#reblogs are deeply appreciated!! it helps other people see my art!!

[throughtrialbyfire]

the beloved jester ♥

zoom in to see details, my ramblings are under the readmore!

i really wanted to push myself out of my "normal standing pose/portrait/no interesting perspectives" comfort zone, and i think this greatly achieved that! i had an insanely fun time drawing him like this, cicero deserves to be put in fun poses where he gets to show off his flexibility!

working with a muted color palette and then using some fine-tuning after was a lot of fun, as well. it forced me to really look at where i select colors, and i enjoyed it a hell of a lot.

i hope you guys like this piece. <3

[abyssal-author-and-artist]

My blog is generally pretty lighthearted and I stick to reblogging art and fic and fun stuff, but you know what. I feel like I need to say this.

I am a trans teen in the US. I'm seventeen, so too young to have voted. I'm terrified for my life right now. I usually post about college but I'm actually concurrently enrolled in high school still and the kid who sits behind me in first period government is a massive Trump fanboy. I'm going to have to go to high school Monday and talk about the election. I'm going to have to hear my deadname called and hear people in my super conservative high school talk about how happy they are Trump won. Everything is terrifying. I walk outside of my house and I'm scared I'll be shot. Several months ago I promised that I'd kill myself if that bastard won.

He did and I'm still here.

I'm not thriving. I'm not living my best life. I'm barely living. But I'm surviving. I'm coping. I'm trying my goddamned best. It's hard. I want so bad to just go and take as much medication as I can and slit my wrist for good measure and pass away in my sleep. But I'm still here. And I will be here.

I am in so much pain. But I'm living on spite and determination and everything I can scrape together. I know I need support and those around me need support. So consider this a support masterpost.

Support:

First thing you should see if you're a trans person in the US.

Here's a link to the Trevor Project and here's a link to their suicide hotline page. They've already saved my life once before. Please note - they recommend calling if you need immediate support. Donate if you can, please.

This post is both a suicide hotline masterlist and a post mentioning how something feels deeply wrong here with this election.

On the topic of something being wrong, sign this petition. I'm only seventeen but I did this and it might not feel like much but if we couldn't shoot that bastard (I am not pro-gun but I am when it comes to him) then we'll do the next best thing. Here's the link to the petition itself. Make sure to check the post every once in a while - the original petition got taken down and this is important.

I follow a lot of gimmick blogs, so I got to see this post encouraging us to be loud. Because we should be. Because if we die they've won and my mom didn't smoke weed on the steps of the state capital of Colorado to legalize it just so her son could roll over and die.

Here is the Tumblr Hot Beverage Masterpost, as I've taken to calling it. My personal favorites are the London Fog in the replies, earl grey with milk, honey, and vanilla (in the tags), and some additions from me are hot chocolate with peppermint melted into it, earl grey with lavender, caramel apple tea, and really anything else you can think of. Trust me. This post works better than you think.

Read this post if you haven't seen it already. It's half poem, half Tumblr being Tumblr, all wonderful to read.

Things I just like to see:

PM Seymour and Bettina Levy both have shown their support for everyone struggling right now. It might not be much, but I still really appreciate it and seeing support can really help.

The cat with the kind and reassuring face. No other context.

Four panel comic of hope. Because you're more than enough.

Can't find the post where I found this but this is a link to a virtual toy where you can make your own galaxy.

Please. Eat something. Drink a hot beverage. Draw, write, read, knit, sew, sculpt, bake, do something that helps. Reach out to friends, even if they're online friends. Talk to someone you trust. Make vent art. Write vent fics. It doesn't matter what you do as long as it helps.

Do not roll over and die. Live. Live on spite. Live on determination. Live on shitposts and live on heartfelt stories like this one. If you have anything to add to this post please do. Add more resources. Add more love to this post. I know I'm just a guy on the internet saying shit, but I still care about everyone who sees this post.

[trainsinanime]

When I see posts about how to interact with fan art and fanfics, like how important kudos and comments and reblogs are or which comments are annoying, my main thought in general is:

You should write and post fanfics!

The main reason is because it’s a lot of fun! Yeah the writing part can be annoying at times, but still, the high of having posted something and finding even just one person who liked it is immeasurable.

The other part is that reading about what fanfic writers are like is one thing. If you really want to understand why the next chapter isn’t coming yet or why comments are so deeply appreciated, being in the same spot yourself helps a lot.

Doesn’t even have to be a big thing. A 500 word one shot, or a story that stays at chapter 1/? For a decade, is still going to teach you so much, and it’s fun to do. Write something you’ve never seen before, or take a plot you love and do your own take on it.

To be clear, the “should” in “you should write fanfics” is not a moral “should”, this is all optional and strictly just a recommendation. Most people in most fandoms are lurkers and that’s fine. If you don’t have the time or think this wouldn’t be fun for you, that’s totally okay. There is no entry fee to fandom and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

(I’m also focusing on fanfic instead of fan art simply because to me, writing words is way easier than drawing a straight line. You may see that differently.)

But if you’re wondering what it’s like being a writer, and what is encouraging to a writer, there is no better way than to become one yourself. And it’s so much fun!

[kairiscorner]

I couldn't get the link to copy, so here's my first (and probably terrible) attempt at doing an image ID

A light mode tweet by aphorafterdark[black heart emoji]🔞. It reads: "It's possible to ruin a fictional man's pussy AND do an intellectual deep dive into his character trauma and motivations, and I'm sick of seeing takes implying that us horny bastards aren't also serious scholars of a canon." The tweet has 1,932 retweets, 175 quote retweets, and 5,559 likes. End ID

I hope this helps

OHHHH THANKS !! lmao yeah miggy does have the right to be horrified 😭😭😭 i'm sorry if this isn't what you asked for, but i do hope you enjoy it !!

original ask: "So you know that screenshot of a tweet that complains about horny fans not being taken seriously by the rest of the fandom? So my idea is this: a y/n who's from a universe where Miguel and the like are fiction, and she's scrolling through her dash when Miguel walks past and sees it. He's slightly horrified, and his reaction's absolutely hilarious for y/n who isn't even fazed by the screenshot. IDK if this is completely in your boundaries, but since the iffy stuff is only mentioned, it shouldn't hurt to ask. If you're not comfortable doing it, could you point me in the direction of an author who is?"

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

content warnings! mild mentions and suggestions of... not so family-friendly stuff ^^

"what in the���puta madre, what is that?" miguel asks as he squints and asks lyla to fetch his reading glasses for him. the AI summons them immediately on his desk and he scrambles for them as he looks at what you showed him on your phone. you chuckled at miguel's reaction, it was just like yours when you first happened upon tweets of people from all kinds of dimensions that know about the dimension you and the others lived in, it's just that to these netizens, you guys were fiction–imaginary works.

you happened upon them again as you went through your feed, and miguel glanced over at what you were looking at because you chuckled a little at the tweet. he got curious, and because you were such a nice friend, you showed it to him all nonchalantly. "'i want miguel o'hara to blank me in the blank until i memorize every vein, until my uterus is the shape of his blank, until i see different galaxies, and comfort him about his traumas. i can psychoanalyze this motherfucker while giving him the best head ever'–what the fuck is wrong with these... ay, puta." he read aloud as you erupted in peals of laughter.

"man, earth-1218 is crazy. i love how much they love you, miggy." you teased him as miguel tiredly walked over to his desk and muttered to lyla if him finding that tweet and all these forms of suggestive, horny, perverted yet somehow sympathetic, comforting, and rational media out there on the internet of earth-1218 is a canon event, to which she said, "big shock yeah man, it had to happen."

miguel sighed as you found even more interesting things on your feed, and all of it was about miguel's less traumatic, but still very horrifying, canon event of discovering internet people want to fuck with and discuss all about his character. "am i just that, a character on a screen, on a comic book for these... desperate, horny, yet so... insightful people?" he asked underneath his breath as you showed lyla some interesting 18+ art if him. "looks like they tried to get it right, though i know you're... a lot bigger than that." "not another word." he said as he said as he ran a hand across his face and sighed deeply.

looks like he won't be visiting earth-1218 for a while.

tags !! @miguelswifey04 @binibinileonara @fiannee @jrrantss @fictarian @yuridopted0 @luvstarrstruck @maxoloqy

[almostfoxglove]

god but has your blog and your writing been a life raft for me lately. without boring you with the details, i’ve found genuinely some of the only moments i’ve been able to breathe in the things you’ve been writing (and reblogging! your recs are peak!) lately. i would say that it’s an “oops, all bangers” situation, but it feels like these things stop being an accident and end up in the “yeah, that tracks” lane of enjoyment. 

when i read Lock The Gate’s epilogue, i was also so thrilled to see ellie, because the way you write her is always so tangible and charming! she’s a foul-mouthed but ultimately earnest kid, and man do you slip the pieces together to fit just right. bonding over knives; she and joel handled that particular subject very similarly, lol. 

i was also pretty overcome with how much i wanted knives to have a happy-ish ending, even if it means bidding a stunted but painful goodbye to the place frank and bill loved the way they wanted to; loved or loved in, either way. but sometimes life is complicated! sometimes you have to sort some shit out before you can move on, and joel trusts her to stay alive! plus there’s an endless well of untapped grief in there, so i’m proud of knives for stepping out a little bit more. i really do like the ambiguity, because today i feel a tragedy, but tomorrow i know i’ll want them happy. it’s not a bad thing to have both doors unlocked to step between at will.

now in that most recent chapter of See You At Three… it’s just a remarkable thing how much seeing something work out can make you feel. look at them, finding happiness. look at them, living knowing there’s something solid there to step on, even if all their lives it’s kind of looked like frosted ice, and these two lovable idiots are finally stepping on it. gah. my heart. GAH. i feel like they both bleed a sort of terrified giddiness, only at this point joel has put his hands up and surrendered to tumbling off the cliff, rocky shores be damned. don’t think i’ll ever tire of seeing them care unabashedly about each other. it’s good for the heart. it’s funny, because i’m actually not even a huge smut enjoyer or anything; i’m just sitting here on the sidelines waving my little flags and pom-poms, willing them to let themselves find happiness together. 

and then there’s Read It Again… oh, javi. i have such a soft spot for the ones that hide their dorky passion, and obviously it’s any creative’s dream to have something they made seen and understood, much less cared so deeply about by the people helping to bring it to life that you can fall into the world that you see in your own head. it’s also a pretty rare POV for fics, i think, where the reader-character is the celebrity and the character the fan. i imagine having your book opened up and not just looked at, not just read, but seen is an absolutely mind blowing experience. somebody looking at characters that embody something to you, characters that even as you portray them the best you can you can never truly capture them in a way that everyone will see them as you do, and making them real.

anyway that’s all for now, because i’m not in the best of shapes, haha. but i will leave you with a little blurb from a ghost-dieter (fan-spinoff… thing��?) inspired by The Prettiest that i originally meant to make as a surprise gift for you! struggling to write even the messy 1k words or so that i scrapped gave me a serious appreciation for how excellent your art is, and it might be for the best anyway since i don’t know how well it would have been received to make that out of the blue, haha. but here you go! the Single Bit i liked too much to forget. ->

[… Dieter is beginning to think that he even remembers why he started doing drugs in the first place, because of all these endless facts that appear and stick like scripts and headlines and bad nightmares used to.

Logically, he remembers. But now, his restless brain is almost like a blessing. He can look at you when you're heading out for the day and practically map out your schedule based on how you're dressed, how you hold yourself, what you do or say. He wants to chase after you, sometimes to call you and say you forgot your car keys and he doesn't want you to have to climb the stairs again; sometimes just because he wants to be with you. To hold you, or at least to hover like he can. To walk beside you, feel the sun with you. Death has forced him to be selfless. It’s a strange skin...]

- that one long and rambling anon

RAMBLING ANON BABY HI!!! I'm so sorry this has taken me a minute to reply to - I am deeply behind on my messages (sorry pals) but fuck if this doesn't make me teary eyed to read all over again :,) I am so sorry to hear you're having a hard time right now and am sending you the biggest bear-est of joel miller hugs. the fact that anything I've written can bring you a little bit of escape means the whole wide world to me!! (and hell yeah, SO delighted you've been digging the fics I've reblogged - there are so many talented folks in this community?? we are BLESSED truly)

ack! I had the exact same feeling writing the end of lock the gate - the lovey-dovey half of my heart wanted to smash em together like barbie dolls and send em off into the sunset hahaha (buuuuuuut, you know, I do see there being a sequel for them in the future... lowkey... hehe) - knowing you were rooting for them makes me so happy!! and thank you for your kind words about syat and read it again, ACK. YOU ARE TOO KIND TO ME. MY HEART FEELS TOO BIG FOR MY CHEST :,)

and AHHH HELLOO?? I'm sobbing over your dieter lines - "Death has forced him to be selfless. It’s a strange skin." IS GONNA MAKE ME LOSE IT LIKE WHAT DO YOU MEAN - THAT'S SO GOOD AND OWIE. that man has been ROTTING my brain. I loved what you wrote, thank you so much for sharing it with me :,,) love love love love.

seriously, from the very bottom of my heart, I appreciate you so much. please know I am sending you so much love rn and hope you feel a little brighter very very soon <3 I love you!! a lot!!

[iztopher]

I keep seeing posts going around with the sentiment of "people need to learn to distinguish media they like from good media/media they don't like from bad media," and while I appreciate the sentiment and I'm sure I've reblogged them before, the more I think about them the more I think that's not actually a useful way to judge media. If you approach things that way and it works for you, that's genuinely great. But I don't find it a productive road to encourage other people on.

I'm one of those people who think good art and bad art don't really exist in any objective sense. I think creativity is way too subjective for that. I remember, when I was first starting to use the "just because I like it doesn't mean it's good" metric, saying about a piece of art, "my personal opinion is this, but objectively-"

The best friend I was having this conversation with cut me off. "You can't be objective about art," they pointed out. "That's still a personal opinion." Yeah, okay, fair enough.

You cannot actually fully separate your personal opinion of art from your thoughts on it. Deciding what "objectively" makes good media is still a biased exercise. Where did you learn what makes good media? Why do you agree with it? These ideas are still personal! So is deciding whose opinion you agree with. You are, on some level, making a choice to agree with your mom, or your best friend, or the critic you respect, when you think a movie is bad but they say it's good and you decide that means it actually was good, personal opinions aside.

Everybody's different, but I lived by "distinguish if art is good or if you just like it" for years. It didn't help me understand media analysis any better, as any of my friends who had to patiently explain the basics to me time and time again could tell you. It didn't help me be less judgmental of other people's tastes. It just made me more insecure about my own.

It does not feel good to love a piece of art deeply, to admire it and use it as inspiration in your own work, and feel the need to tell yourself, but this is objectively bad. It does not feel good to suffer through art you've seen loved and praised but don't personally enjoy and feel the need to constantly remind yourself, but this is objectively good. In my experience, it mostly just makes you doubt your own right to experience and share your own opinions on art.

I am personally sick of saying that art I hold close to my chest is actually bad, but that's okay, because I love it anyways. Especially when I can articulate the things I like about it! I would much rather say, "I've seen people criticize this game's level scaling for requiring too much grinding, but I like it because it gives me more time with the characters and helps me better immerse myself in the game's world."

If you genuinely love a piece of art and also genuinely think it's bad art, whatever that means to you, all power to you. But both of those are your personal opinions, and I think owning that is a way more productive way to approach media than pretending one is and the other is just objective reality.

[beachyserasims]

Creative Type Tag

Tagged by @vay2008 Thank you for thinking of me!!

Rules: Take the test, reblog this post (or make your own) with what type you got & tag 7 mutuals to do the same! 

Creative Strengths - Connection to emotions/imagination, empathy/sensitivity Untapped Potential - Using dreams to fuel real-world action Ideal Collaborator - The Innovator The world is a place of beauty and magic in the eyes of a DREAMER. Where others see facts and figures, you see symbols, metaphors, and hidden meanings. You’re deeply emotional and intuitive, with a vivid imagination—the quintessential idealist and romantic. The inner world is always where you’ve felt most at home. You’re happy to roam your mental landscape of thoughts, emotions, and fantasies for hours on end. You’re naturally drawn to express your inner world through literary pursuits, music, and the visual arts. Think of yourself as the “magical realist” of the creative types: like the literary masters of that genre, you naturally infuse your everyday life with the beauty and wonder of the imagination. Your greatest gift is your depth of sensitivity and empathy, which allows you to give voice to universal human emotions in a way that touches people on a profound level. Your greatest challenge is learning to balance dreaming with disciplined action—which starts with coming back to the present moment. Let your mind roam free, DREAMER, but don’t forget to return to the here and now. Practicing mindfulness will go a long way in helping you turn your dreams into reality. Seek out opportunities to collaborate with INNOVATOR types, who combine your lofty idealism with a focus on pragmatic solutions. The grounding energy of the INNOVATOR can inspire you to apply your imagination to real-world change.

I appreciated @vay2008 for sharing their perspective on the results and since we have the same result <3 I thought I'd like to do the same!

I do believe that I am a dreamer in that I see the world a bit differently than others do, but not in the quintessential idealist way that most people imagine with rose coloured glasses. I find that living in small communities across so called canada, there is so much ignorance and bigotry, and although I don't necessarily see being aware of the plight of others to be a dream-like quality, its definitely something that most other people turn a blind eye to (sad to say but its true). This could be the empathetic part to me, as I try to understand everyone the way I wish I could be understood, since I have always been misunderstood/disliked by my peers. I do think its because I live in the Uncanny Valley, although I never understood this until recently. This kind of forced my hand into the dream-world and escapism as I have never fit in anywhere, and have been bullied my entire life even into adulthood (except here which is so nice!!) I do think that I need to start turning my dreaming side into action as I would love to gain the confidence to help my IRL community more by being more hands on.

I will tag @lynzishell , @theosconfessions , @dawnvy , @acidheaddd , @siliconesims , @ex0ticgen , @simstrashkingdom , @ohthesefaces

[obsidiannebula]

but when I put my work out there no one gives a shit. even the AI gets more of a reaction out of others, even if its purely negative. admit it, people only started to pretend to care about smaller artists and writers to stick it to the AI techbros

You're experiencing something that every creative on the planet has been struggling with since forever: the crushing disappointment of "I worked really hard on this but nobody even seems to notice it."

We've all been there. It sucks. We tend to feel a need for recognition and validation when we do or make something. Just about every artist or writer on here has experienced that disappointment, and wondered in despair if it's even worth continuing to make and post the things they make. After all, why put in all that effort to make something and share it, when nobody seems to care? Why keep investing so much into something you love, only to share it and find that no one else appreciates it like you do?

Well, if you've been in creative circles for a while, you've actually probably seen some answers to this question. See, we HAVE cared about our fellow small creators since long before """AI""" was really a concern. For years we've been making and sharing posts to help and uplift each other. We've told each other, don't create with the hope of getting fame and adulation, or you'll almost certainly be disappointed. We've told each other, create for your friends, for the 3 people who are as deeply invested in your rarepair or niche fandom as you are, create for yourself, create for the joy of creation. We've spread posts reminding people that a like is nice, but if you really enjoy someone's art, it helps the creator much more to reblog it, because it increases the work's visibility and reach. We have encouraged people to commission artists- and we have actually done so! See my little icon in the corner there? I commissioned that from a friend, who is a small artist themself. (@oriathura here and on the website formerly known as Twitter, in case anyone would like to commission them!)

The creative community has been supporting each other for a long time, whether you were aware of it or not. I've been on Tumblr since 2017, and have been following artists and writers that whole time, and began posting my own art and writing soon after joining. I have seen thousands of posts of the sort I described, trying to help motivate, reassure and uplift other creators. I have seen friends and mutuals get discouraged by the lack of response to their art, and wonder if they should give up. I have seen them carry on anyway, and I have seen them grow and develop as artists. I have posted my own work and gotten silence in response, and I have persisted anyway and continued to improve my craft and make work that I am proud of, regardless of how many people saw it or validated me through praise.

Because I wanted something to exist, and I made it exist, and I deserve to be proud of that. No matter how many people saw it or liked it.

You didn't ask for advice, but I'm going to offer some, and you and any other creatives reading this can take it or leave it, as you like:

*Find community. Follow some creative people, maybe acquire some creative mutuals. Join a Discord server for artists and/or writers. Get involved with a small group of fellow creators and hype each other up!

*Learn how to tag your posts. Don't spam a bunch of unrelated tags, of course, but learn how to add plenty of relevant ones. Lots of people follow tags for characters, fandoms, and even the "my writing" and "fiction" tags- I know I do. That will put your post on the dash of some people who are following those tags. The more people who see it, the more likely it is to reach the people who will enjoy it- because no matter the subject or even quality of the work, there IS an audience for it. Following and posting in these tags may even help you find community!

*Make something with no intention of ever sharing it. If you love to create but find yourself discouraged and frustrated by a lack of positive response when you share your work, make something just for yourself and keep it to yourself. Learn to appreciate creation for creation's sake, for the joy you can bring yourself. If you're feeling really bold, make something and then destroy it. Rip it up, burn it, hit delete. Art is valuable even when it is fleeting.

*Create for an event. One of the best things that ever happened to my writing was participating in TAZ Pride Week 2018. I wrote a new fic every day for 8 days, pushing the limits of my creativity and writing skill. I tagged each work with the event tag, allowing others to find it and the organizer to reblog it to the event blog, which lots of people were following. Many people saw and enjoyed my work as a result. I saw the work of numerous others and was inspired. I even gained my first artsy mutual (aside from my irl friends) because of this event, so this can also help you with building community! People organize art and writing events all the time, especially for fandoms. Seek these out and see how you can get involved!

Sometimes, creating can feel like thankless work. But that doesn't mean it has no value. If it meant something to you, it was important. And it may become important to someone else one day. Some of my works that flopped hardest on publication are the ones that still get the occasional note or AO3 comment here and there months and years later, because they appealed to very few people, but those few people are very excited on the rare occasion they find something that scratches the particular itch they have!

When I was in 7th grade, we read Summer of My German Soldier. I don't know that I'd recommend the book to anyone else; in truth I don't remember much from it, aside from the main character getting a bad perm. But one quote from that book has stuck with me my whole life. It led to me the understanding of creation as a powerful, almost sacred act, regardless of how many people view it. For "there is more nobility in building a chicken coop than in destroying a cathedral."

[hotshotshitshow]

im not trying to be mean forreal but you arent gonna have people rbing your stuff if you don't tag it! 2 give an example your most recent piece has 7 tags total, two of which are personal tags that no ones gonna search so lets say 5. in addition to the ones you included which werent bad you should also include stuff like the medium (ex: #traditional art) and of course #artists on tumblr. tagging aesthetics that fit also goes a long way. plus a (no guilt) caption requesting that people boost your work. something important to keep in mind with tumblr is that its really good for circulating art LONG term rather than most social media platforms which prioritize feeding the neverending ratrace for whatevers trending. I am in no way a big name artist but my most circulated posts come from people tag searching and queueing. obvs theres usually gonna be the most attention over the first few days but also give it time! don't be afraid to repost or find niches who will circulate your stuff. post art and then link it in oc discords, too this isnt meant to admonish you btw more it makes me sad to see you get discouraged. you have a unique and compelling artstyle with genuinely swagful characters so the idea of you peacing out saddens my heart. i hope this helps, cya

Hey first off. I genuinely appreciate this, I am ngl I knew I shouldn't have posted that last night cuz I knew I'd be embarrassed about it later and well!! Here I am, feeling like a damn fool!! Sincerely tho, your words do mean a lot.

However, the one thing that trips me up is that back when I did use Tumblr more regularly, like several years ago, they had made it so that only the first five tags on a post were searchable, and everything else wasn't visible in tag searches. Has this changed? It's been a long time and I have no idea what's changed with Tumblr in the past few years but I've just been operating on the assumption that only the first five tags "count." Also I am just ... Not good at knowing what to tag things other than in the most straightforward way possible 😬

I definitely absolutely get discouraged way way way too quickly and I acknowledge that, it comes from years of a building frustration of posting on social media and never feeling like it goes anywhere while also watching those around me grow their followings. It's come to a point where it feels like if something I post "fails" then it tanks my mood on a hair trigger. And it's not healthy!!! This is largely why I've stopped posting publicly anywhere. Bc the reaction I've built up is so instantaneous and intense that it's completely unhealthy for me. Sorry to vent at you!! It's all just sort of coming out. I've absolutely poisoned the way I view interaction on social media for myself and it feels very entrenched and I don't really know what to do about it.

I want to share my art with people and I want them to like my art and asking for reblogs directly on art posts is something that always felt gross to me but idk maybe that's what I gotta do. I have this notion in my mind tho that if my art is good and people like it, they'll reblog it because they want to, not because I asked them to. It doesn't feel like people are sharing my art bc they genuinely like it if they're doing it bc I asked them to. And then people don't reblog my art, so it gets interpreted as "well, I guess nobody thinks my art is very good, otherwise they'd want to share it!"

This all feels very immature of me and I hate that this is how I feel. I definitely am very deeply in the mindset now of "well, nobody appreciated my art much when I did post it, so now nobody gets to see it anymore." Idk how to grow past this tbh. I am absolutely only shooting myself in the foot. Oh well whatever!!!

Anyway. Thank you again for this, and also if you did actually read this, thank you for your time and energy. I don't think you were being mean at all, you said what is true, I think. I hope you have a lovely day.

[distortionenby]

About and pinneds

Hi! I'm Michi or Gino. I am a queer, trans 20-something. I go by he/him pronouns most of the time.

I'm Pro-Palestine, Zionists fuck off. 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

No DNI but I block as soon as I don't like you.

Please, don't tag me on tag-games.

I am disabled and chronically ill and cannot afford my full treatment. This is my ko-fi where I am taking commissions/donations if you want to help me buy my monthly medication that I need to stay alive and hopefully transition.

Notes on this blog's content:

I am an adult. Anyone under 18 here is not my responsibility, I'm not your parent. If you're uncomfortable, you're always free to leave or to block me, curate your own space.

This is my personal blog, it will feature NSFW content, either reblogged or posted (mostly art/fic if it's a post of my own) every now and then. Be warned and don't be weird.

Kids/teens/anyone under 18, don't interact with any of the nsfw stuff I post/reblog

(Listen, I know this is tumblr but if you see me blogging, and the post has anything sexual/nsfw/mature, don't touch it. This is a personal boundary. If I happen to know you're a minor and you cross it, I'll send a message asking you to please delete it. If you don't, I'm blocking you. I'd rather save myself the mess. And no, I don't care how mature you think you are.) I am not your parent and you're not in school or at a kid's event. I am not responsible for any kids here so I probably won't check if you're a minor or not whenever you interact with my posts because that's not my job and I have a life, but I also don't want any awkward situations, so please, respect the boundary. I do care about child-safety, but I also cannot be obssessively checking every single time and kid-ifying my personal space for others who can perfectly see the warnings and just not look in here.

Given the new act of people feeding fanfiction to AI systems such as Chat-GPT, I have privated my Ao3 account. I am deeply upset by this but I genuinely don't want to risk my hobby to be chewed up and spat out for corporate. Any reproduction of my work is therefore strictly prohibited, especially in regards to AI generators. This also goes to usage of my art in general, if you want to use my art in any form for personal use, do ask me first.

Blog specific tags:

disenbypost for all posts made by me

disenbyask for answered asks

disenbythought for general musings

disenbyfandom for anything fandom related

disenbyart for art posts

disenbywrite for fanfiction links (Ao3)

Will tag any triggers that people ask me for (you can ask on anon and let me know how I should tag it).

Reblogs of my posts are much appreciated! Likes are nice but reblogs are what actually helps my art reach more people.

My other blogs:

@spiralingnoodle (my reblog blog for mostly TMA art but also monster-adjacent fandoms/characters and monster stuff in general. Will include horror media, gore, and nsfw.

@simpin4rockppl (my band/rock blog. Mostly Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and MCR but other artists too).

@/distortionenby on Ao3, tiktok and bluesky

Full-time interests:

Dinosaurs

Sea animals

Queer stuff

Language and linguistics

Witchcraft

Cryptids and monsters (lore and design)

Autistic and queer characters (canon or coded)

Musicals

Current fandoms:

The Magnus Archives / Protocol

Led Zeppelin

From Eroica with Love

(will list as they come to mind. For now those names are the ones I can remember)

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: Dimando Oxford Blue (left) and Deluge Cerulean (right), two of the artist's OCs for the webcomic Engelbaum, slow-dancing together in a fancy ballroom. Both characters have paper-white skin, pointed ears, and have largely blue color schemes. Dimando is a man with navy blue eyes, matching swirled eye markings, and light blue fluffy hair. He is wearing a blue and white outfit that is loosely based on one of the outfits worn by David Bowie in his performance in Jim Henson's Labyrinth. Deluge is a woman with medium blue eyes, a matching eye marking that looks like tear streaks, and blue hair in a long ponytail. She is wearing a flowy blue dress and a red choker collar with pink jewels. The two are looking deeply into each others' eyes as they dance, with Dimando smiling and Deluge seeming a bit perplexed. The ballroom is blue with sparkling material making up the floor and walls, and blue sparkling drapes hang from the ceiling. End ID.]

-----

Just wanted to try drawing some slow-dancing, and also a good opportunity to show Dimando and Deluge being close :D Idk if I'm ever gonna push their relationship to lovers or keep them as just friends, but regardless Deluge is one of the few people that Dimando isn't irritated by. Probably helps that she's not obnoxious like some-one he knows... XD

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~Likes are appreciated, but reblogs are preferred as they let more people see my artwork! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Engelbaum, Gens, and other related concepts © Spectramis Arts Dimando Oxford Blue, Deluge Cerulean, and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

[arcadsia]

An open letter to the artist community (from a disabled artist)

I’m not really someone who likes making PSA type posts, as I like to keep my existence mainly quiet but with some consideration I’d like to cast my stone in the water today to talk about the entitlement of able bodied artists towards disabled folk.

I want to express foremost that I AM disabled, I AM an artist. I’ve been doing art since I was 9, and have been taking it as a serious career possibility since I was 10. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and while I might not be in the same business as many other artists, I absolutely get the right to talk about our own community.

I’ve gotten into the ID scene more recently than I’ve been an artist. I am not a perfect product of IDers, but I am someone I consider knowledgeable on the subject and want to share part of my insight for other artists, young and old.

What are IDs?

IDs, or image descriptions, are text additions onto a post that describe what is going on in the image or video. These IDs are here so people who have visual impairments, who cannot see the image, or otherwise do not understand what is going on can gain access to the post and understand what is going on.

IDs ARE necessary, because not everyone on the internet is able bodied, and disabled people shouldn’t be excluded from enjoying the posts or art we enjoy. If you think disabled people don’t belong on the internet, or that adding IDs are a waste of time, or make a post look ‘ugly’, you are ableist. 

They are valuable tools that disabled people need, and as a community we should all work towards adding more IDs to our posts, or reblogging posts with IDs in the notes. Many of us are not asking you not to post ever unless a post has an ID, and we’re not asking everyone to start adding identifications (though it would be deeply appreciated!), we’re asking you to be more conscious of these usual tools so that other parts of the community who are otherwise excluded from your normal posts, can be included!

Art entitlement

Okay, great! Cool! We know what an ID is, and why they’re important, but what’s the tie into art? Very glad you asked! You see, most art is a visual medium that has traditionally been only accessible to those who can see it. Thanks to the internet, art has become a more widespread medium that anyone can enjoy!

That’s why, in more recent years, accessibility blogs have been reblogging art with image descriptions so that those who might not be able to access art in its image form, can still enjoy what an artist is trying to communicate with visuals.

IDs on art can be VERY helpful tools, especially for people who might consume similar content to you, but can’t always enjoy the exact same content as you due to outside factors. 

It’s why, as an artist, you should be conscious about posting art, or reblogging others' art.

Now, like above I am NOT saying you cannot post art ever unless you have an image ID. However I am saying that when you believe in full truth, that you as an artist are entitled to being reblogged for your time and effort, you are disrespecting several ideas.

You are disrespecting the idea that people OWE you something, when they don’t. As artists we often need as much attention as we can get on our art if we want to make big money off our work. However, as artists we are also often freelance. 

We have no employers besides ourselves, and our occasional clients. When we offer our work to others, our clients do not owe us to accept our services. They are entitled to say no. It’s the same in reblogs.

You are offering your service (art), and if a client for whatever reason doesn’t want to reblog your art. They don’t have to. You are not entitled to telling people what they do with their own autonomy. 

Additionally, when you are not providing accessibility to your art & are demanding/begging for people to reblog your art over liking it, you are digging your own grave here.

No one OWES you that reblog, but when you are purposefully excluding an entire community from your post, you are making it harder for people who DO want to reblog your post.

As someone who is disabled, I have very limited spoons. I take it out of my day to go online, and spend 5-20 minutes writing up an image description for posts I want to reblog. I cannot work endlessly reblogging posts with my own image IDs, but in most cases I have to make my own IDs because no one else has. 

Not every artist is able bodied, but a large majority of you are. It often takes much less effort and energy than it does for someone like me, or my friends, to make a short image description. 

If you are unwilling to do that bare minimum, or are unable to at that moment, you do not get to feel entitled to people reblogging your work. You do not get to shame your other community members, or your clients, for not reblogging your work ever. Period. 

I am tired of having to hear people complain over and over again, shaming their fellow artists for being the ‘weak backbone’ of their community for not reblogging each other's art. I am tired, I am disabled and I’m an artist: and I need you all to give a damn about adding image descriptions to your art/reblogging posts of art with image Ids.

[tomwambsmilk]

before i stumbled upon your blog just now, i had seen zero (0) imagery of succession.

i did not care about succession. i thought it seemed like not my type of show, boring even (i apologize, my mistake).

i still have no idea what it's about.

i know not anything about your scrimblos more than the first 5 mins of looking at your blog has told me.

but you've intrigued me. I still won't probably see this show (no offense - i haven't even watched through good omens and i Loved that show and follow fanfics of it)

but damn it if i won't follow this blog.

keep up the good fight. milk your men. you keep a high supply of fresh juicy content; and i am a patron of the arts.

You have NO idea how absolutely delightful this ask was to get. We here at Tommy Milk Inc ALWAYS welcome additional patrons, regardless of existing knowledge of succession, affection for Tom, or position on the undefined but definitely very real Succession Political Compass. And I am personally deeply flattered by your enjoyment of my fresh juicy content, which I work so hard (with the help of my compatriots) to keep flowing from the tits of a certain Thomas Wambsgans day and night.

In fact, your ask has inspired me to attempt a bit of a Tommy milk renaissance (or milkaissance, if you will), so if milkposting is a topic which interests you, I'll be reblogging some key posts in the history of this phenomenon in short order.

All that said, while I don't think you need any prior knowledge of succession to appreciate the magical milk flowing from his substantial tits, I thought it might be helpful, for the sake of better enjoying the content, to get a Crash Course in the various Scrimblos of Succession:

Logan Roy - literally the worst. Rolling with lgbt but also deeply homophobic, but also might be falling in love with his son-in-law (source: asked for his help peeing). Obsessed with milk and piss. Got a UTI and almost destroyed his own company over it. Once made several of his execs wrestle each other for sausages on a corporate retreat. Will hopefully die in season 4

Kendall Roy - defender of women. Wants to be Oedipus but is bad at it. Used to do coke off his kids iPads but is now interested in becoming a meth-head (character growth!). Clinically depressed, probably. Technically killed a guy once. Wants to be Jesus sooo bad he almost strapped himself to a cross at his birthday party while performing Billy Joel's "Honesty". Definitely invested in crypto off-screen

Roman Roy - meow meow supreme. Big proponent of sexual harassment. "Scared of pussy" but does like ejaculating onto windows. Thinks "fascism is cool, but also, not really". Tried to send a picture of his dick to the company's general legal counsel and sent it to his father instead. Major daddy's boy but does not know how much milk costs (sad!). Only person on this entire show who's ever been to management training

Shiv Fucking Roy - 1/2 of the show's resident failmarriage. Used to work for Bernie Sanders (succession edition). Asked for an open marriage on her wedding night. Tries to be a #girlboss but is ultimately more of cringefail loser (affectionate). Called her husband manipulative because he tried to talk about his feelings. Representation for women who are their father's daughters (derogatory). Was almost suspiciously excited about the prospect of having sex with another woman in a threesome before Tom had to go and ruin it. Will likely murder him in season 4 (for unrelated reasons)

Connor Roy - running for president and polling VERY close to 1%. Sugar daddy, patron of the arts, and big Napoleon fan. Man of the people (the people who work on his ranch). Occupations: "safeguarding" thousands of acres of New Mexico wilderness, and being on the verge of setting up a podcast about Napoleonic history with significant investment interest. A lack of real-world experience has sometimes been levelled at him. Owns Napoleon's penis. Everyone else keeps forgetting he exists

Tom Wambsgans - babygirl!!!! Other half of the resident failmarriage. Lactates (they haven't addressed this in canon but that doesn't mean it isn't true). Has a Nero kink. Spends a lot of time saying suspiciously sexual things about his father-in-law. Sent his wife's cousin Greg 67 emails with the subject line "You can't make a Tomlette without breaking some Greggs" on the first night of his honeymoon. White collar criminal but bad at it. Once started secretly tracking his wife's menstrual cycle so he could pretend to be horny when she was ovulating in the hopes this would convince her to have a baby. Official boar on the floor loser (Karl stole his sausage). Pushed Shiv down the stairs and castrated and married Cousin Greg in the season 3 finale. Has a dick the size of a red sequoia and fucks like a bullet train

Cousin Greg - slick little fuck (affectionate). Tom's executive assistant and corporate sugar baby. Also a white collar criminal but even worse at it. Suing Greenpeace for his inheritance. Has a gay homewrecking dad. Absolutely should go to HR about Tom but won't. Not here for a long time, but also not really having a good time. Generally doesn't know what's going on. Probably entering his villain era in Season 4 (what is he going to do with a soul anyways??). Once asked Tom to prove that he has a dick the size of a red sequoia and fucks like a bullet train

[eddiemunsonsmiddlefingers]

I just hit a follower milestone. It doesn't actually matter which one at this point, but I decided to take the opportunity to procrastinate yell about some fantastic people I know/still know because of this hellsite:

@archiivael says what she means but she isn't nasty about it (even when she thinks she is), and has a wicked sense of humor to boot. She's also the most even-handed, inspirational, no-bullshit leader I've ever had the pleasure of working with in fandom. She runs an 18+ Destiel Discord server that I help mod and the culture there is A+ phenomenal, in very large part because of her leadership.

@unforth is a talented author in her own right, but the thing I am scandalously inspired by is how she looked at queer fandom, and looked at the publishing industry, and looked at queer fandom again, and said "what if I gave all this talent a place to shine?" And then she did. She made a real, actual company called Duck Prints Press which helps fandom creators get published, with a big focus on vibrant representation of all types of humans, identities, and sexualities. Go check it out!

@skyisverybored started sending me asks a little after Heartstopper came out, and then we started DMing, and now I'm like "What even was life before Sky fell on my head?" They're compassionate. They're intelligent. Their sense of humor is a 10/10. They see through the bullshit. They're resilient. They're fucking brave. Every day I get up and go check to see what they're up to / how they're doing, and I am so inspired by their journey.

@kazshero isn't super active on Tumblr, but we see each other every day elsewhere. She's been in my life longer than she hasn't...which still doesn't feel quite real given I met her when I was 17. She's kind but no bullshit, organized but understands chaos, gets my niche Wheel of Time references, and has the most amazing accent. This only scratches the surface, tbh. Love you, K. <3

@leafzelindor is on my GISH team as well as the Discord I hang out on every day. I could go on about her for days, but I admit I'm not sure how much she shares with the public so I'm going to stick with the fact that I'm just so glad she's been in my life for the years I've known her, and I hope someday we get to meet for real.

@pallasperilous went from "a published author, how intimidating??" when she first popped into my life to "gossiping about the feral peacock that lives in our city" and incoherent "help I can't remember the name of this Photoshop tool" (that'd be me, not her) shockingly quickly. There are so many little things I could put in here, honestly. I can't believe we're friends. Okay, I'm gonna go now.

@jemariel and I have known/known of each other for a long time, and the more I get to know them, the more I want to know. They're such a great human and they're talented in so many different ways, but for the purposes of this post, I'm going to focus on the fact that their writing is mind-blowingly good. Seriously, if you haven't inhaled Jem's entire library of works on AO3, what are you even doing with your life? Go. Read. Enjoy.

@slytherkins is someone I don't talk to one on one all that often, but they're constantly in my notes and I'm in theirs fairly often as well, and I just super appreciate their presence in my life. They're also an EXTREMELY talented artist; every time their art floats across my dash I am so, so impressed by the life they breathe into the characters we all love.

@sapphirecobalt-1 and I didn't talk much before Heartstopper and ST4 came out, but since then we've been batting likes and comments back and forth like cats with smol fuzzy toys. They've become one of those people that I'm like "I bet saph would like this" when I'm reblogging something, and then I giggle like a loon when it turns out that I was correct.

@ao3soidade wrote one of my favorite Steddie fics (Are You Flagging?) and opened the door to a Stranger Things community that I simultaneously deeply enjoy and am occasionally intimidated by (affectionate). I enjoy her/our ST rambling and rants on Discord and the stuff she shares on Tumblr, too. The moral of this particular story is: leave detailed comments on fics you like, friends. You never know what might happen.

@eddiemunsonlives I have no idea if this blog is a single person, or a group, or what, but they reblog an absolutely incredible amount of quality Eddie and Steddie content. Whenever they pop up on my dash I know I'm about to enjoy a god damn Thanksgiving feast. Also somehow we're mutuals, which blows my fucking mind. I'm not sure what I did, but I'm glad I did it? :P

@itztigress3 and @northofantastic are two people I wish I knew better because they're up in my notes all the time and seem like great humans. I sometimes catch myself grading the quality of my original posts based on whether they interact with them, which is kind of hilarious. Perhaps I shall begin an affectionate bothering-them-about-everything countercampaign. *squints*

@taimproblem hasn't updated in years and faded off Discord as well when life got busy, but I can't make this kind of post without giving a nod to what a powerful impact he had on my life. We used to write together almost daily and he introduced me to one of my favorite artists (iamx). He also cracked the closet door that led to me being where I am today by simply existing, and that's...that's far from small. I hope you're living your best life, Aaron. You deserve everything good.

I am definitely missing people who deserve love and attention, but my kid is yelling at me and my cats are yowling and my house is still a disaster so I'm cutting off now. If we talk/interact regularly and I didn't mention you...I'M SORRYYYYY I promise I still love you @_@

[appleb0mb]

Twisted Wonderland x Date A Live (Outfit) - Rook Hunt

Art Process of Begonia here! (currently not available)

Collection of TWSTxDAL Tracks here!

Blue Begonia - This flower represents dark thoughts and cautiousness. This flower is known for  warning others of dangers or misfortune in the near future. It is also a sign of individuality and uniqueness. 

For blue, it is a sign of artistry, passion, and creativity. Usually this flower is given to those who are worthy or understanding enough to accept the beauty of this peculiar flower.

Previous:  “Effort is critical and essential to reach your goal. The ruthless, the hopeless, the beautiful and the ugly have all done the same. Even if people dry up like potatoes, I will persevere - and I will NOT falter.” [ Agapanthus ] here.

“My arrows have pierced the strongest of hearts, and my joy is unwavering - for beauty is at thy side. Let us celebrate till morn, and fill our cups with merriment. For the time has come, to dance till our final breath.”

“Shall we dance, my Dearest Vil?”

(NOTE: This is absolutely free! But NOT free to steal credit from! PLEASE CREDIT MY ART AND MUSIC, AND ASK FOR PERMISSION FROM ME!!!)

(Also comments, criticism, reblogs and likes  are appreciated! I enjoy seeing them because they brighten my day  ( ◜◒◝ )♡)

If you’re into some Pomefiore plot, please - continue below~.

A word from appleb0mb: 

I am INCREDIBLY pleased with how the cover looks! LIKE OMG INCOMING BAD VIBES FROM ROOK-

I EVEN LISTENED TO THE SONG MULTIPLE TIMES JUST TO LOOK AT THE COVER

Begonia here was kind of hard, but overall it was a lot easier than Agapanthus fOR SURE.  

In conclusion, I am extremely EXCITED and ECSTATIC to release Begonia! Thank you for listening as well, and stay tuned!

The Concept of the Track - Begonia:

In the beginning it was a simple, scrapped draft that was lying in the corner while the previous song, Agapanthus was being edited to completion. 

When I first opened the music file, it did feel kind of Rook-like but it didn’t hit me like a truck for this song. It was boring, cringe, catchy...but annoyingly catchy in a way. It didn’t feel like the Rook we know and love - so I decided to do another one instead.

For Rook he’s known as enigmatic and eccentric (well in my opinion), so I definitely wanted his theme to sound that way. But if I’m going to be honest here - the whole theme sounds jumbled up.

The theme sounds like a tiring, never-ending journey of adrenaline rush...except the ending is rather unexpected! I never expected the guitar to be even in the last bits of music there but...it somehow did. (:’)))))))

To summarize, Begonia is an amazing track for Rook and for my ears. Not a bop, but it works for me (lol). I hope it sounds great to your eyes too, oh great reader ( ╰(´꒳`)╯).

Imagery and Ideas From Listening to Begonia:

In the beginning I imagine Rook bowing to Vil amusingly, lowering his hat while looking sus.

Also I imagine him in game mode using multiple arrows to hit his opponent (you) and Vil sometimes helping him by adding poison to the arrows.

That’s it lol

TWSTxDAL Plot - Continuation!

Warning - long reading ahead!

Note: This is not a full continuation of the story in Agapanthus to avoid spoilers. These can be consider teasers of the upcoming story.

A mysterious figure laid above the roof of the glamorous villa, their hands twirling a freshly-bloomed Begonia. Its sapphire petals laid bare to unwithered skin - basked with warm, welcoming rays of the evening sun. Emerald eyes fixated on the meticulous veins of the petal, before subtly shifting its glance to the person next to him. “Good afternoon, Vil.” “Same to you, Rook.” His light, blonde curls bounced as he spoke. “May I ask why you had to call me on top of the roof?” Rook roared with laughter. “Roi de Poison, I want to reconsider the contest that has commenced two weeks ago.” “If it has something to do with that Invidaé potato and those Spirits, I’m not allowing them to join for VDCI.” “Dearest Vil, I understand that they may be a disadvantage...but maybe if you reflect carefully and ponder on the subject - this could be the most fantastic opportunity yet.” Breathless silence befell the two, as Rook’s words sunk deeply into his thoughts. “An opportunity?” Vil huffed in wry amusement. “Explain how conjuring unstable in one place can be considered an opportunity.” “That’s the thing, *mon ange. You want to be even more successful and modern, right? If we bring the Spirits on our side, then maybe the whole world will express a change of heart.” “Rook...we can’t do that - it’s not time yet.”His lavender eyes shifted to tile roofs, glaring at it.“Failing to properly prepare for the worst, is like begging for disaster and danger.” “*Mon bégonia bleu...” His scarred, veined hands wrapped around the blonde’s unblemished, lily-white ones. Emerald and lavender met one another, their gaze unwavering and sparkling in the apricot sun. “We never know what the future may hold.” His grip tightened, unwilling to let go. Moments later, Rook’s hands gently moved a strand out of Vil’s face; before planting his hair with the begonia. “I understand that you may not be ready. I will wait with you, but if there’s a time to begin - it is now.” Instantly, Vil pulled away and stood up hastily. “Enough of the dramatics, we've arranged an appointment in the next hour.” He uttered before turning his back to the golden-haired being. “Meantime, I’ll consider it. Also, Rook - don’t touch my face. I put my life’s work into it.” A radiant smile and chuckle escaped his lips. “Apologies, Vil.” With speed, Rook descended smoothly to the ground of the villa before catching a slightly trembled Vil in his hold. Forcefully, Vil sped inside the front door while Rook simply followed after, all while maintaining an enthusiastic smile on his face.

Words: mon ange - my angel  ||  mon bégonia bleu - my blue begonia 

- End of Post -

Thank you for supporting the fan-made music and art of Twisted Wonderland x Date A Live.

And have a wonderful day!!!

Note: If you have any questions about this post, please request it in my inbox or under this post.

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

I am curious: what are your favorite scenes from your main ships (date, dair, derena...)?

scenes involving milo don't count, sorry!

for me, it's really not just scenes, but body language & just in general, how they are with each other, you know? dan and serena grin at each other and hug SO much, you can tell that being around each other in s1 made them both so happy, and even after that glow fades the way they look for comfort in each other... top level stuff. the way blair looks at dan... we never see her as radiant at any other point. she was not looking at anyone else like this. and gosh, dan and nate. they're both so comfortable around each other that there's absolutely nothing weird about like. discussing that one ex girlfriend whom they both share AND both were in love with. there is literally no other duo who trusts/enjoys each other's company so much that they're comfortable in a love triangle. (probably because they're more in love with each other than with the girl, but that is not the point. or is it?)

anyway, more specific answers. under the cut. this is one of the longest answers i've ever written on this blog possibly but you KNEW that would happen when you sent this ask, didn't you? (affectionate)

derena: i tagged one of my ds reblogs as 'the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one' and like. look at them! this hug from 1x10 kills me in the best way. they are both the literal embodiment of :D when they see each other! i love 1x10 as a whole moment, their entire thing at cotillion is so sweet and they're both so happy. the fact that he is talking about his chemistry teacher during this kiss in 1x07. that bit at the end of 1x05 when they talk about their siblings (being there for their sibling because of fallible parents being a derena parallel makes me simultaneously really sad and really soft, tbh). 1x05 gives me SO MUCH SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT but the way they walk off together arms around each other does something to me - these are two people who are still getting to know each other but who really like what they see, and who trust each other and. are just having a good time together! back when derena was my OTP, the 1x11 "your story's about me?" was absolutely a fave, too, and i still adore it, albeit in a different, more nostalgic way. i like a dan who writes cute stories about serena. no empty shell sabrina van skoneker bullshit. she is so much like you, daniel! you'd be shattered if she did this to you. don't do this to her. tbh, most derena moments from s1 are just A+ romance. the bit in 2x02 in the jitney is so funny, they're SO bad at being exes. the bit in... 3x03 i think?? i don't remember... on the contrary. when they're talking about dan's fling w/ georgina and serena's relationship with carter, the ease with which they talk and how happy/supportive they are of each other's new relationships... yeah. love to see it.

i also really like any instance of them having honest/open conversations. 1x13, talking about how serena is concerned about blair. 1x08, serena talking to dan about feeling jealous of vanessa. this bit from the touch of eva or whatever that episode is. 4x04 i think. this is the conversation everyone is trying to get dan to have and he's avoiding EVERYONE else. derena interactions in 3x21 (can't find a gif right now) - the fact that dan is with serena when her dad abandons them, the fact that he goes all the way there with her. 2x07, "i'm really glad you're nate's friend. he really needs someone like you right now" (though i'm cheating, that's technically a d/n moment too klhdflkgf). there's a bit in s4 where he's advising her against having an affair w/ colin, i don't remember the ep number, but the way he takes her side so easily and naturally and puts due blame/responsibility solely on her professor... yeah. 4x10 i think this ep is?? idk. but like my tags say, im sentimental about this moment because while what dan was doing was irresponsible, sneaking her out of the ostroff, he was the only person in this episode who was actually talking to her and listening to her and taking her seriously. nobody else was doing that!!

i probably have more moments i'm not remembering, but we're only 1/3 into this answer and LOOK AT THE WORDS, good lord, i'm sorry.

dair: my favourite dair episode is hands down despicable b (5x21) which i have heard is an uncommon answer. i just love the conflict resolution of it all, okay!!! 1x04 & 2x08 are like. standard answers any dair shipper will give, and i'm no different. i love dan being able to give blair advice and blair actually taking his advice even though they're not friends yet!!! be right back, yelling at the intimacy of it all!! 5x16, with their getting together (this little kiss and dan being so startled by it), blair admitting a flaw she genuinely does have and dan saying it's not awful because it's her, which is just. romance at its finest. those vows, good lord. 5x18.... they're having fun! blair showing up at the loft in lingerie for dan... the delight on her face.... (i know this moment blows up in their face but when she's there she looks so happy and proud of herself and this was like THE moment when i was like. oh. dair is really the heart of this garbage show huh).

i think for me, the thing that really sells dan & blair together is the serena of it all. both of them love serena more fiercely than anyone else, and that is what brings them together. (fwiw i definitely think nate loved serena this much and this deeply, too; the writers just wanted to pop the serenate balloon, which even i think was extremely unnecessary and ooc.) but (& i have so much meta about this) their relationship grows beyond serena. their entire s4 arc is SO good. i love how comfortable around each other they are, in such an adult way, in the sense of like. they both bring so much stability to each other? morgan tagged this edit "the marrieds" and like. yeah. b offers to help him shave. they're having breakfast & reading the paper together.

all the love declarations we got that weren't a simple 'i love you.' be your charming wonderful self (how could she not love you/ tell me what would make you happy, dan) i told chuck he doesn't have my heart anymore (you spent your life earning the keys to set you free when you were free all along!!!!) dan's pep talk to blair in 5x21 (already linked a gifset earlier, here's another one if you want i guess). there's definitely more... but honestly, the way the dair arc was executed was so good - while i do have my complaints, i also think keeping those aside, it was SO close to perfect. i love dan & blair's banter and gradually becoming closer and closer and closer. it felt very organic and real and GOSH. the way penn & leighton looked at each other while playing dan and blair...... it's just SO MUCH.

date: this is the hardest, because it's. *screams*. maybe you saw me losing my mind over those 2 seconds of nate handing dan a waffle? i love almost every scene with these two, even the hellish s6 breakup scene. my favourite episode for d/n (& also favourite gg episode in general) is 2x06 - i love the homoerotic subtext of it all. nate pretending to be dan because dan's name is the first name that came to his head. dan flirting w/ nate while tied to that thing, in his underwear. them becoming friends. and 2x07 as a follow-up to that! dan getting nate to live in the loft with the humphreys for a while. i am so soft.

4x09 is a terrible episode in general, especially for serena my beloved, but the d/n moments in that one? off the CHARTS. this weird overly macho flirting, in some ways THE most iconic d/n line. this entire finish each other's sentences nonsense. someone (i think it was ana but im not sure?) compared the energy of those scenes i just linked to the book blairenate love triangle resolution, blairena choosing each other over nate in the books, date choosing each other over serena in the show (if only! RIP.) after the saints & sinners ball, this cute little moment of 'youre the only one who understands me. please tell me they went home together. i mean. how could they not have.

3x07, them watching vampire porn together. a tag i used on ao3 (& also on here, once) is 'nate brings out the himbo in dan'. here is a prime example. 'is she levitating?' i don't fucking know, dan, what do you think?? (i was telling my partner that that's what i love abt dair vs date. around blair dan is an intellectual, a librarian, an art historian, a museum curator. around nate it's like dan is competing to be #1 himbo on the show. can my girlfriend actually fly? i don't know, dan. i can't believe you're seriously asking such a question.)

3x12 pep talk. (sorry about the shitty quality!) essentially nate telling dan that he (dan) is hot and that he shouldn't talk himself down so much.

dan making nate gay in his book. you know. his book from which blair found out he was in love with her. nads (who i will not tag in this billion word long gushy meta, because i value her sanity) once called inside "wish fulfilment' and. i mean. yeah

nate checking dan out at the derena wedding continues to be hilarious. hilarious in the same way as dan sexually fantasising about nate. canon really went 'let's give ivy some special easter eggs' and i appreciate them a lot!

i love the way they are around each other - so quietly attuned to each other. i showed my sister my date!husbands gifset, and she was like. yeah they're so married. and it's just stuff like how dan looks for nate over his shoulder, it's not even an active action, it's as easy and natural and intuitive as breathing, checking to see if nate is still there.

oh, that wasn't as hard as it could've been! okay. cool. im SURE there's more things i could scream about, because it's DN, the fact that they're non-canon makes me THAT much fiercer about them than dair/derena, to be honest. so many dots to connect!! anyway.