Our Flag Means Obsession!

An oddball crew of pirates


I’m in love!! ♥️

I’ve fallen deep in fandom with quirky pirate rom-com, Our Flag Means Death. It’s been so long since I’ve had this kind of a fangirl high that I was starting to worry I no longer had it in me. But fear not! I may have the body of a middle-aged woman, but I have the heart and stomach of an asexual, greygender teenager, with a thing for the Golden Age of Sail, impossible love, and black-clad men who are vulnerable little boys underneath.

Comedy. Romance. Representation. What’s not to like?

 

A blonde man in C18th clothes and a bearded man in leather hold hands in front of a pirate flag.
Fan art by Anna Hopkinson 

I’m not going to give away any spoilers for those who have not yet had the pleasure. But let me just say that Blackbeard and Stede (in the picture above) totally give me Tammo-and-Carlo vibes. (That’s Tammo and Carlo from my forthcoming novel Cage of Nightingales. I wrote a bit about it in my previous blog.) 

Cage is not about pirates, although it is set in a similar period. It has more of a Venetian Carnevale/Amadeus/Phantom of the Opera flavour. And the main characters are much younger. (Closer to Heartstopper). But Tammo is the intense, angry one who feels like he’s not worthy. And Carlo is the gentle, sensitive one who likes beautiful things and fits in fine society. 

In fact, I’d like to share with you my Angelio playlist on Spotify. (Angelio is the name of what I hope will be the series. Oh yes, Cage of Nightingales is only the beginning!) If you’re a fan of Our Flag Means Death, you’ll probably find that many of the songs work for that too. (I’ve already seen a fan video to one of them).

Not only that, but the whole series gives me vibes of my first published novel, Silver Hands. That book is set mostly at sea, with a colourful crew, pirates and rival East India Companies. Oh, and a crewmate called Frenchie. My Frenchie is different from the one in the series for.. um.. reasons. But they are directly based on a real crewmate called Frenchie I learnt about in a documentary, which might actually have been about Blackbeard, now I come to think of it.

Cover of a book, with shells, a pistol , a candle.


Anyway, I’m definitely going to give Silver Hands a re-read now. (If you can’t enjoy your own fiction, who will?) I suggest you do, too. Or maybe for the first time? 

(Just be aware that I wrote Silver Hands before I identified as ace, or knew much about the LGBTQIA community).

And when you’ve finished that, if you’re still craving pirates with representation (And why wouldn’t you?) follow me in reading the Kestrel and Scar novellas by my friend and fellow ace writer, A J Roberts. That would make his day.

A book cover with pirates

Happy sailing!


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