Weekly Wrap-Up

Hi crew, thanks for reading! We know the news cycle goes fast these days, so here’s a quick catch-up as to what all went down in the Our Flag Means Death fandom this past week:

May 15

David Jenkins had something very interesting to say. Possible S2 spoilers, so under the accordion we go.

⚠️ Possible S2 Spoilers ⚠️

This is a series of tweets, so we’re offering a screenshot here, but this is the original tweet thread.

Alt text: A series of tweets by David Jenkins. He is quote-retweeting someone talking about using a version of “The Chain” as the music for Ed and Stede’s reunion. David’s tweets: “Not saying they get back together… but if they did… there may be an even better track for that… but who knows what will be.”

Twitter, of course, had a bit of a meltdown. Does this mean that Stede and Ed don’t reunite – or that they do, but Ed doesn’t forgive Stede – by the end of S2? Maybe David Jenkins is going for his idea of three seasons, and they’ll reunite in S3? Who knows… In any case, it sparked some great discussions of music for S2. Prevailing bands seem to be ABBA and Queen, possibly Prince…

Samba had a nice reaction to all the chaos:

Alt text: Samba helps paint makeup onto a clown. Tweet reads: “When people ask me how my relationship is with the #ofmd fandom… Love and chaos in harmony ❤️🏴‍☠️”

In sadder news, OFMD did not win a Nebula award in the category of Outstanding Dramatic Presentation from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. It was a bit of a mystery how OFMD got nominated in the first place, as it’s neither scifi nor fantasy – but after last week’s Peabody Award loss, the fandom could’ve used a nice win. Oh well.

In other news, we got some interesting confirmation of Vico’s initial character writes, via word-of-mouth from another actor who auditioned for Jim:

Alt text: Tweet reads: “I’m working with an actor right now who saw our “talk it through as a crew” signs backstage, and later said “I love OFMD, I auditioned for it actually, for Jim.” She is a cis WOC. Which implies they made the character explicitly non-binary when Vico got the role.”

May 17

Warner Bros. Discovery (the parent company of HBO Max) had their “upfront” presentation (basically a pitch to advertisers). Many were hoping that OFMD would be showcased, or at least mentioned, like it was last year. Disappointingly however, it was not – quite probably due to the ongoing writer’s strikes; the upfront was mainly focused on news and reality shows, with no updates on any of their scripted shows. However, in worse news, WBD seems to have announced the remainder of the lineup for June of this year, and OFMD is not listed. (They must still be beavering away at the VFX as Samba mentioned last week, and WBD may also be hedging their bets on new releases until the writer’s strike is over…) In a tiny crumb of hope, however, the promo reel in WBD’s June lineup announcement contains one frame of OFMD (at 0:36). Blink and you’ll miss it…

Alt text: Tweet contains a video showcasing clips of HBO Max shows. Tweet reads: “Max platform to debut #TheIdol, #SmartLess: On the Road, @AndJustLikeThat among many more in May and June: https://hbom.ax/MaxLaunch #StreamonMax”

Alt text: Tweet containing a clip of the HBO Max video, but at a much lower speed. Tweet reads: “i had to drop it to 10% speed for this lmfaoooo”

Here is the actual image that was used:

Alt text: A screenshot of Ed drinking a cup of tea that Stede made for him.

Samba must have been reading the room, because in the middle of all the disappointment, he gave us some new S1 behind-the-scenes pics…

Alt text: A tweet from Samba with two pictures of plates of food from S1. Tweet reads: “The food Roach serves in season 1 makes you thirsty just looking at it 🏴‍☠️ #ofmd” The pictures show dried bread, hard-tack, jerky, choux buns with white filling (possibly cheese), what looks like a dehydrated peach, peanuts, and what appears to be a ham sandwich, except the bread has been replaced with pickles.

And, in all the melée, a short interview was posted with OFMD writer John Mahone about his thoughts on the writer’s strikes (available below on Twitter, or at The Root’s website).

Alt text: A tweet with a video. The preview for the video shows a Black woman, the interviewer, in front of picketing writers carrying signs. Tweet reads: “Black Writers From Hit HBO, Netflix, & NBC Shows Talk About Shutting Down Their Industry http://dlvr.it/SpBhPz

May 18

Popverse announced that the cast panel at MCM Comic Con with Kristian, Con, and Nathan will be streaming for free! Tune in Saturday, May 27 at 12:00pm GMT (7:00am EST, 1:00am NZST). We will also be doing a live-stream on our Twitter (@OFMDCrew)!

OFMD writer and Twitter legend Alex Sherman also thanked the OFMD fandom for its continued support of WGA picketers. We have heard from other strikers this past week about their gratitude for the fandom. If you would like to send supplies to striking writers, DM this person on Twitter.

Alt text: Tweet from Alex Sherman shows a box of snack-sized chips sitting next to some bottled water on what looks to be a sidewalk. A big note on it reads: “To: Our Flag Means Death. From: Fans. Organized by: Susan V.” Alex’s tweet reads: “As I hit the picket line yesterday, I immediately bumped into a delivery from Our Flag fans – AI will never feel the emotions I did! Thank you @sourcitruslady, @susanvalentine, @_gentlebeard, @ApolloJust, @Morgainenyl and everyone else for showing their support! #WGAStrong”

The biggest headline of the day, however, was the announcement of the New York Comic Con lineup for mid-October. Look at all the OFMD cast members – Rhys (listed on the third line alongside Tim Curry, proud of him), Con, Vico, Kristian, Nathan, and Matthew! Wow! There was a lot of discussion on Twitter that this may mean that S2 will have aired by the time NYCC comes around – there’s no other reason why they would have this many people on a panel if they had to still keep mum about S2… Let’s hope October is the very, very latest it can air!

Alt text: The announcement graphic for New York City Comic Con, October 12-15. Featured at the top are two pictures of Ewan McGregor and Chris Evans. Below are names of actors, followed by a section for authors, and then voice actors.

PS: This user has tips for attending NYCC on a budget, and Popverse is hosting a giveaway for two free weekend tickets (ending May 25)!

May 19

A weird synopsis of S2 showed up on JustWatch.com. We’re only sharing this here so that others can know that JustWatch does not appear to be a valid source for this information. So if you see this synopsis doing the rounds later this year, please ignore.

David Jenkins posted on Instagram thanking fan creators:

Alt text: A screenshot of a bunch of affirmation cards with OFMD character illustrations. Caption: “A big thank you to @bairnecessitiesco for this beautiful affirmation deck. People creating incredible artwork inspired by our work is the greatest honor and will never stop moving me. You make us want to make this show, and we are humbled.”

May 21

Nathan posted a lovely little message in anticipation of his appearance at MCM next weekend. (What bad skin, Nathan. Give us all a chance!)

Alt text: Two selfies of Nathan. The first: A fisheye selfie of Nathan’s face and neck. Text reads: “Thinking about all the unhinged Our Flag girlies I’m gonna meet at MCM next weekend ❤️ Simply cannot wait” The second selfie: “A closeup of Nathan’s face. Text: “My skin is bad AS A JOKE”

Other Stuff This Week:

  • May 15: Con will be playing General Montgomery in season two of SAS Rogue Heroes.
  • May 15: Here’s a handy list of OFMD artists currently accepting commissions!
  • May 15: Family drama film The Mountain wrapped production, with Taika as an Executive Producer.
  • May 16: We discovered that Taika has been honored Gold House in their A100 list!
  • May 17: We discovered a short interview with Leslie Jones about AI and the writer’s strike.
  • May 17: Vico narrated a new book!
  • May 18: HBO Max released pfps/avatars for “all” their shows, and predictably, didn’t include OFMD.
  • May 19: Rhys did an interview with NZ Herald’s “Billy T’ Billy” podcast about his career.
  • May 19: A new horror film starring Joel Fry and Alice Eve will be out this summer (TW for an image with blood in that article). A first (blurry) look at Joel in the film was posted in May of last year.
  • May 19: Kristen Schaal was seen on the WGA picket line.
  • May 20: Rhys held an impromptu trivia quiz about his career on Twitter. He (mostly) didn’t put it all into a thread, because bless him, he is a Gen-Xer, but the highlights are: Question 1, answer, question 2, answer, question 3, answer.
  • May 20: And speaking of Rhys, he will be doing a new show in LA for his Funny Things Society on June 6!

And that’s all, crew. Thanks for reading, see you next week!
-OFMDCrew