes and giggles at the thought that someone might want to sketch him. It's the pirate who longs for fancy parties and flowers in his hair. It's the way the show loves every single one of these weirdos, treasures them, and only laughs at them kindly. It's creators who talk about the importance of not queerbaiting, of having a diverse writers' room. Who retweet queer fan art with what looks like genuine delight.
I just adore this show. And hope that S2 can live up to it.
*Canonical queer relationships (almost) always make me happy. But canonical male/male relationships, when the show treats them with respect and love, make me ecstatic as a gay man.
**Love. I mean love. Romance. There are lots of important stories to tell about other kinds of queer relationships, from the ten-minute anonymous fuck to the lifelong non-sexual friendship. But I want, say, just one happy queer love story for every 10 happy het love stories. There's still a long way to go.
Oh, there's this little show about pirates. I've been very quiet about it, probably haven't mentioned it more than once.
Or twice.
Per hour.
I got very lucky with timing. I started watching a few days after the S1 finale aired. At that point I'd started seeing some mentions of the show, but it hadn't become a Big Thing yet, so I wasn't feeling my usual "You can't make me watch it!" backlash to the Big Thing of the moment. And I managed to go in almost entirely unspoiled, knowing only that there were pirates and queer content.
Imagine my delighted surprise.
Over my fannish years there have been many, many, many shows that had a lot of subtext, or UST, or outright queerbaiting that the show never intended to turn into anything else. I've found myself saying over and over again that all I want from entertainment is genre content (e.g. sff, mystery, adventure genres like pirates) with actual canonical queer* relationships** in the main cast, preferably including the leads. I haven't found it very often. There always seemed to be a weird but bright line between queer texts (realistic and/or soapy drama) and genre texts. Which is why, some decades after first reading it, I still vividly remember how I felt when Point of Dreams, the second of Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett's Astreiant fantasy novels, made the subtextual attraction between the male leads text.
I got that feeling again from Our Flag Means Death. I don't think I've stopped being happy about it since.
OFMD is gloriously queer. It's not just the 3 3/4 canonical queer relationships (three couples, one guy who may be involved--openly and acceptedly--with half of one of the couples, and one guy who wants to make love to the sea). It's the nonbinary character who doesn't get (or take) any shit from anybody. It's the fem gay man who is smarter and wiser than all the rest of the characters put together, and who defeats the bully with words. It's the big tough man who sews, and the small tough man who can be a dick but loves his boyfriend, and another big tough man who blushes and giggles at the thought that someone might want to sketch him. It's the pirate who longs for fancy parties and flowers in his hair. It's the way the show loves every single one of these weirdos, treasures them, and only laughs at them kindly. It's creators who talk about the importance of not queerbaiting, of having a diverse writers' room. Who retweet queer fan art with what looks like genuine delight.
I just adore this show. And hope that S2 can live up to it.
*Canonical queer relationships (almost) always make me happy. But canonical male/male relationships, when the show treats them with respect and love, make me ecstatic as a gay man.
**Love. I mean love. Romance. There are lots of important stories to tell about other kinds of queer relationships, from the ten-minute anonymous fuck to the lifelong non-sexual friendship. But I want, say, just one happy queer love story for every 10 happy het love stories. There's still a long way to go.
