Hell Yeah, Timothy Omundson

Warning: if you proceed, you will be reading a very personal story. My story, actually, regarding one topic very close to my heart and how it has changed my life. Personal does mean personal; so if you don’t like personal anecdotes, please stop reading now. Though I would appreciate it if you continue on, simply to know just what an impact Galavant has on people.

As anyone who has met me - or spent longer than five minutes on any of my main social media pages - will know, I have a deep love for a television programme known as Galavant.

I’ve been campaigning for it since late December; first raising awareness for the second season, and then once it aired the finale, working to get a third season. If someone has missed the memo that I adore this show, they must have their social media set so that they don’t have to see any of my posts.

Now, I’m going to start from the very beginning. This is long, so definitely hold onto your hats.

I first heard of Galavant shortly after the second season had been announced, I believe; sometime in November of 2015, if I recall. I had recently joined Tumblr again, and was searching for GIFs from a film called The Luck of the Irish. I came across someone who is now one of my dearest friends; we shared a common love of Ireland, Timothy Omundson, and mythology.

Before long, I found and reblogged a GIFset of Timothy Omundson. He was wearing a crown, and I, of course, was fascinated. She reblogged it from me and told me that it was King Richard from a show called Galavant, and that I should watch it.

I said I would; at the time, I was watching everything of Timothy Omundson’s that I could get my hands on, so it took a while to get around to it, but eventually, I started watching it.

(This is where things start to get a bit darker, but it ends happily. TW for mentions of suicide. Nothing graphic.)

Around the time I first discovered Timothy Omundson - via Psych - I was in a severe depressive episode. I had actually planned to commit suicide in January. This was November, remember. 

I can’t say that my plans changed much when I started watching Tim’s works, but I can say that my depression wasn’t quite as bad. He could make me smile no matter how I was feeling; and I was inspired by him. He was and is one of the most versatile, creative actors I have ever had the pleasure of discovering, and he rekindled my own passion for acting.

So while I hadn’t called off my plans yet, I was in a much better state of mind, simply because of Tim’s works.

Then I watched Galavant.

I was laughing and smiling genuinely for the first time in ages. And when I wasn’t watching it, I was writing stories based on it, or talking to new friends about it, and generally just immersing myself in this lovely little world I had discovered.

And I heard that there was going to be a Season 2, and that there nearly hadn’t been, and that there may not ever be a third season.

Say what you will, but I guess that gave me some sort of purpose; I wanted to help spread the word and raise awareness and (hopefully) bring about a third season eventually.

So on December 18th, I called off my plans for suicide in January.

Because I wanted to give something back to the show that had given me so much comfort over the rough patch I’d been in. 

Skip forward, Season 2 comes around, and just… it continued. Galavant continued to change my life and give me a reason to just keep going.

So many good things came from this show. At least for me.

I met one of my dearest friends through Galavant. I created a roleplay blog for Gareth here, and eventually ran across a Madalena roleplayer. I didn’t even particularly ship Gareth and Madalena at that point; in fact, I was avidly against the ship.

But we clicked, and I am one hundred percent serious when I say that - even though I’ve only known her for maybe five months - I can’t even imagine what life would be like without her. She is such a blessing and life has improved with her around.

And as I mentioned before the campaigning for a third season has given me a purpose. That is more help than I can describe.

I’ve met even more wonderful friends through Galavant. Fellow writers, fellow Timothy Omundson fans, fellow Galavanters; they are treasures and I love them all dearly.

I got to meet Timothy Omundson in part because of Galavant; it was one of the major reasons I wanted to meet him. 

And here comes yet another personal anecdote as to just why meeting Tim meant so much to me, other than the fact that he inspired me to go back to acting and inadvertently played a huge part in saving me from suicide. 

As most of you may know - I am trans. A trans man, to be exact. In addition to that, I suffer a lot from insecurities, low self-esteem, volatile emotions that shift at the drop of a hat, an irritatingly child-like demeanour at times, and an inability to know what people expect of me and how to meet those expectations.

Does it sound familiar?

I found a kindred spirit in King Richard. Never before have I seen a character like me on the screen, unless they were there to be made fun of.

Sure, Richard was made fun of. But the point is, so was everyone else on the show. He wasn’t singled out to be the joke, because everyone was the joke. 

For those of you who haven’t seen the show - King Richard is a very emotional soul, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He has no idea what society’s expectations are, and quite frankly doesn’t seem to care. He grew up without much attention from his family, his only friends being Gareth and a nursemaid named Pearl. He can go from one emotion to the other within heartbeats, at one point being happy and upbeat and then the next moment being furious and on a rampage. And beneath it all, he struggles with insecurities and self-esteem issues. More than once in Season 2, we see that he’s just searching for his purpose, for someone to believe in him, for his life to finally begin.

And I’ll be damned if I can’t relate to that. Completely.

He is, more or less, me. And to see myself represented onscreen like that - considering how much television and film means to me - brought me to tears more than once.

Richard’s journey in Season 2 to find his path in life, and to figure out just what he was born to do, all while grappling with his feelings - it mirrored the journey I was going on at the time, and the journey I’m still going on.

So Richard… he means a lot to me.

And in turn, Timothy Omundson means a lot to me. For so many reasons, but especially for giving me a figure to look up to, to relate to.

So the fact I got to meet him, and hug him, and thank him for everything he has done is just… astounding.

And in addition to that - meeting him at SeaCon caused me to finally have the courage to take my first step toward making my own life begin. SeaCon introduced me to new and just as dear friends, some of whom I already knew from the Galavant family. SeaCon was the push I needed to finally take on the quest of moving on with my life.

I never would have experienced any of that, if it weren’t for Galavant.

So what I’m trying to say is… Galavant is important. Galavant quite literally saved my life. Galavant is what finally made me leave my comfort zone and start my own journey to find myself, just like Richard.

Galavant features realistic relationships, between friends and between couples. It features people of colour, and people from the LGBTQA+ community. It features strong female characters that are third-dimensional rather than cardboard cutouts.

Galavant is a lighthearted show - with a balance between absurdity and meaningful depth - that gives us a safe space to escape the darkness and violence that is everywhere else on television these days (and not just on the news).

Galavant brings joy, laughter, hope, and light to people whose lives may be very dark right now.