#ofmd fandom

[permanenttwine]

🥲

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Here's How ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Fans Raised Over $100k for Trans Kids

The auction included props and promotional items from the show.

Wa-fucking-hoo for the OFMD fandom! :) <3

[fuckyeahizzyhands]

[insteading]

A Conversation with Alex Sherman

First of all, OFMD writer Alex Sherman was wearing an OFMD-themed sweatshirt with the s1 cat flag logo on it and sleeves inspired by the depression robe. 10/10.

Things I learned (this is mostly paraphrase):

S2 was hectic from the get, and particularly the last two episodes were rewritten until the last minute (sometimes in ways the actors didn't especially like), so I had no time to be nervous about being onscreen in the last episode. The AD was like, "Are you showing your butt later?," and I was like "Thanks for the reminder." They gave me a special sock to wear so I wouldn't show anything I wasn't supposed to. The person they put me on top of was from Chicago. Taika's 9-year-old was the one to call action for the scene. It was a weird day. That episode changed so much, but I advocated to keep my butt in it.

Samba really helped us find Roach's character. Roach was initially the merger of a couple of characters, and the way Samba played him fed into our writing for him.

Lucius was fun to write for because of his joke delivery. Nat Faxon (Swede) pulled off any dumb idea you gave him.

Rhys's body position was so consistent from one take to another, you could edit around him. Like, in a scene where he was writing a letter, holding the quill on the same line every time. Rhys brought so much humanity to everything. He felt so bad in 1.2 that Roach had to come to him about the missing hostage, and that impacted how we wrote the scene. We were initially worried about how people would respond to Stede, who left his wife and kids, and once Rhys started playing him, it wasn't even a concern whether people would find him likable.

[in response to a question about what character he sees himself in] I wish I could be Olu, but I'm Pete / Lucius / Stede. The Pixar try-ers.

[Who decided to make Pete funniest?] That was Matt being Matt.

[Anything you got stumped writing?] Sometimes we had to merge scenes for time. Improv did a lot of heavy lifiting in, say, the orange cake scene where no one wanted to sit next to the Swede.

[Lines you're especially proud of?] Black Pete having no idea how to use the crossbow! And this is [spouse] Alyssa's, but Lucius' "I'm so-so but decided to carry myself as if I'm cute." (which as organizers pointed out is something of a mantra within the fandom).

Surprised / delighted at how people got into Samba's baking, and how people resonated with Stede's trajectory.

Actors trained in comedy are used to getting feedback from a laugh, and doing drama was different.

Taika was always happy if you gave him a sword or gun to play with.

On many sets in the US, male actors are uncomfortable if you give them a scene in which they don't know everything. Like, they feel like they SHOULD know how to fix a car. That wasn't a problem on this set.

[about offscreen discussions that informed performance] We talked a lot in the writers room about the polycule when writing the Jim / Archie storyline in s2. And in 1.4, where Jim comes out as Jim, we were able to toss out about 10 beats of explanation, because Vico accomplished so much just by their acting decisions. DJenks's approach is generally, "How do we approach this from the perspective of a character who doesn't need their life explained, because they're living it?" I'd like to see a show that deals with polyamory not as an oddity.

[advice for aspiring screenwriters?] Write and read! Find scripts of the shows you like, and see how they relate to the onscreen product. A show isn't just one person. Storytelling can be structural (e.g., KPop Demon Hunters). Characters in s2 told stories in part through what they were wearing-- that was Gypsy Taylor's impact. And every department had a version of that: "this character went through this kind of trauma, so they'd fight like this" is the stunt coordination version.

[particular moments you remember fondly?] In 1.3 when Fred Armisen was on the way to sell them out to the Spanish Navy, Alyssa's and my love for tapas made its way in, and all the characters got a piece of their character out via delivery / reaction. We were all vibing. In 2.8, when Taika kills the two officers, I kept thinking, "I'm watching him kill two British officers in New Zealand," this is wild.

[what else would you write for this cast?] Them being roadies and following a band. (Other cast and crew asked this question have responded, variously: cowboys, space ships, Rocky Horror, sci fi.)

[fandom moment you enjoyed?] The snall SMAU day! Also, Alyssa found a dirty fanfic right after s1, and I was like, "I know these guys!!" Fans posting karaoke of themselves singing "The Chain" also really hit.

I'm still laughing about #Ass Tonight. I have a few friends on "The Pitt," so I'm trying to get my ass an airing on "The Pitt" at some point.

[The event ended with a few minutes of Alex beaming at the audience reaction at the venue.]

That's all for Wee Con programming today! I'll be coming back after recordings are posted to watch the "Stab Me" panel and the panel on historical (in)accuracy, because I can do 5 am but not 2 am. I expect to be back tomorrow with notes on the onscreen music panel.

[mygoodladywifenadja]

The Gentleman Pirate, i presume?

Finally got around to doing some OFMD fanart that I’ve been itching to do for ageeees. I’m still getting used to digital painting, but I’m lowkey proud of this :p Edward Teach you’re next

[haflacky]

Caring kisses ❤️❤️

Full version here

[the-widow-olivia]

Deep breath.

I am a solidly middle-aged fangirl, and my last real fan community before OFMD was the X-Files. (I feel like I am not the only one here who fits that description).

The news that we aren’t getting a new season of Our Flag Means Death is hitting me harder than I expected.

So I am thinking about Scully.

There’s this X-Files episode called “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” The plot is about a guy who can see into the future and tell people how they die.

Scully asks him, "How do I die?"

And Clyde Bruckman replies, simply, "You don't."

I've seen fans speculate that Scully winds up becoming immortal by the end of the series. But, 22 years after the end of the show's original run, that line has taken on a new meaning for me.

Scully doesn't die, she can't die, because I still think about her. Scully is immortal because there are fans still writing her into stories, still making art, still getting inspired by her and pursuing medicine and science.

You cannot truly kill a story. You can cancel a TV show. You can, if you're an asshole, make fun of fan creators and their ideas. If you're really an asshole (and a media conglomerate), you can send them cease and desist letters and tell them to stop making art that breathes new life into that story. But the story will not die.

I draw a lot of hope from the long, long history of fandom. The people who loved stories enough to keep them alive, even when it wasn't clear that there would ever be another "official" work in their lifetimes. The Sherlock Holmes fans. The Star Trek fans.

How does a story die?

It doesn’t.

[suffersinfandom]

This probably goes without saying since I've been in the OFMD fandom for three years and counting, but I love our show so much. Season one is this wonderful mesh of silliness and earnest emotion, then season two came and absolutely rewired every neuron in my brain with that first episode drop.

No, I don't think it's a perfect show. I don't think that any piece of media is perfect. But OFMD is perfect for me, and that's why it's managed to wriggle its way into my brain the way it has.

It's fun and sweet and queer and it just... makes my life better. The fandom makes my life better (a bold statement, I know, but it really is true). I love having this show and these characters and the creators and all of you in my life. I love being able to think about Ed and Stede and the rest of the crew when I'm cleaning or trying to sleep or whatever; it gives me a nice distraction from The Dark Thoughts. I get to spend time scrolling through OFMD Tumblr or Bluesky instead of doomscrolling. OFMD and the fandom has truly, genuinely kept me (relatively) sane.

Idk where I was going with this. I'm just very grateful for our show and all of you today, so happy Pride Month and thanks for being here <3