Our Flag Means Death: Thread 3. It's still utterly brilliant. We are still obsessed.

[TriceratopsRocks]

Ahoy again mateys! Set sail aboard thread 3 where we still wax lyrical about our favourite show, its cast, its music, fan edits, fan fiction and more 😁(there may also be just a little obsessing over our fabulous leads - pictures extremely welcome)!

If you haven’t yet seen Our Flag Means Death, what are you waiting for? Go watch it (on BBC iPlayer), then come back here and join us. But be warned, some of you may find yourself as hooked as we are 🎣.

You may have heard that this is a comedy about pirates and think it's not for you. But it’s actually a show about self-discovery, healing and found-family with a love story at its heart. The joint leads are both damaged by abusive backgrounds and want what the other has. The show is about their healing and their respective journeys. It’s tender, romantic, funny, emotionally intelligent and utterly refreshing. It subverts genre expectations. There is comedy, absurdity and a good amount of heartbreak and despair - sometimes in the same scene! The acting is outstanding (Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby especially). But the writing, music, costumes, sets, the sheer attention to detail – for a show with only 18 half-hour episodes it is still keeping us talking, two full threads and many re-watches later.

If you think this might appeal, do watch it and come back and talk to us. It would be lovely if more were to join our crew. But it's a show that needs time. The 2nd lead arrives in episode 3, so you need to give it at least 4 episodes as that’s when the tone changes and the main story starts. It still took me several more episodes to fully appreciate what I was watching, but by then I was hooked and had to immediately watch it all over again. If you like Good Omens, What We Do in the Shadows, Ghosts or even Bridgerton, this might be the show for you.

(I’ve kept this spoiler free, but if you scroll down you will no doubt find many, so beware!)

Thread 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5008593-our-flag-means-death-its-utterly-brilliant-and-i-am-obsessed?reply=135294204
Thread 2 : https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5076581-our-flag-means-death-thread-2-still-utterly-brilliant-and-we-are-still-obsessed?reply=136060611

Oh, and you just stole my crown for which of us here is most insane 😄👑

I'm very happy to share that crown, @MrsJellybee The insanity is strong with this show 😁

Pah, amateurs 😀 Some of us have been feral for about 18 months 🤣

This is not finished but is shaping up nicely - canon, they're innkeepers, their guests seem to be ghosts 😀 Funny and sweet so far.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/56647873?show_comments=true&view_full_work=true#comment_788588782

I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time someone new finds our beloved show - it just makes me so happy that other people GET it ( and that I’ve not completely lost the plot!) 😳
I just read this on Tumblr - which kinda sums it up for me….

“ngl every time I see new fans falling in love with OFMD for the first time 🥹.
I know people were scared the fandom would disappear after cancellation, but people are still discovering the show all the time!
And honestly, kind of jealous.
To be able to watch Ed and Stede fall in love for the first time, to start dipping your toes into all the amazing fic, to see how talented our artists are, to see all those incredible gifsets that rip your heart out... they have a whole new beautiful world ahead of them!
And then the older fans get to soak up all that fresh, new excitement they have and it's just so good! New fans, new ideas, new head canons, new friends!
More love!
They really weren't lying.
A love like ours can't disappear in an instant. ❤️”
#emynn.op#ofmd#idk man I am in my FEELS tonight#literally crying actual tears over seeing this new fan finding the show#(also I was trying to keep the main post positive so just putting this in the tags)#(but the fact the show was so poorly advertised you KNOW people will just be hearing about the show for the first time for ages to come)#love you all so much thanks for loving this show with me

@BeBraveLittlePenguin I’ll be a wraith if I’m still like this in 18 months

@DJ47 I have high hopes for a friend I’m seeing in July. I really hope she gets the show. My sister is still into the show. She’s watched through twice and is doing Etsy searches. She recently purchased a huge ultra-HD TV. Texted me ‘Want to come over and watch OFMD on this over the summer?’ No, I want to move into your living room permanently and watch Merstede on repeat!

Did anyone see Claire Gregory’s Tumblr post last week? The Google maps update on Phia Beach, New Zealand, last year captured the Inn and the cast/crew camp. I think it’s slowly updating now, but is photographed for posterity here. The Inn was likely only up a few days so it’s serendipitous that the satellite caught it.

www.tumblr.com/clairegregoryau/753509321980166144/ive-been-tracking-this-down-for-a-while-now-and?source=share

Thanks for the threads.

I'm a huge fan of Flight of the Concords and absolutely love Wilderpeople and Eagle vs Shark so was quite excited when I happened across this on BBC iPlayer. Ooo, that's Murray I thought, should be funny.

I did actually enjoy the first three episodes of Season 1. I work in a corporate HR environment and the People Positive management jokes hit home for me. I've started using "let's talk it through like a crew" with my team and snorted in recognition at the games room and the inclusive flag making - have wasted many business hours running team building exercises like this.

And then Blackbeard boarded. Well hello leather, tattoos and long hair, nice, nice nice!

I was absolutely expecting a buddy bromance. Having seen JoJo Rabbit I thought, ahh same actor, same subversion of character.

I'm not sure when I twigged that this was something new. I thought the running through scene was a joke on anal sex, supported by Izzy's reaction overhearing it. Even Lucius's "This is happening" kind of washed over me and I just took it as part of the subversion.

I actually truly caught on at the same time as Stede with the kiss. I remember turning to face my husband (we watched it together) with my mouth agape to find him agog too.

We did then watch Season two together, but this series is the first that I have ever reached the end and then immediately rewatched. It confirms the biases we all have, how we tend to only see what we're looking for and can actually miss what's right under our noses. But the love was there. Practically from the first meeting. Now I wonder how on earth I missed it?

What a clever and groundbreaking series. I am in awe at both the talent behind it and cast delivering it. I don't believe it won't get a third series, someone will smell the potential and pick it up. But what do I know, up to a few weeks ago I was enjoying a comedy about incompetent pirates with modern sensibilities crossing paths with Blackbeard.

Welcome @2pence . I too was a little slow on the uptake. I thought it was a bromance too. I thought they were subverting romantic tropes for a laugh. Look at their ‘moonlight’ flirting, Lucius using the lexicon of break-ups for a laugh, they’re playing with the genre for the craic….

Oh…’Never left.’ Blimey that’s romantic. Oh, he winked and clicked his tongue… that’s… that’s… He just touched his foot! Noooo!

His face screaming ‘Act of Grace!’… he’s shielding him from the firing squad?… he’s just signed his life away?… shaved his beard off… is this in earnest? Is this for real?

Then….kiss! Squeeeeee!

It was after 1.8 I was holding my breath, but I still didn’t truly believe it until they kissed.

And then it’s so obvious from the start. Plus it’s the best meet-cute ever: angel-corpse rescued by devil-pirate leather-daddy. He had him at ‘Go suck eggs in Hell’.

My all time favourite band is Crowded House. I teed up their new single on YouTube and squealed in recognition - Bethells Beach anyone?! S2E8! And S2E1 intro(And next door to Piha!)

@TriceratopsRocks Just watching 1.4. Sorry for grainy laptop pic.

Behind the lighthouse painting in Stede’s marital home - Mirror.

But it is ‘Ed’. In the same way the lighthouse illuminating Ed’s childhood-Kraken moment is Stede. It’s foreshadowing, it’s destiny, they were always each other’s. Intertwined.

Another Crowded House link to that area - I looked up the map in @MrsJellybee's link and spotted Karekare beach a wee bit down from Piha beach - I googled and sure enough the song seems to be named after the beach, as the album it's on was recorded there!

Yes it is. Had to do a Crowded House pilgrimage when I went to NZ (many years ago). Went to KareKare because of that link. Deffo went to Piha, not sure about Bethells - might have to go again and do an OFMD pilgrimage 🤣

I just saw these on twitter - what an excellent Tuesday treat for us all! I do love their friendship. Hoping @TriceratopsRocks's nerves can cope with another photo of Rhys' legs.

@lizziesaurusx Bless ‘em. 🥰 I see these were taken in the lead up to the 2020 Emmy Awards. The 2024 nominations are announced mid-July 🤞🏻

Ooh excellent work @MrsJellybee and very well spotted - can't believe I missed one! Well I can actually - I'm half expecting more to be found 😁. I was watching young Ed's kraken lighthouse moment today in my mirror marathon, and thinking again about what he has in store in his future when he meets Stede. It's lovely to see that they mirrored that moment for Stede too 😊(I want a 'dreamy smile' emoji but I'm not sure which to use for that!)

There's a funny short fic that takes the modern day corporate speak to the nth but keeps it canon 😀
https://archiveofourown.org/works/37995181/chapters/94896499

Welcome to the thread, @2pence . It's lovely you have joined us 😀I was another one slow on the uptake in the first watch and thought it a typical bromance like we've all seen before. For me it was the telescope scene and 'You came back' where it hit me like a ton of bricks. The foot touch sealed the deal. But like you said, all those romantic moments all the way through S1. They made it so obvious in hindsight. But it's so easy to see what you expect. And yes to watching it again from scratch straight away! But for me, only S1 existed at that time. There were many, many, many S1 rewatches before S2 was available here.

It's great you're here, do stick around! I don't know if you are an Ed or Stede fan, so have a picture of both of them!

@lizziesaurusx I thank you sincerely. I completely adore goofy Rhys! And just look at that muscle definition while he's goofing around. I know I am!!

Also for those enjoying AU, I am sure I have recced Not Pickles?
https://archiveofourown.org/works/46771552/chapters/117802249

But also the Lighthouse series is great, this is the first one https://archiveofourown.org/works/40987923/chapters/102721455

This is sweet https://archiveofourown.org/works/39714018/chapters/99424848

And this whole Seaglass series is worth a look. I can't stand the Izzy stories because they squick me out but the Ed/stede one are lovely in the beginning at least https://archiveofourown.org/series/3298873

This is a fab Christmas fic to pencil in for Dec in case any of you are still invested then (ha 😀) https://archiveofourown.org/works/43744689/chapters/110002302

Easy angst free and light https://archiveofourown.org/works/42813327/chapters/107550714

Good writer, does interesting stories. This is a teleportation fic and why not 😀 https://archiveofourown.org/works/44073462

Similarish in feel somehow to the campsite fic - Ed is hiking the appalachian trial. https://archiveofourown.org/works/42473385/chapters/106672314

Vaguely horrorish but not really. Same author as the glorious tattoo fic https://archiveofourown.org/works/40539303/chapters/101564487

V short but oh so sweet https://archiveofourown.org/works/46809649

And any story with a tag "Buttons is a groomsbird" has to be worth a mention 😀 https://archiveofourown.org/works/53069866

That sounds wonderful! I've been planning a LOTR pilgrimage for at least 20 years and now it could be an OFMD pilgrimage too - one day I hope...

I'm really hoping I'll get to do the same pilgrimage. DH and I both love LOTR so it could well be a possibility...

I saw a list of potential nominations that have been submitted and there are quite a few for our show. Nominations would be wonderful and so well deserved, but it seems to be so overlooked, and I wish other people could see what we see in it🙁

That would be amazing, and now you have another excellent reason to go! I've had the LOTR location guide on my bookshelf for 20 years, waiting... my brother went when my younger son was born and I was getting updates about hiking through Mordor and climbing Mount Doom while I was up half the night with a refluxy baby. I'm hoping my chance will come! I'd love to go where Edoras was filmed.

Thank you for those, @BeBraveLittlePenguin A few are already favourites of mine (Appelation trail, Christmas in the cabin and Teleportation). To go with the teleportation fic, can I add a time travel one

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44341999/chapters/111516007

In other news, I re-read Fox Fires today. I wasn't intending to - I just started to flick through it to check for the gender stuff you mentioned and ended up reading the whole thing again. And I enjoyed it again :) I can report that there are no Ed's in dresses or anything like that (@CarterBeatsTheDevil ). The only content warning is that there is a lot of integrated art and 2 of the pics are definitely NSFW and caught me by surprise. There are also several pics of Rhys looking totally adorable. Stede's self confidence is through the floor, there's a dashing, kind and patient Ed, the usual bit of angst in the middle followed by the inevitable reunion. It's not the best thing I've read by any means, but I liked it.

His muscle definition is very impressive - as is Taika's, to be fair. I love when they're being silly together.

@BeBraveLittlePenguin Thank you for that wonderful list and for continuing to keep us so well supplied 😀I really liked Not Pickles and the Lighthouse series - can't resist a bookshop! I think it was you that first recommended the divers too - if so, thank you, loved it - v much looking forward to the next in the series this summer, I think?