ourflagmeansheartbreak - Tumblr blog

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I told my friend I feel like a wet lettuce after the news. They said “yeah but you know what a wet lettuce does? It survives” and you know what, we’ll survive this. And so will the ofmd.

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.

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Another silly Stizzy idea, cause why not:

(if there is a fic like this somewhere let me know, I wanna read)

Stede has been following Izzy across the deck for a whole day, talking his ear off - which finally leads to Izzy snapping with: "Do you ever shut up? I'd give anything for you to finally ceaze the fucking yapping, even for a day!"

Stede is obviously offended (and hurt) and walks away in a huff (Izzy might feel a little bad about it, but he's not gonna show it).

A couple of days later - filled with Bonnet pointedly ignoring him and giving him the cold shoulder - the blonde starts feeling poorly. It's just sniffles at first, but soon enough it turns into a proper flu: runny nose, fever, chills.

Here's the kicker: it affects his throat the most and he goes hoarse, then actually can't get a word out at all. (Roach declares the sickness being non-lethal, but also that it will take time for the captain to get back on his feet).

Izzy is actually enjoying it at first, cause isn't this what he wanted? Bonnet finally quiet as a mouse? But as the days go by he starts feeling more and more unsettled by the lack of his captain's voice (and overall presence, cause Stede is mosty confined to his cabin).

He ends up dutifully looking after Stede till he's better (he will deny how immensly relieved he felt when the blonde finally croaked out a broken "Izzy" forever, thank you very much).

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The way OFMD liberated me. Femininity and masculinity to me are interchangeable concepts that anyone can possess without that dictating their identity. Before that I could have never been comfortable being a trans guy with long hair, wearing makeup and all that. Now? Fuck that I’m slaying. Wee John is my hero, you’re telling me this big scary guy who likes to set things on fire is a softie who sleeps with a plushie, makes dresses and is a drag queen? You literally can be and do anything. Izzy, the scariest pirate in the whole show, wearing makeup, bright red lipstick and singing softly in French? Stede with his fancy four inch heels? Jim as a drag king? Helped me be just so comfortable with myself. And that was a difficult journey, being a trans man and being comfortable enough to be feminine without feeling guilty. And this show did it for me! They just grabbed my by my face and said ‘you can do and be anything you want to. ANYTHING you want to. Do you understand that? Anything at all. It is NEVER too late to be you’ and all I could do was just listen and nod. The whole ‘it’s never too late and there’s no one right way to be queer’ makes me wanna scream and cry and eat the TV and I’ll never not be grateful OFMD for liberating me in a way that makes me feel actually and genuinely happy about myself.

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“Girl cats are aggressive and unfriendly” you’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now. I lost count now how many posts I’ve seen with “pov you’ve got girl cat”. As an owner of 4 cats, two of which are girls, this is such a bullshit. If your cat attacks you, it says everything about you as an owner; you don’t know how to take care of your pets, your pets do not feel safe or comfortable with you, or you simply don’t spend enough time with them. This is absurd and has nothing to do with gender. You’re actively outing yourself as a terrible owner, how are you not embarrassed??? How are you gonna be misogynistic against CATS to justify your terrible owner behaviour???

None of my four cats ever attacked me, some of them show clearly when they do not want to be disturbed, and I respect that, leave them alone, until they come to me for some love and cuddles. If your cat is attacking you (and mind you, not the playful way), you’re doing something terribly wrong (exceptions being health issues for cats). Has nothing to do with gender, you just suck as a person.

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A few more gems I found rereading drafts

My favourite thing is getting high and then writing first drafts because when I’m proofreading I occasionally find gems like “the cat didn’t respond. It was a cat” and “he looked so sad Baby Jesus Wept amen”. Like, thank you, me, for making me laugh

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My favourite thing is getting high and then writing first drafts because when I’m proofreading I occasionally find gems like “the cat didn’t respond. It was a cat” and “he looked so sad Baby Jesus Wept amen”. Like, thank you, me, for making me laugh

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Dealing with the loss of S3

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here’s to all the weird little girls growing up into even weirder men

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i can make up a million scenarios about their s3 wedding but it simply won't be the same 💔

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One year ago you would have found me tied to some gate, gun in my hand threatening suicide, while now I just read the news of the ofmd cancellation and my only thought was "Oh well", much to think about.......

Season 2 erased my hyperfixation in ways no other piece of media has been capable of doing since bbc sherlock season 4 episode 2 aired

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I am gutted and angry and sad and disappointed by the news. I loved OFMD with my entire heart, that show meant everything to me. Before you comment “it’s just a show” yes, I am aware. Please consider what it means to people to just see good shows that have queer people that are NOT just about queer people? Show with people who have disabilities, mental issues, who are trans, people of colour, and it’s not just about that, it’s a whole another world and a whole another plot, those people simply exist. How much it means to people to just see someone like them. People who saw this queer show and how much it took off and started writing, drawing, creating because of it, because of how inspiring it was to see queer people thrive.

People are upset, rightfully so, because taking it away you take away the hope it gave you. Hope to prove yourself worthy in this world, hope to see yourself represented.

Thought I am absolutely devastated, I’d like to thank everyone in OFMD cast, directors, writers and fans who helped to create this beautiful piece. The world we created together will forever be my safe space ship and I love all of you, not only people who were involved in creating, but the fans as well because we together created a beautiful community in which we made each other feel safe and understood.

Those two seasons will forever be in my heart and as angry as I am, I’m glad we had this honour of seeing it. I’m glad we had this honour of this community. Every single one of you from this fandom is amazing, the amount of talent and dedication I see every time I log in; the fandom itself inspires and motivates me. So thank you for existing.

I’m so sad we won’t get third season, but I’m glad we got the two. And I’m glad we got each other.

Please don’t ever stop writing, don’t ever stop creating, because with OFMD being done, your work could be the next big hit. And I believe in you.

For now I’ll appreciate what we got, all the beautiful messages we’ve been taught through it, the representation we finally got, and happiness it gave me. Because Izzy Hands was right, not moving on is worse.

I love all of you from this fandom, I hope that this fandom won’t die soon and we can still share the incredible works, drawings and stories, because people in here are truly incredible.

I’m sorry for your loss, but we will rise again. If not for this show, make sure to create something better yourself. Because I believe in you, I truly believe you can.

Lots of love,

Will x

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watching everyone mourn s3 of ofmd when it died for me the day izzy did

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I don’t think I can live peacefully if God is not Philomena Cunk

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I am a strong believer that God Herself set Azi & Crowley to be together and for the last 6000 years she’s been crying how stupid they are

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Nothing makes me more insane than trying to draw hair

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Wake up to see Hannibal trending in 2024 and have the audacity to feel a little hope. A classic tumblr tragedy.