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clairegregoryau.bsky.social
ClaireG 🏴‍☠️🏳️‍🌈
@clairegregoryau.bsky.social
1.4K followers 750 following 6.9K posts
Continuous pirates c/ Our Flag Means Death

https://clairegregoryau.carrd.co/
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clairegregoryau.bsky.social
All right I just did a check and filtered for 'happy ending' only in OFMD fics, and it did bring up tonnes that are only tagged with 'angst with a happy ending' or other variations, so it does seem to be working the right way in practice (just as an example):
A screenshot of the OFMD fic Paint me sunshine, paint me rain, by therevengeboys, highlighting a tag that reads 'but it's a happy ending I swear'
November 14, 2025 at 1:38 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Yep, turns out sharks and mermaids are definitely compatible in the end- the diving boys really won at science this Halloween 😌 #OFMDNSFW #OFMDfanart
A basic illustration of OFMD's Edward Teach, from the Love Beyond Borders Olympic diving universe, wearing a full-body shark suit with dorsal fin and tail against a blue background. He has his hair pulled tightly back and is busy testing (with great success) whether a shark can fuck a mermaid. Stede Bonnet rests his arms on the side of a stylised swimming pool wall. He's wearing an orange and purple mermaid tail, dulled by the water much of it is viewed through, and he looks overcome as Ed bites his shoulder and pushes inside him through the hanging-open mermaid tail suit. He's also getting jerked off underwater through a slit in the suit. The water is heaving and splashing around them.
November 5, 2025 at 1:52 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
A true crime against all of us 😭 (/pos /pos/ pos)

I'm beta reading this story and I am enjoying knowing in advance that everyone is about to get just as murdered as me 😌
Mentally I am curled in the world's smallest ball on the floor, turning myself into what Middle Kid used to call a Feelings Egg
October 31, 2025 at 12:43 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Maybe some things, maybe a LOT of things are absolutely shit, but I got to have brunch with @wardrobespierre.bsky.social and his delightful husband and my delightful husband this morning, including this TOP tier strawberry matcha latte, and then I got my ears repierced, and a few things are good ❤️❤️
An incredible strawberry matcha latte in a glass, with bright red strawberry sauce swirled down the sides and green tea inside, topped with a pink whipped strawberry coconut cream and dried strawberry pieces
October 31, 2025 at 6:31 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Saluting you from inside my graveyard of attempted and abandoned crafts 😂🫡 Sometimes one sticks, though, so I reckon it’s always worth trying. You never know! 13 years in I’m just finishing a blanket for my upcoming new niece and it’s making me so happy 😍
A crochet blanket in cosy stripe style, in shades of cream, yellow, orange and pink.
October 28, 2025 at 12:03 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Front: onedrive.live.com?redeem=aHR0c...

Back: onedrive.live.com?redeem=aHR0c...

C/ @korps.bsky.social and the amazing archive of BTS, which includes the auction items!
The Wanted poster from OFMD S2, featuring an inaccurate caricature of Blackbeard
October 25, 2025 at 3:21 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Ed's on a mission to drive Stede absolutely insane with these overalls and he's certainly succeeding at it 😌

Our 1950s Italian writing retreat mystery is not going to be part of the Big Bang anymore but we continue to cook hard and look forward to sharing it with you! #wipwednesday #OFMDnsfw
He doesn’t hesitate when they get to the door. Shoves it open with a bang, makes a quick assessment of the place—now why is that the hottest thing yet?—and then he’s got his hands hooked in the front of Ed’s overalls, spinning him around, shoving him back toward the potting table. Ed’s backside meets it with a thud, and Stede’s already crowding in to kiss him again, like he’s drunk on Ed and he’s desperate for more. One hand’s already at his buckles, working the button through, knuckles rubbing over Ed’s bare nipple underneath, and he’s squirming like crazy even before Stede manages to pop it open. Stands there for a second as the flap flops down, revealing half of Ed’s chest, and takes a long breath. “Fuck,” Stede says softly. A second later, he’s diving in to mouth ravenously at Ed’s nipple, and Ed tips his head back and lets out a strangled yelp. There are hands everywhere, like Stede’s just grown three extra ones, one minute squeezing his ass, the next minute sliding in through the back of his overalls to palm the hottest part of Ed. There’s one in his hair, one kneading his chest, and one working double-time to undo the other strap’s buckle, which— “Stop, stop,” Ed gasps, pushing Stede back a little. He comes up panting, red-lipped, wild-eyed. “Are you all right?” “Yep.” This is the best Ed’s felt in weeks, months, maybe ever? He wants to laugh, fuck, he is laughing, watching Stede’s lips twitch in a mirror of the insane joy he’s feeling. He wants to abandon all his plans right now and run away to China with Stede, not that he’s rushing anything. Nope. No, that can wait, that’s got room for getting to know each other a little better, like, you know, Stede actually knowing his real name. Anyway, getting to know each other better he can do. He slides a hand up the front of Stede’s dishevelled shirt, fingers the lapels gently. Says, as deep and dark as he can, “Thought it was my turn.”
October 23, 2025 at 4:07 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Here's the news, I'm leaving*. I'm a fisherman now**.

*Stepping down from the Fic Club team
**Finishing this fucking PhD before it kills me

Okay but in all seriousness- I announced this morning that I'm leaving the Fic Club team because of <gestures at all the flames> my insane life 👇
Ed melodramatically tells Stede he's leaving to become a fisherman
October 23, 2025 at 3:25 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Also adding in a couple of the episode shots where it didn't stand out as steps unless you knew to expect them there- I think it's had a real optical illusion effect for lots of people because of that! Like you CAN see that the door is lower than the deck if you know to look for it, but if not...
Ed prances dramatically in his clothing swap gear in S1E4 of Our Flag Means Death. The cabin door is behind him, but the steps down to it blend into the background somewhat more than in other shots. Stede descends down the stairs to give his crew a pep talk in S1E1 of Our Flag Means Death. The steps down to the cabin are visible in the background, but not as distinctly from this (common) angle.
October 19, 2025 at 2:02 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
October 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
October 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
We are having a very 'the wall' conversation at the moment and figured we'd throw it open to wider input!

So, poll time, and I wish I could do an actual poll here, but: did you previously realise there were two steps down to Stede's cabin on the Revenge in OFMD, or is this news to you?
A scene from S1E10 of Our Flag Means Death, in which Ed, dressed in the pink robe, sits to the right of Stede's cabin door. Frenchie stands in front of the door, and Roach is to the left, with the Swede's feet dangling down from the poop deck above. Two steps down from the main deck are clearly visible between Ed and Frenchie at floor level. Another angle on the door to Stede's cabin aboard Our Flag Means Death's Revenge, this time from S2E5, as Ed fixes the door latch in the centre. The scene is viewed through a shroud, and there's staircase visible on the left. On the right, you can see the two steps down from deck, and under Ed's feet you can see the inlaid design on the deck.
October 19, 2025 at 1:01 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Morning bump for these goofs! I really desperately needed the dopamine of people enjoying my writing again so I am enormously grateful to everyone who’s read them so far 😭❤️
He swallows and hits the green button. “Hello?” “Listen carefully,” says a dramatic English voice, pitched spy-movie low. “Hold Guy will be at the Pink Unicorn Club Open Mic comedy night this evening, 7pm. Do you understand?” Ed’s nodding for a second before he realises he has to say something. “Yep.” “Good.” The drama pitches up a notch. “I’ve Googled you, and I know you live here. I also know that you wear a lot of leather, and you look cool, and you’re very, very rich, and Hold Guy is also one of those things. And he’s single, and he’s lonely, and he’s driving us all insane, so I’m opening this magical little doorway to let you through. But if you hurt him you’ll have me to answer to.” “Okay?” Ed feels like he’s tripped and fallen out of a rom-com and into a movie where English Liam Neeson’s promising in advance to hunt him down, before he’s even done anything wrong. “Uh, how will I know it’s him?” There’s a sarcastic cackle from the other end of the line. “His voice, obviously.”
October 19, 2025 at 1:22 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Most of the Hold Guy bits in this story are at least based on things the real hold guy said in his spiel, so thanks to him for that, and also sorry for making it weird 😂

I am still struggling massively so getting this done is a big win- I also have a completed Kinktober fic for tomorrow (!)
And then, cutting over the harsh music like a cool stream of water on a hot day, there’s another voice. “Oh, hello!” it says, and hope leaps in Ed’s heart that his torture is over. But no, this is… this is part of the hold situation, because the voice goes on. “I imagine you’re not having the best time, since you’re sitting on hold. But never fear, I’ll be your hold guy here today! I’m here for you!” “My hold guy?” Ed says, as the voice fades out and the music picks up again. He didn’t even know he needed a hold guy until this minute, but all right: sign him the fuck up, he’ll take a personal hold guy. Could hold him nice and tight. Hold him down, hold him up against a wall— “It’s funny, I actually thought I might make it to Broadway one day,” Hold Guy says, breaking back in. He’s got a Kiwi accent, like Ed’s. A slightly nasal, lilting voice, humour flowing under the words, like he’s about to laugh at his own joke. It’s infectious. “But here I am, talking to you on hold instead.” There’s a little pause and then, “I like you better than Broadway. Don’t tell them.”
October 18, 2025 at 3:13 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Sometimes you're struggling to write all the things you're supposed to, and then have to you call your insurance company, and you get the least hinged hold situation, and it demands to be written immediately.

Lots in common with Yours in Every Way, but not epistolary and a different vibe!

🔗👇
Hold Please ClaireGregory Summary: Ed's boring call to his insurance company leads to him falling head over heels for a recorded voice that's part of the hold music. Maybe he's not doing so great, and it took a kind stranger doing a fun bit to make him see that. Or, maybe he and Hold Guy were always destined to be together. All he has to do now is find him...
October 18, 2025 at 3:13 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
3.5 years, exactly 100 works, 2.2 million words...

9 of those are podfics
2 were exclusively as an artist instead of author
8 are fics of fics
20 involved collaboration (many of those as above)
1 was for Deadloch
1 was for Blow the Man Down
11 are over 60K words (5 over 100K)

It's been a ride 😂
A 10x10 grid of colourful squares representing the colour hex codes formed from the last six digits of the AO3 links to ClaireGregory fics
October 16, 2025 at 2:26 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
You know it resets every day and you have to vote all over again, right? They eliminate the bottom 5 every day, RIP emu and friends 🥲
A screenshot from the Guardian's Australian Bird of the Year 2025 contest showing the five unlucky birds eliminated in the first round of voting (the Australasian bittern, the Australian fairy tern, the channel-billed cuckoo, the emu, and the olive-backed sunbird)
October 6, 2025 at 2:09 PM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Co-signed by our household, Bec and Smallest Kid once again in complete agreement here- he's been advocating passionately for the same all afternoon! Please enjoy a few seconds of these rescued tawny frogmouths (Woody and Milly, iirc) noshing their dinner at Discover Deadly here last month.
October 6, 2025 at 8:27 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
No, but... what if lie detector test, but more stupid and less clothed, possibly? And also (even more?) horny? 🧐
🏴‍☠️ let's be perverts 2gether <3 🏴‍☠️ ✯ an ofmd diegetic kink prompt generator ✯ Stede & Ed are in a steady relationship. It has just come to Ed's attention that having an interrogation fixation is not a universal experience. It takes Stede by surprise; he hadn't thought Ed the type. It's all very unhinged.
October 6, 2025 at 3:22 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
I make my own stamps ALL the time for various purposes- work smarter not harder etc 😂 I used these for the New Unicorn frames. I'll also search up and download any brush that can help (ropes! Snake scales! Grass!). There are lots of tutorials out there if you search how to make a stamp in Procreate.
A screenshot from a Procreate brushset called Self Made Stamps, showing several hibiscus and leaf stamps made by the author. A frame from For the New Unicorn, showing Izzy standing on the Revenge, with vines and neon flowers in place of the ropes A frame from the For the New Unicorn project, showing a monochrome Izzy surrounded by gold swallows
October 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Love a little bit of extra luminance and I like the Procreate light pen for that, but wanted mine to have more taper and stabilisation to really get into the corners, so squidged those settings as usual.
A screenshot from Procreate showing the classic Luminance brushset, highlighting a brush called Lightpen Taper. This is the original Lightpen but with the taper on each end extended in the settings.
October 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
For adding colours I'll usually use the fill function then add detail on top- I like both the soft airbrush (you guessed it with more stabilisation) and the acrylic painting brush (both Procreate standard) for those purposes.
A screenshot from Procreate showing the classic Airbrushing brushset, with Soft Brush 1 highlighted. This is the original Soft Brush duplicated and again with streamline and stabilisation settings increased to around 55% A screenshot from Procreate showing the classing Painting brushset, with Acrylic 1 highlighted. This is the original acrylic brush duplicated and with the streamline and stabilisation increased to 55%
October 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Sometimes I need a brush with NO taper and no pressure sensitivity that's going to give me the same width/ depth of line, for outlining backgrounds or objects. I use the Procreate standard Calligraphy brush Monoline, but with added stability and reduced taper (you can edit any brush by tapping it).
A screenshot from Procreate showing the Procreate classic Calligraphy brushset, with a brush called Monoline Stable highlighted. This is the Monoline brush duplicated and with the streamline and stabilisation increased to 55%, and the taper removed completely.
October 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
That comes from BigPearLiu on Instagram, but I use it so often that I moved a copy to my inks. I use this one for hair and clothing folds and other strongly tapered lines, and I don't think I needed to change much. This is a paid-for set- many good brushes in there!

bigpearliu.gumroad.com/l/brushes
A screenshot from Procreate showing the BigPear brushset, purchased from BigPearLiu. The eyebrow brush is highlighted with a little yellow heart.
October 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
clairegregoryau.bsky.social
Second is the Procreate classic Studio Pen- I use the original non-stabilised one for stuff that needs corners and quick turns (like handwriting, which doesn't work with stabilised ones), and the stabilised one for lineart. It gives a good 100% solid smooth line with a taper. For the eyebrow brush 👇
A screenshot from Procreate showing the Procreate classic Inking brushset, with the Studio Pen (and a stable version of the same) highlighted, along with an eyebrow brush that notes it comes from the Big Pear Liu set (discussed in the next post). The stable version of the studio pen has had streamline and stabilisation increased to 55%
October 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM