#no joke i am so excited

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

The year is 2042. VHS Christmas Carols is now over 18 hours long and contains 22 different holiday stories told through 80s inspired bangers. Brian Holden is still playing Tiny Tim. He is 57 years old. The year is 2042.

[sorrelpaws]

THEY'RE COMING BACK OCTOBER 15 AND THIS TIME IM NOT LYING

[reineydraws]

chrissy & steve: somehow it feels like we've sabotaged ourselves

[slothyollama101]

Very excited for Pokemon Legends Z-A(za)

[irregularcollapse]

was scrolling through your ask game answers and -

Would love to talk about Damen more honestly, if anyone wants to know how I approach writing his POV etc etc!

...please?

Me, after begging you all to ask me questions about Damen: omg a question about Damen!!!!! love this for me

I'm a little low on spoons and have some brain fog today, so this isn't going to come with all the references/quotes that I would like it to. But hopefully it makes sense! I feel like the Charlie Day string board meme when I try to articulate thoughts about Damen omg okay let's give this a go.

There are things that readers pick out when I write Damen from Laurent's POV that are really core to his character, and are a large part of the reason why I like writing Laurent's POV; because then we (readers) get to see Damen as he is perceived by others, and especially by someone who loves him more than anything, rather than through the filter of his own self-perception. These are things that still come through in his POV narration, obviously, but we aren't given an accurate/impartial view of them because of how self-policing Damen is (more on that in a moment).

An ao3 commenter summarised it for me on my latest fic: Damen's "unselfconscious eroticism, the absolute confidence and quiet dominance he exudes, AND the thoughtfulness, carefulness, and deliberate care with which he treats Laurent" are core to what makes him so compelling, and such a great archetypical romantic hero (which I talk about a little bit in this post).

But all that isn't a character, right? That's a fantasy. What makes Damen so dimensional, and part of what makes him so lovable (to me), is his fragility. Why is he so thoughtful? Why is he so careful? Why is he so deliberate, so intentional? Because he is so afraid of becoming everything which he professes to oppose.

This really great post about character flaws is a fantastic summary of where Damen's dimensionality comes from. Damen is a King by birthright; he is an unparalleled warrior by training and aptitude; he is physically fit, and physically large; he has incredibly high levels of political and physical power. He is also keenly conscious of all of this, in a constant and almost exhaustive way.

In this post I said some things about his masculinity, and mentioned Theomedes as a model for him. When he reflects on his father, Damen thinks about the example set by him as a statesman and King, and the notion that a King exists in service of the nation and its people. While Damen's mode of ruling is ultimately more peaceful than his father's, he remains so conscious of the responsibility that has been passed to him, and the power that it gives him.

This is exactly why Damen is so careful in everything he does: he understands exactly the power he has. But this is also where his insecurities come from: he is so afraid of not being worthy of that responsibility, of not being able to prove himself as the man and King that his father thought he was; he is also afraid of doing the wrong thing with the power he has been given. That's why we see him having such extreme reactions (traumatised reactions) to the idea of commanding slaves in books 2 and 3: he feels physical revulsion when Erasmus bows to him, he nearly has a panic attack when sent a slave by Nikandros etc. etc.

It is also why the affirmations which mean the most to him are those about him being a good man, and being a worthy King. It is notable that these affirmations come from Laurent, who Damen has already determined is true and honest (and who he loves). It almost means more to him coming from Laurent than from someone who was already loyal to him (like Nikandros) because he has internally shouldered the responsibility of having exposed Laurent to abuse (which he is not actually responsible for, in a moderate line of thought, but trauma isn't moderate). Damen's fear is that he is everything which Laurent assumed him to be, before they met; he needs Laurent to tell him that this isn't the case, which he does repeatedly in later canon and is why we, the readers, can see that their relationship is founded on a deep and mutual respect.

Also notable that Damen's initial dismissal of Laurent's worthiness--his assessment of Laurent as a baselessly cruel, lazy, demanding, entitled Prince--reveals not only what he values but also what he fears being perceived as, and what he constantly works against.

All this also just proves that Damen is a good, honest, true person: people who are this good don't exist in fear of doing wrong by others.

I think I've run out of words even though I feel like I've got more to say, about the necessity of vulnerable moments for Damen when writing Laurent's POV, and putting forward the crucial balance of competence and self-doubt/self-policing in Damen's POV (it really is a tightrope in a storm that took everything, because of the genre and style, and also the themes of psychological instability and grief). I also want to shout out @angelfruittree's podfic for even in another time, because particularly in the recent chapters, her post-reading commentary/analysis really highlights a lot of things I try to put into Damen and how he is perceived/perceives himself.

Anywayyyy thank you for asking the question I demanded to be asked, I've definitely exhausted my mental capacity for the day lmfaooo but if you liked this/want more feel free to send asks! I hope this made sense <3

[crow-with-a-pencil]

@naffeclipse

Them ❤️

[jovenshires]

Tumblr users @jovenshires and @blondeforyou are proud to announce the inaugural Spommy Week 2024! A week dedicated to our two favorite Florida boys. Each day of Spommy Week will have its own prompt, and we hope you’re inspired to write, draw, edit, or create in any way!

EXTRA SPECIAL AMAZING thank you to @gay-nonderogatory, @tommybowefuneralattendee, @poly-smosh-vibes, @ceilidhasworld, and @aashisonthefloorr for submitting prompts for Spommy Week 2024!

Guidelines and Rules below the cut!

Guidelines

Spommy Week will run from April 21 to April 27, 2024

Each day has its own prompt, listed above and in the Alternate Text of the image

Rules

Please do not post your creation for each prompt before its assigned day (you can of course post on the day in your own time zone!) Posting your creation after the listed day is totally fine.

Any and all art mediums are welcome: fanfiction, fan art, fan edits, et cetera.

When posting your creations to Tumblr, please be sure to use the tag #spommyweek2024

There will also be an Archive Of Our Own Collection for Spommy Week works as well! More information and guidelines for the AO3 Collection will be posted at a later date.

We’re so excited to create with you and see how you’re inspired!

[genericpuff]

girl math is making $670 for the week and then spending $650 of it on a credit card bill and now you're excited because you made a profit of $20 in your bank account and $650 more of free money

[rovermcfly]

owen wilson is really running around collecting roles to embody everyone's weirdly specific gay fantasy archetypes. cowboy. priest. businessman from the 70s. math teacher. cowboy again. car.

[verraising]

i am short of breath standing next to you. i am out of my depth at this altitude. -♡-

[stardestroyer81]

💥IT'S HAPPY HOUR!!! 💥

I was convinced to draw Dynamite Anton from the upcoming release ANTONBLAST, and while initially it was a simple doodle, I thought it looked good enough to touch up a bit and post here! ⭐✨

[fairyofshampgyu]

TAKE ME BEOMGYU WHAT THE FUCK I VOLUNTEER PLEASE ??!! LETS GO ON A VINYL STORE DATE ☹️‼️💗💗🤞

Also his adams apple wtf he looks so good crying why’s he so cute fine his hair looks so floofy

[electrozeistyking]

so has anyone talking about this yet, or... cuz it was in that latest news video on the amazing digital circus. and uh... i took a screenshot of it.

[sysig]

You don’t get to pick your own nickname, Spamton, that’s like the whole point (Patreon)

[anonomi]

I hate my brain everytime I get excited or happy an image of tf2 spy falling out a window while a slightly compressed stock window_breaking sfx plays unwillingly, unwantedly fills up my mind EVERYTIME

[the-gene-mile]

didn't like any of the other sketches i did for tonight's ep so i hope a tiny sleepy gene will suffice