some people love to pit black sails and ofmd against each other for a weird and unfounded battle over pirate show supremacy. but apart from the tonal differences and totally different perspectives of their main themes, and the fact that it doesn’t diminish either shows to recognise the other, it seems to me that in ofmd there are numerous quotes and appreciative nods to black sails in both dramaturgy and minor details (despite their differing genres) that make clear that it’s not the intention to be the “better queer pirate show” that some fans seem to read from it as an act of insolence but a recognition of the great work that at least in some way paved the road for their show. ofmd is in itself a transformative work both in it being in a way like fan fiction and its consistent commitment to giving tropes of incredibly popular genres of fiction (both the adventure/pirate story and the rom com - genres that come with a whole force of normative power) a different spin and a new reading.