Roar Cat Reads

Tag: Featured

  • Roar Cat Reads Book Suggestions for Our 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Roar Cat Reads Book Suggestions for Our 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Are you participating in our 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo? Maybe you need just one or two more boxes to complete your bingo; if so, check out our suggestions below! These are all books that have been read and reviewed on our blog, so click the links to read a full review and see if it is the right book for you!

    Roar Cat Reads Book Suggestions for Our 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Queer Memoir

    Reviewed on Roar Cat Reads

    Check out any of our books in the LGBTQ+ Book Review list.

    African-Influenced Culture

    Red Cover

    Trans Protagonist

    2022 Release

    Fairy Tale Retelling

    Audiobook

    Orange Cover

    Mystery/Thriller

    Asian-Influenced Culture

    Award Winning

    Pet Akwaeke Emezi

    Yellow Cover

    European-Influenced Culture

    Nonfiction

    Released Before 2000

    Disabled Protagonist

    Green Cover

    Reread a Favorite

    Fanfic Tropes

    Indigenous-Influenced Culture

    Story About Siblings

    Blue Cover

    Want more recommendations? Try Halli and Lauren‘s Book Recommendations for our Summer Bingo. Then get reading and send in your completed Bingo sheet by August 31, 2022!

    Share what you’re reading with the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2022 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    How to Play

    Entries must be received by August 31, 2022 to be considered for the drawing.

    If you have any questions, email roarcatreads@gmail.com.

    Happy reading!

  • My 5-Star LGBTQ+ Books for Pride

    My 5-Star LGBTQ+ Books for Pride

    Celebrate Pride by reading an LGBTQ+ book! Start with something excellent, like one of the 5-star books that I’ve read and reviewed.

    My 5-Star LGBTQ+ Books for Pride

    Contemporary Fiction

    YA Contemporary Fiction

    Fantasy

    QUEER BINGO RULES

    Science Fiction

    Nonfiction

    Share what you’re reading with the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2022 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    How to Play

    Entries must be received by August 31, 2022 to be considered for the drawing.

    If you have any questions, email roarcatreads@gmail.com.

    Happy reading!

  • Lauren (ReadingWithFeelings)’s Book Recommendations for RCR’s 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Lauren (ReadingWithFeelings)’s Book Recommendations for RCR’s 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Lauren (she/her, they/them) is a bookstagramer as @readingwithfeelings.

    Queer Memoir

    Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Woman Who Wants Too Much by Jen Winston

    Reviewed on Roar Cat Reads

    Loveless by Alice Oseman

    African-Influenced Culture

    The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

    BINGO RULES

    Red Cover

    Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

    Trans Protagonist

    Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith
    Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
    Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailor

    2022 Release

    Never Been Kissed by Timothy Janovsky

    Fairy Tale Retelling

    Misrule by Heather Walter
    Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi

    Audiobook

    Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

    Orange Cover

    D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

    Mystery/Thriller

    An Unsuitable Heir by K.J. Charles

    Asian-Influenced Culture

    Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

    Award Winning

    Hazel’s Theory of Evolution by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
    Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
    Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

    Yellow Cover

    Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond

    European-Influenced Culture

    Royal Rescue by A. Alex Logan

    Nonfiction

    When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan

    Released Before 2000

    Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block

    Disabled Protagonist

    One for All by Lillie Lainoff
    Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz

    Green Cover

    I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

    Fanfic Tropes

    Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

    Indigenous-Influenced Culture

    Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

    Story About Siblings

    She Gets the Girl by Rachel Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

    Blue Cover

    And They Lived… by Steven Salvatore

    Share what you’re reading with the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2022 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    How to Play

    Entries must be received by August 31, 2022 to be considered for the drawing.

    If you have any questions, email roarcatreads@gmail.com.

    Happy reading!

  • Halli Starling Recommendations for RCR’s 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Halli Starling Recommendations for RCR’s 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Halli Starling (she/they) writes fantasy worlds, vampires, and romance, focusing on stories with deep emotional investment. And the occasional bloody bit of violence.

    Website | Twitter

    Queer Memoir

    Reviewed on Roar Cat Reads

    African-Influenced Culture

    BINGO RULES

    Red Cover

    Trans Protagonist

    2022 Release

    Fairy Tale Retelling

    Audiobook

    Orange Cover

    Mystery/Thriller

    Asian-Influenced Culture

    Award Winning

    • Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto (2022 Asian/Pacific American Literature Award Winner for Adult Fiction; 2022 L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist)
    • The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine (2022 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction)
    • Swearing Off Stars by Danielle Wong (2018 Reader’s Favorites Book Awards Gold Medal in Fiction; Historical 2018 International Book Awares Winner in Fiction; and many more!)

    Yellow Cover

    European-Influenced Culture

    Nonfiction

    Released Before 2000

    Disabled Protagonist

    Green Cover

    Fanfic Tropes

    Indigenous-Influenced Culture

    Story About Siblings

    Blue Cover

    Share what you’re reading with the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2022 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    How to Play

    Entries must be received by August 31, 2022 to be considered for the drawing.

    If you have any questions, email roarcatreads@gmail.com.

    Happy reading!

  • 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Welcome to Roar Cat Reads’ second annual Summer Book Bingo competition!

    We’re back in 2022 with another BINGO card that you can fill out over the next four months to be entered into a prize drawing. While reading is its own reward, why not get a prize as well?

    Keep your eyes posted on our blog throughout the summer for special book lists with BINGO recommendations from Roar Cat Reads and from guest posters!

    Share what you’re reading with the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2022 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    How to Play

    Books can only be used once per card, and all books read must be written by or about an LGBTQIA2S+ person.

    How do I win?

    Bingo: Complete a line by reading a book that matches each square’s theme. A line can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. Turn in your card by August 31, 2022 to be entered into a drawing for a digital $10 gift card to the book store of your choice!

    Blackout: Complete all 25 squares. Turn in your card by August 31, 2022 to be entered into a grand prize drawing for a digital $25 gift card to a book store of your choice!

    How do I turn in my card?

    When you’ve completed a Bingo or Blackout, email roarcatreads@gmail.com to submit your entry! Your email must include the following information to be considered valid:

    • The author and title of the book you read.
    • Which square this book applies to.

    Bonus! If you also post a picture of your completed card on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2022, your name will be entered into the drawing twice!

    Entries must be received by August 31, 2022 to be considered for the drawing.

    Find a Book in our Queer Lil Library

    If you have any questions, email roarcatreads@gmail.com.

    Happy reading!

  • The 10 Most Popular Posts in 2021!

    The 10 Most Popular Posts in 2021!

    In 2021, readers were most interested in our big ticket posts, like the reason behind our October charity event and our summer book bingo. There was also a lot of clicks for the more personal posts on the site, like my essays on biphobia and coming out (to myself!) later in life. I’m thrilled that Black Sails got some significant love, both in my post about the awesome dragon speech, and for some reason, episode 108 specifically. We wouldn’t be a queer nerdy site if D&D didn’t get some attention, so it’s fitting that two of our TTRPG posts blew up, one reviewing published material and the other ranking a fictional monster fight. Two interviews finish out the list with the women behind an adorable dog food store and, well, me!

    1. This is Why Rainbow Refugee Matters: Olga and Natasha’s Story
    2. 2021 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo
    3. Black Sails, Queer Representation, and the Valid Canonicity of Subtext
    4. Biphobia and Other Struggles of Queer Women
    5. Realizing You’re Queer When You’re 30
    6. Reviewing White Plume Mountain, a D&D 5e Dungeon
    7. Black Sails Season 1 Episode 8 Review – VIII
    8. D&D Monster Fight: CAMBION vs. VAMPIRE SPAWN
    9. Evangelicals and Captain Flint’s “Dragons” Speech in Black Sails
    10. How Can I Find a Safe and Comfortable D&D Group if I’m a Queer Lady?

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  • 2021 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo WINNER!

    2021 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo WINNER!

    School is starting, the weather is turning, and Roar Cat Reads’ first annual LGBTQ+ Book Bingo has concluded! That means it’s time to announce our winner…

    Congratulations Chelsea!

    Chelsea is a book blogger at Spotlight on Stories, and she read a lot this summer! Check out the books that made her a winner:

    • Set in a different country – Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (set in Malaysia)
    • Includes magic – The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo 
    • Award winning – Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (Won the 2021 Locus Award for First Novel)
    • Historical novel – A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (set in 1912, Cairo)
    • Set on a beach – The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

    The other squares I’ve completed are:

    • Cleared out your TBR – Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
    • Reread a favourite – The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
    • Free – The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
    • Gender nonconforming protagonist – The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang
    • Graphic Novel – Heartstopper volume 3 by Alice Oseman
    • Science-fiction – The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
    • A genre you don’t normally read – Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
    • Bisexual protagonist – Subtle Blood by K.J. Charles
    • Story about friendship – The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya
    • Novella – The Red Threads of Fate by Neon Yang

    As the winner of this year’s BINGO drawing, Chelsea has won a $10 gift card to the book store of her choice.

    Congratulations again, Chelsea! We hope to see you again for next year’s 2022 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo!

  • 2021 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    2021 LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo

    Welcome to Roar Cat Reads’ first annual Summer Book Bingo competition!

    There’s no better time to expand our reading horizons than summertime, so I have created an LGBTQ+ Summer Book Bingo card to inspire readers to try a new genre or new format. And while reading is it’s own reward, why not get a prize as well?

    Share what you’re reading with the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2021 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    book-bingo-game-printable-worksheetDownload

    How to Play

    Books can only be used once per card, and all books read must be by or about an LGBTQIA2S+ person.

    How do I win?

    Bingo: Complete a line by reading a book that matches each square’s theme. A line can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. Turn in your card to be featured in Roar Cat Reads’ Summer Wrap Up blog post and be entered into a drawing for a $10 gift card to the book store of your choice!

    Blackout: Complete all 25 squares! Turn in your card to be entered into a grand prize drawing which will include a $25 gift card to a book store of your choice as well as a special Roar Cat Reads prize!

    How do I turn in my card?

    When you’ve completed a Bingo or Blackout, email roarcatreads@gmail.com to submit your entry! Your email must include the following information to be considered valid:

    • The author and title of the book you read.
    • Which square this book applies to.

    Bonus! If you also post a picture of your completed card on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #RCRBookBingo2021, your name will be entered into the drawing twice!

    Entries must be received by August 31, 2021 to be considered for the drawing.

    Find a Book in our Queer Lil Library

    If you have any questions, email roarcatreads@gmail.com.

    Happy reading!

  • Most Popular Posts

    Most Popular Posts

    Thank you for visiting Roar Cat Reads! Get started by checking out our most frequently visited posts:

  • Andrea’s Adventurers Charity RPG Livestream

    Andrea’s Adventurers Charity RPG Livestream

    Roll a nat20 to beat cancer!

    After my interview with Andrea Driedger about the 2021 Terminal City Tabletop Convention, she kindly invited Rachel and me to participate in her three-day event, Andrea’s Adventurers Charity RPG Livestream, to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. It’s going to be a full weekend of D&D for a good cause!

    Rachel and I will be involved every day of the June 4-6 event, so you have multiple opportunities to watch us be ridiculous while telling imaginary stories with strangers, aka friends in the making.

    Rachel GMs Friday, June 4 from 9:00pm – 1:00am PST

    Charity RPG Livestream

    “The guild has been asked to send a team of adventurers to the farming town of Riversbend. After an earthquake, a sinkhole has formed on the old Barleybush farm. It’s probably nothing to worry about, but the more superstitious folks are worried something nasty is going to crawl out of it. The townsfolk of Riverbend would like the adventurers to put their minds at rest.”

    Watch on Terminal City Tabletop Convention’s Twitch stream!

    Tricia GMs Saturday, June 5 from 1:00pm – 5:00pm PST

    Charity RPG Livestream

    “With the local population of owlbears declining, famed owlbearologist Willem McPhearson wants to hire a team of adventurers to help him track down and study the creatures. Can people and owlbears coexist? This D&D5e adventure is for anyone who saw a D&D monster and wanted it to be their pet.”

    Watch on Terminal City Tabletop Convention’s Twitch stream!

    Rachel and Tricia play Sunday, June 6 from 9:00am – 1:00pm PST

    “In a hunt to defeat an evil wizard the party has been shrunk down. Now they must find a way to regain their size before the evil wizard can finish their plans.”

    Watch on Terminal City Tabletop Convention’s Twitch stream!

    If you would like to combine donating to a good cause with helping a girl out, consider donating at least $50 and gifting Rachel or Tricia a natural 20!

    Donation Tiers

    • $10: d6 die of inspiration to random player
    • $20: Natural 20 to player of your choice
    • $50: Natural 1 or 20 to a GM of your choice
    • $75: Greater healing potion and a d6 of inspiration to player of your choice
    • $100: Natural 1/20 to GM AND player of your choice, PLUS Adventure Dice will donate a set of dice to Camp Goodtimes, a camp for kids and families who have been affected by cancer
    • $200: All of the above.
    • $500: You and 3 friends can play D&D5e with Andrea and Blair from Adventure Dice (at date to be determined).

    Note: To specify the player or GM of your choice, please put a note in your donation display name.

    Donate Now

    View the full schedule and participants at andreasadventurers.ca.
    Watch on Terminal City Tabletop Convention’s Twitch stream!

  • We Fell in Love Through D&D

    We Fell in Love Through D&D

    When I (Tricia) first moved to Vancouver, I was 30 and interested in making friends through something that had always intrigued me: Dungeons & Dragons. I grew up in a conservative Christian circle that never really went hard on the Satanic Panic movement of the 80s and 90s, but why risk it, you know? Even when I was older and no longer scared of imagination games with friends summoning actual demons, I didn’t find myself with friends who wanted to play. But then I moved to a new city, and I was determined to create the social group that I had always dreamed of.

    I joined a Meetup group for nerdy ladies in Vancouver and wrote a post saying that I wanted to join a D&D group – was anyone else interested? Rachel was one of the first people to reply. We set up a time to meet in person (also with Anne, who still plays D&D with us – hi, Anne!) at the Stormcrow Tavern on Commercial, RIP. I won’t say that it was love at first sight, but looking back on this origin story, I’m struck by how we were already working together to get things done.

    In September 2019, our group of four nerdy ladies got together to play our first D&D session. Rachel DMed, despite having only played D&D one time before, and together we made our way through our first one-shot. I was in love – both with D&D and increasingly, with Rachel. I was in the story for chaos and pet monsters, so I stole an egg from the giant snake we killed and dropped it into a magic potion we later found. Rachel went along with every twist I threw her way, and the adventure ended with my halfling rogue holding a cracking egg….Zink the Mood Ring Snake was born!

    For a few months, we played our way through the beginner’s Phandalin plot, but our creativity soon demanded more. I suggested that we work on creating our own dungeon, and okay, yes. It was also a shameless attempt to hang out with her one to one. It worked.

    We made Glowtopia, a dungeon that quickly became too convoluted. The underground dwarven adventure park soon turned into multiple levels with escaped dragon hatchlings, a hidden gnome society (with an overt Twilight Edward/Bella/Jacob subplot, oh my god), and a minecart ride gone wild. We only ran it once, but what was a D&D failsure was a relationship success. We could work together, navigating conflict and opposing creative ideas. We discovered that Rachel was better at the worldbuilding and I was better at character depth and relationships. We found the places where we complemented each other.

    It took an entire year for us to start dating, but I believe that time of friendship, nerdiness, and creative partnership set us up for success. We had already had our first fights, since we are both stubborn and competitive and cling to our ideas. But we had learned to value each other’s skills, and to prioritize communication with the goal of compromising. And most importantly, our relationship was built on FUN.

    Through D&D, we got to be ridiculous with each other. Stupid voices and monster screeches meant we didn’t have to pretend to be cool in front of each other. We ate snacks and drank wine and got incredibly silly, both in our times alone and with friends around the D&D map. We learned about each others’ interests, and Rachel in particular is the absolute BEST at giving D&D gifts (get you a girlfriend who writes an entire pirate campaign for you!).

    Once we finally started dating, we found ourselves in the best position in the world: Both DMs, both players, we could create and play in each other’s worlds every week. Rachel is still running the aforementioned pirate campaign (in which I play a nonbinary hadozee), and I run a Curse of Strahd campaign (in which she plays Ireena Kolyana). We help each other work through sticky DM situations and we share fun D&D merch or ideas we find online. It is a blast.

    I cannot recommend this highly enough. Date your DM. It’s a really good time.

  • Realizing You’re Queer When You’re 30

    Realizing You’re Queer When You’re 30

    When I was first starting to realize that I might not be entirely straight, I went to the Internet to find stories that might help me understand what I was feeling. There weren’t many. I hope this blog post will help change that.

    Realizing You’re Queer When You’re 30

    When I was 30, I didn’t know I was queer. I had just moved to Vancouver, and I was in awe of how openly gay and accepting the city was. I sent my brother pictures of church signs that welcomed LGBT people with captions like, “Can you believe it!?” When I came out to him later that year, he said he wasn’t surprised. Among other things, he noted my excitement about a thing that seemingly didn’t affect me.

    Is This a Friend Crush?

    When I put out the call to a Meetup group that I was looking to join a women’s D&D group, Rachel was one of the people who responded. During the first session, there was electricity between us as our creativity and humor bounced back and forth. I have a friend crush! I told several people, entirely unironically. It never crossed my mind that the ex she mentioned was a woman, and my gaydar was so undeveloped that her butch aesthetic never registered to me as gay.

    It was almost a month later that she explicitly labeled the ex as a woman, and I realized she was a lesbian. I did some quick recalculations in my head. Did this change my friendship crush? To my surprise, I asked myself, “What if this isn’t a friendship crush? What if it’s just a crush?” Within a week, I had journaled myself into the ground and come away with the fact I was most comfortable admitting: I was not entirely straight.

    Re-Evaluating the Past

    In hindsight, I was never entirely straight. Despite identifying as a heterosexual for three decades, I have never dated a man. I’ve gone on dates, but I preferred by far the delicious agony of pining after someone unattainable. The few times that physical intimacy was a possibility, my body went rigid. However, that was easily explainable. I grew up in conservative evangelicalism with purity and modesty culture. In fact, I thrived in it, since I have always loved rules and the security of knowing I’ve followed them. There is a part of me that wants to blame all of my repressed sexuality on this: I’ve always been gay, but I was indoctrinated to the point of not realizing! There is truth to this, I think. But I was also a socially anxious, awkward human who both craved and feared intimacy and vulnerability.

    When I parse through the interplay of religion and sexuality in my past, some things do stand out. Perhaps most importantly, I did not know any women who identified as lesbians or as bisexual. My older cousin was gay, and I’m grateful for the courage he showed in coming out to a Midwest God-fearing family. But that wasn’t exactly encouraging to me. Instead, I was witness to family members arguing about where the line between loving a person and hating their sin fell in regards to attending a gay wedding.

    Almost ridiculously, there is one specific moment from my teenage years that might have been the most important tipping point of all. In my senior year, I became friends with a girl who was smart, funny, and super cute. We spent all of our time together and took pictures of us hanging all over each other, although admittedly, this wasn’t unusual for teenage girls. Something about her felt different, though, and in a fit of fear, I brought it up to my mom.

    “I think I have a crush on her,” I said.
    “Oh, that’s just a friendship crush,” my mom said. “Everyone has those.”

    It embarrasses me now, how fully I accepted this. Friendship crushes! Everyone has them, so I have nothing to worry about! I spent the next decade reveling in friendship crushes with women who were fascinating and fun. I was even friends with a woman who told me she was bisexual. She was newly married to a man, and we used to tease him that we were going to get together while he was away. As I type that, I cannot fathom how I had those conversations and never questioned my sexuality. I was old enough to know better, but I wasn’t in a cultural situation that allowed me the space to question my identity.

    Testing the Queer Waters

    Eventually, things began to break down, though never so much that I had to come face to face with any consequences. I took “male” off the “interested in” profile on Facebook, leaving it blank, and I intentionally used vague pronouns when referring to potential future partners. Just for fun! To see what would happen! Literally nothing happened, because no one noticed. I wore slightly queer clothing (which for me was like, a flannel shirt) and wondered if anyone would think I was gay, but again, no one said anything. I realized once that all of the people I followed on Twitter were queer women, and I filed that away as interesting but not pertinent. And at some point, the question, “What if people think you’re gay?” became increasingly louder, though I never allowed myself to ask, “What if YOU think you’re gay?”

    Meeting Rachel was the spark for a fuse that I had been laying out for years, which is why, although initially surprisingly, I very quickly accepted it. It’s been three years since that moment, and although I now feel very comfortable labeling myself as queer, I still have so much confusion about where exactly I land on the sexuality spectrum and how to think about my past from my present understanding.

    One thing the internet has taught me is that no experience is fully unique. I believe that other people have had experiences similar to mine. Maybe some of you have felt similar shame and embarrassment about not realizing something that is supposed to be fundamental to our sense of identity. I hope that by sharing part of my story, you won’t feel alone in those feelings. We can sit in the embarrassment and joy and wonderment together.

  • Why You Should Watch Black Sails

    Why You Should Watch Black Sails

    Two years ago, I was a normal woman with a variety of interests.  Ever since I watched Black Sails for the first time, my life has been consumed by thoughts about this impossibly compelling Starz production that demands rewatch upon rewatch.

    Over the course of four seasons and thirty-eight episodes, viewers are introduced to a world that combines pre-Treasure Island characters with historical pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy in 1715.  What seems like the premise of a rollicking pirate adventure is exactly that…with the addition of challenging political themes and philosophical debates.  If you’re looking for a television show that is equal parts entertaining and thought-provoking, then Black Sails is the show for you!

    Do You Need More Proof?

    1. Captain James Flint is one of the most complex characters I’ve ever seen represented on popular television.  Despite knowing little of his motivations until halfway through season 2, he is dramatically intriguing from the very first episode. Phenomenally performed by Toby Stephens, Flint is a ruthless idealist whose pursuit of a free Nassau destroys almost every relationship he values, and I love him.

    Flint_end

    2.  One of Black Sails‘ central themes is that oppressed people are easily villainized because the only options they have to claim their freedom are so often villainous.  Intentionally choosing diversity, Black Sails showcases main characters who are enslaved, queer, disabled, and poor.  It is, actually, a history told from the perspective of the oppressed.

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    3.  Queer relationships are respectfully represented throughout the series.  Lesbian, gay, and bisexual relationships are represented amongst the main characters of Black Sails, and multiple relationships are shown as polyamorous.  The show does an impressive job of normalizing these relationships while also portraying historically accurate consequences.

    BSmain

    4. In a television world that is traditionally male-dominated, Black Sails intentionally puts women in leading roles of various kinds.  One review I read (that I unfortunately cannot remember and therefore cannot credit) said that this show “demonstrates that it’s possible to depict a world that devalues women without constructing the show itself that way too.”  As such, we have female pirates, prostitutes, business leaders, and princesses, all of whom reveal a part of what it meant to be a woman in the early 1700s.

    eleanor-max-anne-or-miranda

    5. All of the characters are both flawed and lovely (with one exception for me personally).  Everyone is selfish and desperate, which naturally leads to shifting alliances and betrayals on a regular basis.  Despite this, the show constantly asks us to see from their perspective and have understanding.  We are refused the baser joy of loving to hate a character, and instead are shown how to do the better thing: love a hateful character.

    Here’s an Hour+ Video by Rowan Ellis