Queer As Folk (US)

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Name: Queer as Folk
Abbreviation(s): QAF, QAF (US), QAFUS, QAF-US
Creator: based on Queer as Folk UK, created by Russell T. Davies, developed for the US by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman
Date(s): 2000-2005
Medium: Television
Country of Origin: United States
External Links: Wikipedia, crack_van overview
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Based on the British series of the same name, Queer as Folk began airing on U.S. cable network Showtime in 2000. It was the first sexually explicit gay television series in history, part of Showtime's "No Limits" campaign.

Set in a highly-fictionalized Pittsburgh (played by the actual city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Queer as Folk ran for five seasons, during which time its characters dealt with issues all over the spectrum from soap-staples like infidelity and illness to "ripped from the headlines" political issues like marriage equality, violence against LGBT people, the way even people in the queer community often tried to get less socially conforming members (transgender, non-monogamous, etc.) to stay out of public view, struggles around HIV/AIDS, queer youth, LGBT adoption, and same-sex parenting.

The focal couples in the show, who were together in each of the five seasons, were Brian and Justin and Lindsay and Melanie. Michael and Ben were together for four of the seasons, and married legally in Toronto in Season Four.

There were several hostile straight characters, including a gay basher, a homophobic cop who ran for mayor on a campaign to clean up Pittsburgh's gay neighborhood, and a father who tries to kill his son's lover and disowns his son for being gay. However, there were also many straight allies who were major and strong secondary characters in the series: Debbie, mother of a gay son (Michael) and sister of a gay brother; Jennifer, mother of a gay son who starts out upset with his homosexuality and becomes a PFLAG mom; Daphne, the only major character of color in the series, who plays Justin's best friend for all five seasons.

Because it has many canonical gay male couples, Queer as Folk is often used as an example in multifandom discourse about topics such as the evolving nature and definition of slash, and the differences between gay male sensibilities and slash.

(Because it had both an original UK version, and a following US version, it's also frequently used as an example of translating shows between cultures.)

QaF Fandom

During the years the show was airing, the biggest connector webpage in the fandom was What Love Means (now missing -- here's a link to a version on the Wayback Machine).

A fan remembers: "...back in 2002, fanfic for QAF was not in the abundance it is now. It was possible to read every single QAF piece of fan fiction written and at times forced to impatiently wait for authors to post. The QAF stories were mostly posted on authors’ own websites. Many stories were linked on whatlovemeams.com." [1]

By 2006, nearly all fandom activity was taking place on LiveJournal. During Strikethrough 2007, one camp of the fandom made its base on the more fandom-welcoming InsaneJournal. This evolved to be a strongly canon-based, meta-friendly, fandom-monogamous community, while the LiveJournal Queer as Folk fandom is a more multifandom, AU/crossover/RPS-welcoming eclectic one. While relations between the two camps were tense in the first year or so after the "exodus," they co-exist now, and many fans cross between the two -- with new fans not even realizing there was any past hostility.

InsaneJournal

As mentioned above, a portion of QAF fandom moved to InsaneJournal. Queer As News was started to keep track of news concerning QAF on IJ, like challenges, new asylums, interesting meta and fics, etc.

Some other asylums of interest:

  • _love_qaf_fic - general fic archive
  • qaf_bunnies - plotbunnies of fics, vids, graphics, and more
  • qaf_challenges - writing challenges with a Brian/Justin focus
  • qaf_drabbles - drabble asylum with weekly prompts
  • qaf_retread - retreading the best of Brian and Justin fanfic
  • qaf_scavenger - QAF catch all asylum (place for silly fun that doesn't fit anywhere else)
  • qaf_archive - links to fic sites, vid sites, icon sites & graphics sites

Fan Fiction Archives

Example Fanworks

Fanzines

Meta

Fanvids

Mailing Lists

Squidge

  • Dance The Night Away At Babylon archive link "A discussion and fanfic list for the men and women of Queer As Folk, from both sides of the great blue. UK and US Queer As Folk based characters. Please make note of which side of the ocean your writing. We accept general, hetero and slash fiction. The stories will eventually wide up on the list archive, of course."
  • QAF-L archive link "This list is for discussion or commentary on Queer As Folk fan fiction (either UK or US), at whatever level of complexity, silliness, or venting our members so desire. You're free to talk about what you liked, what you didn't like, why you liked or disliked it, trends you've noticed, what you hate, what you love, whatever. And you can discuss it to whatever degree you want, from a casual "I loved / hated / liked / disliked / didn't care for /didn't read that new story that dropped today on JoeQAFFictionList" to an in-depth critique. Authors can also make requests for critical comments on their stories. WARNING to Authors: If you've put your story out there on the net then it might get critiqued here. Maybe positive, maybe negative, maybe a little of both."
  • QAFFic-F archive link "Fiction stories for the Queer As Folk television series, both UK and US versions. All stories posted to this list are archived at the Across The Pond Archive. We require that all members be the age of majority in their location, due to the adult content of the stories. We also have a Discussion and Fiction list, qaffic-d, for people who wish to chat with other fans. Resources for writers: Use the Fiction Template for posting directly to the list. Or go to the archive homepage to use the Posting Interface. News and Updates: http://qafatp.pitas.com/ - to find out the most recent status of the archive and lists."
  • QAFFic-D archive link "Fiction stories for the Queer As Folk television series, both UK and US versions. All stories posted to this list are archived at the Across The Pond Archive. We require that all members be the age of majority in their location, due to the adult content of the stories. We also have a Fiction Only list, qaffic-f, for people who just want the stories. Resources for writers: Use the Fiction Template for posting directly to the list. Or go to the archive homepage to use the Posting Interface. News and Updates: http://qafatp.pitas.com/ - to find out the most recent status of the archive and lists."
  • The Queer as Folk Club archive link "Brian and Josh and David and Michael ans well as all the rest, from the Euro and USA series are fodder for this list. Need a place to discuss Queer As Folk or share a story? Slash only, please. The stories posted to this list will be posted on WWOMB unless you make a 'DO NOT POST' notation. Stories posted should use the templete found in the submissions page on the archive."

Yahoo! Groups

  • QAF Improv offline "All Genres ·· Discussion, Fiction. Modeled after the Buffy Angel Improv list, this is an improv fic list for the US and UK versions of "Queer As Folk," this list will create a twice-monthly list of improv words that must be incorporated in your stories, all fic will be archived at the end of each improv."
  • Stuart and Vince archive link "Welcome, this group is for fanfiction and discussion of the Channel 4/RTD UK TV series, Queer as Folk. Only discussion and fanfiction about the UK version is allowed. No Real Person Slash. Crossovers are welcome as long as they contain the UK characters. Any UK pairing is encouraged. Please feel free to add to our expanding photos, bookmarks and database sections and check out our fiction archive in the files section. Long live Stuart and Vince!"
  • BrianandMichael archive link "A place for fans of the relationship between Brian Kinney (Gale Harold) and Michael Novotny (Hal Sparks) from Showtime's Queer as Folk! Fan fiction is also welcome! NO FLAMING OR ABUSIVE LANGUAGE TO FELLOW LIST MEMBERS ALLOWED!" (created January 2001)
  • BrianMichaelFic archive link "All stories posted here (and more) are archived at ALWAYS-FANFIC.NET. This is a non-discussion list, for fic and discussion I highly recommend the BrianandMichael list. There is adult material on this list, so you must be an adult to join!"
  • Peach's QAF Addicts archive link "A list for discussion, pictures, fanfic or just about anything else related to Queer as Folk by and for X Files fans. All rating allowed. No flaming. So come in, kick off your shoes, grab your favorite snack, and sit a spell. Oh, and one more thing, joining tells me you are of legal age where ever you reside."
  • QAF-BrianandJustin archive link "Welcome to the QAF-BrianandJustin adult discussion list. Fans of Queer as Folk's Brian and Justin are welcome. This is a new list with an old name. It has no connection to the previous list's owner nor any of its archives and files. The previous QAF-BrianandJustin list was lost to all of its members. With this new list we hope to rebuild the spirit and character of the original with just a bit of renovation. This list will have an active owner and moderator. The rules of netiquette, and of the list, will be maintained."
  • American QAF archive link "List dedicated to discussion, news, gossip, spoilers, etc. about the American version of Queer As Folk, currently airing on Showtime. Fiction based on the American version is also welcome.

Other Platforms

References

  1. ^ Motivation, Audience and Style in Writing Fanfic, galedreamer, March 8, 2008
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