#I think I started it over a year ago

[hinamie]

surprise it's yuri!!!in 2024

#my art #yuri on ice #yuri!!! on ice #yoi #fanart #katsuki yuuri #victor nikiforov #victuuri #yoi fanart #this was the secret 4th thing that lost the poll jdsfgsdfjj #id been thinking about doing a tribute since getting that one ask but i didn't anticipate how Into it i would get once i started #the way i flew through this piece .. just over 1 day??? insane #yuri is /that/ ingrained in my muscle memory #I was looking at refs and ?? id forgotten how wild this show was #we just got all of that?? a pole dance a proposal a kiss a pair skate....and it was ALL canon? incredible #AND YEAH UNPROMPTED HISTORY MAKER PLAYS IN MY YT MIX #dean fujioka jumpscare #also looking back at my old yoi pieces was so wild. that ws really 8 years ago huh. #little bit of an ego boost looking at how far ive come #but also im just grateful idk sry 2 b sappy on main #i hope 16 year old me is happy that i did this bc im happy i did this #edit bc i forgot a bunch of white outline i am a fraud

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

#selfie bee #good evening friends!! how are you doing! C: #I'm very very sleepy I got a new ikea office chair and I build it all myself #I think it went okay! I don't think I pulled the back screw tight enough and now the back is a bit loose #I can probably fix it but I can also ignore it for the next 18 years #thats how long the old chair held up!! in germany it could now drink vodka and drive a car!! #not at the same time that is illegal! not at the same time!! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ* #but the day is not over yet my uncle asked me for a big art quest and I do not want to disappoint #he wants a muppet tattoo and asked me to draw it #my uncle has started to get tattoos a few months ago #as far as I know he has now gotten 3 note clefs 3 stars a flower and multiple birds #he also started getting piercings but so far I managed not to know exactly where #I think tattoos are super cool (´｡･v･｡｀) I wish I had a good idea for a tattoo but the last time I was very sure about getting a tattoo #it was heath ledgers face as the joker #at that point I was 12 and would not see the actual movie for two more years #a muppet tattoo is a way better idea!! he asked for the count van count! that is also one of my top 3 muppets ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡ #I always thought I knew a lot about muppet lore but since I started looking up muppet pictures I think there are still a lot of secrets #can the muppets from the Sesame Street actually leave the Sesame Street? #I think Kermit is both on the Muppet Show and on Sesame Street but he is also like the boss muppet #he might have special abilities #I hope you're having a good day friends!! C: #I think I'll post a Sherlock comic later this week #miss you!! ♥♥♥

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I started reading Dungeon Meshi last week, became instantly charmed and captivated, and blitzed through the entire manga in 4 days (and changed my profile picture about it). With that in mind, I would just like to say...

I love your dungeon meshi art so so much

CHILCHUCK!!!!!!!!

Thank you kindly! I love Dungeon Meshi a lot, so I'm happy to see so many people get into it for the first time.

CHILCHUCK!!!

#ask #dungeon meshi #chilchuck tims #I feel like chilchuck was overlooked in the pre-anime fandom a lot (which sucked as an OG chilchuck fan). #So I am thrilled by how much love he has been getting. He is a great character and so much fun to draw. #Great comedic straight man while also having some really hard hitting emotional moments. #I think he needs a union mandated vacation after this dungeon expedition -and a drink with an umbrella in it. #Veering off topic for a moment: #I started drawing this at the same time as the Dragon comic (I had chilchuck brainrot) #and since then two of my dungeon meshi comics have hit over 10k notes. Which is bonkers! #A year ago I was getting hyped over a post reaching past 100 notes...I never thought I'd be here. Thank you for all the love and support. #I may have started as a MDZS blog but drawing for Dungeon Meshi has had a huge impact on me *and* my art. #This Chilled Chuck is thus a mini celebration for a incredible milestone B*) #I'll keep my weekly dungeon meshi posts going until the season ends so please keep looking forwards to it!

[pa-pa-plasma]

hey i feel like we're really sleeping on that time Danny possessed Vlad & framed him for assaulting a minor

Editing with the clip because people don't believe me. Episode is 41: Eye for an Eye.

#Danny Phantom #i think this ties into my other post i made a long time ago about Danny siccing the GIW on Vlad #like we KNOW in CANON that if Danny was even a tiny bit more like Vlad he would literally become a supervillain #villain is such a stupid word i hate how it's spelled. why is it like that #anyways i need to like. rewatch DP cuz i remember shit & then i'm like #did that actually happen. because that sounds too insane #but like. he Did That. didnt he #i think that's what i love about this character. but a lot of people ignore it #Danny is like. gritting his teeth going ''do good do good'' it isnt effortless it isnt easy he doesnt even want to do it half the time #& sometimes yeah he WILL do crimes or get back at people who've been assholes to him or whatever #he WILL use his powers for bad sometimes #he'll be like ''dont do that it's bad'' but like. he WILL do it himself #the whole ''i'm a hero'' thing he's got going on is like. more of a. how do i put this #it's like when you're drawing or writing & saying ''it doesnt have to be perfect it just has to BE'' #like Danny isn't a hero sometimes. he's got morals & has a general understanding of good & bad #but also he's 14 & being attacked every day #i would start saying bad words & threatening people that annoy me too man #okay i glanced over the scene again for the first time in years & Danny was literally in the middle of outing Vlad to the whole town??? #hello?? are we really ignoring this????? #VLAD TORNADO VLAD TORNADO VLAD TORNADO #this show is so stupid i love it #love how Sam & Tucker immediately backed him up yeah fuck Vlad all my homies hate Vlad #okay you know what. maybe i will do a DP liveblog. i think it would be fun #on daddyplasmius. only posting this on pa-pa-plasma cuz it's kind of just a. weird rant post? kind of? idk

[cherrysnax]

I hate asking but I can’t draw due to chronic pain and my gfs last job literally made them develop asthma and we are very desperate right now. we’ve been surviving off of my gfs last paycheck and my savings and making it stretch but we just can’t anymore

we are two black disabled lesbians in a household of 6. we don’t have many groceries and our main priority is my little brother, my cat and my grandma. my gf is trying to get a job but is currently facing employment discrimination and is getting ghosted and rejected constantly. atm I’m STILL waiting to speak to a doctor because my chronic pain is making it to where I can’t stand or hold anything heavier than a drawing without significant difficulty.

usually I would offer commissions but I’m in too much pain to draw, I’m sorry. I just wanna be able to get some groceries

my PayPal is here

my cashapp is https://cash.app/$silvertheestallion and my gfs is $Peachjammn

my Venmo is @cherryadventure2

thank you for reading

#im like really sorry #we were doing really well but like. a few months ago shit just started getting crazy #we haven’t had to make a post in over a year #pain wise idek what the fuck is going on. we think it may be fibro? or another repitive strain injury #its like from my elbow radiating down my forearms and into my wrists #I’ve googled it but I haven’t seen anything that matches my symptoms #Im just tired #please ignore our deadnames

[atlasamor]

Watched the @lackadaisycats sneak peak and I’m so excited for it. Have Quincy at a film set

#my art #lackadaisy #Ignore the fact that drawing smoke trails like that is my favourite thing #Can't believe it's been over 10 years since I started reading Lackadaisy #And then I just got caught up a few weeks ago #Walking into a whole new website like WHERE AM I? #WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? THERE'S POSTERS FOR THE CAST? #Literally glued to the screen salivating liquid awe and telling myself to get stronger #Very very inspiring #More than anything- I think seeing the evolution in art just strengthened my resolve to continue drawing #Forgot you can't edit tags so this will stay. Anyway. YAHOOO

[canisalbus]

you say machete has to be closeted then why's he always wearing them little heels

Maybe he thinks he's a tiny bit nicer looking in them.

#no in fact he's just a little ahead of the curve let me try to explain #again I'm not a historian I'm just sharing what I've read I might be misremembering stuff so don't quote me on this #high heels became extremely fashionable in the early 1600's probably just a few decades after Machete's time #and they were originally worn by men #because they were inspired by Persian riding boots #if your shoes had heels you'd have easier time keeping your feet in the stirrups (think of cowboy boots) #Europeans saw them thought they looked snazzy and they became wildly popular in noble circles fairly quickly #for some hundred years or so high heels were the epitome of class wealth power and status and they were essentially genderless #remember that concepts of masculinity and femininity are fluid and change over time #things that were seen as manly a few centuries ago may seem downright effeminate to a modern viewer #it's all matter of perspective neither is objectively more correct than the other #they started to separate into men's heels and women's heels around mid 1700's iirc but the changes weren't massive even then #and only truly went out of vogue when the French Revolution hit in 1789 #and people all across the continent were suddenly put off by everything that reminded them #of the frivolousness and extravagance of royalty and aristicracy #so in his canon timeline I don't think people are looking at him and going “hmmm that's pretty gay” #because heels hadn't become gendered yet #maybe he likes how they accentuate his already tiny paws and make his legs look even longer than they are #he's interested in fashion or at least likes to dress nicely in high quality garments #he tries very hard to look his best despite never really feeling comfortable in his skin #he was a real shrimp as a kid and even though he eventually grew up to be a beanpole he might still find the extra height appealing #no one's going to look down on him ever again #I admit the way I draw them is a lot more modern than the true historical style at the time but not outrageously so #artistic freedom and all that in the end I'm not aiming for 100% accuracy #modern au Machete has no excuses though he's just a little bit fruity #if the guy feels empowered by wearing little clip cloppers let him #answered #anonymous #Machete

[sysig]

A very normal scientist doing very normal gene splicing experiments (Patreon)

#Doodles #UT #Handplates #Gaster #Wobbledogs #Sometimes media flooding bleeds over into other interests at the same time and yes that is my only justification for this lol #I'm always most amused by the sequence of things lol - I'd already started in on Handplates again but then got very diverted by Wobbledogs #Which is especially weird to me because I was introduced to the game like half a year ago and it didn't really grab me #It's cute but eh it's fine - and then I watched a proper lightly edited playlist not like jumpcut-jumpcut-jumpcut #That can make for a very punchy one-off but it doesn't really reflect the gameplay loop #So actually getting to see it properly made the difference and I kinda Get It now and also kinda want to own the game lol #MeanWhile - Ghoster's been hanging out as my desktop buddy literally /while/ watching and I was getting new ideas on that front #They smushed together lol #Having him onscreen is just a good excuse to do a quick once-over style of study and follow some silly ideas haha #What would Gaster think of a progressive mutation type game ♪ Watching them grow watching them struggle to walk #Only uses the scold feature - or the worse option that he treats the dogs better than the skelebros noooo haha #Pretty much all of the creatures in Undertale are sentient to some degree aren't they :0 Wobbledogs are just dogs #They're not monsters but they're not humans but they're not exactly just dogs either - just little creachurs haha #It's fun to imagine him nurturing anyone or anything haha ♪ Goes from ''???'' to ''How can I help this reach their full potential'' #Whatever ''potential'' means in his own context hehe #It's cute in its own way

[loppiopio]

just some 🥥 related sillies i've made for that fic we all know.

#durarara #izaya orihara #shizuo heiwajima #shizaya #a cheap imitation #i made a thing #i've been holding off on posting these here for so long whoops #i'm so shy... check out my lemonade guys #i've been very motivated to make various things for this fic as a result of this book club i've been hosting for my friends #i actually made the first image (not the video) like two years ago? #back around when i first read the fic and started being annoying about it to my friends #never posted it though because the shizuo i drew was ugly!!! #and the shizuo i drew for the second image this time around is still ugly!! unfortunately :( #well anyways if it isn't clear the images are both for chapter 19 while the video is for chapters 28 to 29 and a little bit of 30 lol #also i know izaya's actual problem isn't fucking shizuo but kissing him lol but it was funnier to keep it like this #you can check out more of this deranged behaviour over at my twitter of the same name #i know not everyone wants to go there though especially with the current situation... #so i'll try to bring over the more memorable stuff to post in batches over here which i think is the stuff i did any art for #since i've made a lot of multimedia type things dedicated to particular chapters as “marketing” for my friends #but i'm not sure they'll make much sense out of context so #my plan is to compile all of everything i've made for the fic during the book club into a powerpoint that i'll try to keep for posterity #because ngl i feel i went kinda hard with certain things that maybe only two people will appreciate #but i'll do it for those two people out there #also it's a whole book club for aci!! #*i'd* want to see what some random people have been up to with a book club for this fic #be the change you want to see in the world #side note i wonder if having so many fucking tags on your own post is a bad look... #idk it's so much clutter but i have too many things to say!! #i look back at my own previous tags and i physically can't bring myself to read them ahhhh #i hope anyone's enjoying them anyways

[aviul]

dark type activities

#pokemon fanart #nanu pokemon #alolan grimsley #grimsley #pokemon sun and moon #THIS THING HAS BEEN IN MY WIP PILE SINCE DEC 2019 #its reign of terror ends now #had to redraw/paint over So Much bc. i may have improved since i started this #i think i poked at it some years ago but threw it back in the pile #gastlys face is one of the few things i didnt change #he was born perfect

[quirkle2]

Shigeo still doesn’t know how to answer. He hasn’t answered, and he knows that’s weird, and maybe a bit creepy, but it’s also characteristic of him, so maybe he doesn’t need to stress over it. He simply sits there in the heavy rain instead and watches Reigen’s pink tie get dragged by the gales. And then Serizawa crouches down, lowers his hand out, and shelters Shigeo’s head with the draped fabric of a clear umbrella. In Shigeo’s world, the rain stops.

scene from my wip fic recondite :]

#qkdraws #id in alt #jay you've GOTTA stop jumping into projects u don't know how to do . rainwater on Any surface is not ur specialty #actually ykw scratch that. that's how u learn #follow ur dreams kids #im so happy i can finish big pieces in one day now. started this just earlier today #i've always wanted to do that and now i can. success <3 #also i've realized over the years that sometimes u jump into a project and expect one part to be hard #but that part is actually the easiest bit and some other trivial bullshit is the issue. yeah the umbrella #doing the umbrella was fine. doing the rainwater ? uhm i did my best #ALSO also sorry that this is the same snippet i posted a while ago i just think this scene means a lot to the both of them #and i think abt it a good bit #mob psycho 100 #mp100 #mob psycho #shigeo kageyama #mp100 shigeo #mp100 mob #serizawa katsuya #mp100 serizawa #ayyyee two for two on actual backgrounds in art for this fic. wowie

[gen-is-gone]

my for some reason unpopular opinion is that it's boring when Fitz remains unhinged levels of self-deluded and closeted actually. Why does he have to be doctor who's answer to dean winchester, huh? why would this man in his mid-thirties who has spent at least a decade traveling in time and space still have weird insane hangups about being attracted to dudes? why does that need to be the thing about the text that we all collectively think is worth taking at face value? it's boring and fucking depressing and honestly doesn't make sense when the future of humanity in doctor who is that bisexuality is the cultural default and completely unremarkable.

#like geez I don't think that making it to thirty+ years old and still being afraid and filled with self-hatred is funny actually #eighth doctor adventures #eighth doctor #fitz kreiner #megan whines into the empty abyss of cyberspace #it's also weird because this definitely wasn't the attitude in fandom ten years ago #my suspicion is that Steve Cole's confirmation that Fitz was always meant to be bi made people start taking the text literally #in a way folks didn't before when slash shipping culture was just used to reading against a text as a default #like I vaguely recall a post going around shortly after that was confirmed in 2019 #that brought up how Fitz being canonically bi meant that all his weird hangups couldn't be handwaved away now #because if fandom made him bi against canon then you could just ignore his weirder no homo moments #but if he was intentionally written as bi then he was also intentionally written as deeply closeted #and like. that's true. but also you can just do whatever the fuck you want with canon no matter what #and also like #sure many of the writers were writing him as queer intentionally #but like the writing in the EDAs is so inconsistent of course some people are going to write weird no homo crap #because those writers weren't comfortable with queerness even if Cole's intent was that Fitz was bi #like The Gallifrey Chronicles's whole thing with Fitz and Trix is one long lance parkin no homo moment #does that really matter more than textual evidence that he is attracted to men and knows this about himself? #like I just don't know how you reconcile 'Fitz will bend over backwards to pretend he's straight' with #'a consideration of his chances of [...] getting laid by the Doctor' #or for that matter 'with the Doctor it's the real thing' #or the really really heavy implication that he and Sasha had a one night stand in History 101 #or that he and George went on a date in Camera Obscura which led to Fitz being invited on the Siberia expedition in the first place #and again and I can't emphasize this enough: why is this the thing about 'canon' that is so worth keeping? #why is Fitz being depressing levels of in denial more fun than him being openly bi? #destielification of Eight/Fitz smh

[lovelylittlewordsmith]

#I’m just really curious to see when most manga readers started reading #this series has gone on so long #I think I started when the green witch arc was currently going on #hard to believe that was well over five years ago #kuroshitsuji #black butler #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #yana toboso #Kuroshitsuji 209 #black butler 209 #Kuroshitsuji 210 #black butler 210

[thefirstknife]

Hi Bel,

I keep seeing comments about people complaining about the quality of destiny’s writing and story in the last few weeks. I haven’t really engaged with destiny since season of defiance, what’s currently gotten everyone so riled up? I thought that people were enjoying Season of the Deep/Witch in terms of narrative, why is Season of the Wish causing people to deride the destiny writing staff again?

I don't know!

Deep and Witch have been absolute bangers in every aspect to me. I've been enjoying all interactions and lore tabs we've received. A lot of them are stuff that we've never had before, a lot of reunions and closures, a lot of development and interactions between characters who you wouldn't really think would have much in common.

Sloane's return and healing from what she's been through has been fantastic, Drifter opening up with her to help her because he also got help from others was fantastic, Sloane reuniting with Aisha and Shayura brought me to tears (Shayura's descent into madness was triggered by immense trauma of Sloane staying on Titan and Titan disappearing), everything with Sloane and Zavala...

Witch was just incredible in every single way; the focus on Eris, the amount of Eris and Ikora content!!!!! Everything about Xivu and Savathun and their interactions together!! Eris finally fulfilling her goal she promised Savathun YEARS ago, getting that closure.

Wish so far has been equally great to me. All the new stuff about Ahamkara is amazing, finally giving us proof for long-standing speculation about Ahamkara and how they aren't universally evil creatures and expanding on them as a species. I love all interactions we've had so far; finally we have Petra back, Mara's singleminded focus on figuring out how to defeat the Witness and her continuous work to improve as a person, ALL SJUR MENTIONS!!!!! I won't talk about the "leak" because we have no context for it so I will wait for the full story to be revealed before I can pass judgment; something that I think should be a lesson to learn from this entire year. Maybe wait for the story to finish before judging the story.

Literally everything this past year that involves Osiris, but especially this season now that he's back in his element with the Vex. And of course every little detail we get of him and Saint. Osiris honestly shaped this year for me with everything that he's done to uncover the biggest mysteries. I think a big reason is that a lot of people just don't like Osiris, which I consider a massive skill issue.

Other than that, I don't know what are the issues people have besides just not being interested in any of these storylines and attributing it to a nebulous "bad writing" claim. I also genuinely believe that way too many people get wrapped up too much in fandom, imagine storylines they want to see and then get disappointed when the actual story doesn't go there. Almost like people forget that this isn't their story and these aren't their characters. A lot of it is also fandom completely warping characters into not what they actually are and then feeling like the canon story is the one that's wrong.

Whatever is the reason, I guess everyone is entitled to their perspective of the story and everyone is free to explore the story in different ways through fanfics and AUs and whatever. I do that too!

But I would definitely ask people to be normal with how they engage in criticism, especially in the current state of affairs. Writers are developers; they experience a ton of harassment and negativity from the community and also from inside the company. And they are online: they can see what we're saying. It's been documented that community commentary has been used to harass writers:

Imprint this into your brain and never forget what these people had to go through. Let's not forget also the way people treated Seth Dickinson on social media when he was active with Destiny fans. "Fans" were actively arguing with him about his own work (telling him that HE is wrong) and were utterly disgusting towards him when he tried explaining what he wrote. His works are now hailed as the best writing in Destiny and people want him back. If I were him, I wouldn't want to come back ngl, not with how he was treated and not with how fans are still treating writers (and hey, Seth wrote LF Collector's Edition! So he was back, technically, this year!). Let's not forget that a lot of writers are members of various marginalised groups. And I'd definitely not want to go back with zero support from leadership.

Which is also an important aspect for all developers, including writers: sometimes they have orders they may not like, but can't argue against. They do the best they can with what they're given, the time they have and directions they receive. And with that in mind, I am enjoying everything we've gotten this year, obviously with some specific complaints about things I didn't particularly enjoy (like the universally mid reception of Defiance; I've spoken about my gripes with it before, a big one being the shafting of Suraya who should've at least been mentioned in a lore tab).

I can tell that there is passion in their work, even if maybe they would prefer to do more with it, but can't. Maybe even if they want to take different routes, but can't. But from what we got, I can feel that they care about this world and these characters. I can tell that someone lovingly wrote about Sloane and her friendships with two grieving women. I can tell that they deeply cared about Sloane's friendship with Zavala and that they loved showing us Saint and Drifter caring about a fellow trauma survivor.

I can tell that the writers are immensely careful and loving towards Eris; everything she went through was crafted with love and passion from both writers and her VA. Eris' story is such a fundamental aspect of Destiny and I can tell that this was important to the writing team and that they gave her everything they could to do justice to her character and her arc and her healing and her release from the cycle she was trapped in for so long.

I can tell that there are writers who care a lot about Osiris and Saint and their relationship. I can tell that someone cared a lot about expanding on Ahamkara and giving them more personalities. I can tell that someone cared DEEPLY about Sjur and Mara and that her repeated mentions are the passionate work of writers who want us to remember her.

I could go on. And I know that not everyone sees it this way, which is fine; we all have different ways of perceiving stories. I enjoy discussing things we in the fandom disagree on and I enjoy hearing different perspectives! Unfortunately, this has recently become rarer and rarer. And for the love of god, please try and treat writers with some respect, especially now, especially those who are still working and doing their best with the shitty situation they're in. None of the cries of "poor devs" ring true to me unless the same is given to writers, instead of treating them like punching bags.

#destiny 2 #long post #for the record: yeah i also have some gripes with some writing decisions. it's normal #but i feel like those are things that i can learn to accept or let go or even have my mind changed with a different perspective #or by just accepting that the writing team was limited in some way and that this was the best they could do #it happens to every story at some point #and yeah capitalism is the death of art. destiny's story would be better from start to finish if it weren't a shooter mmo #but that ship has sailed a long time ago. like. in 2014. #it's honestly a miracle that we got even a fraction of the stuff we got considering the target audience of fps mmos #and it's fine if this just isn't good enough to some. happens #but i think we can move on without being shitty about devs yeah? #in all likelihood writers may even agree that some of the stuff they had to write isn't the best or isn't what they wanted #calling them bad writers over circumstances we don't understand is just shitty #just like it's shitty to do it to any other dev over bugs in the game or badly implemented features or whatever #none of these people are sitting at their desks maliciously laughing while deliberately creating 'bad' things #and this is especially bothering me for writers because of how atrocious people are to artists of all kinds #almost like writers had to strike this year to be respected and treated as people that matter

[bookrat]

Pretty sure my little man has a case of abundism affecting the marble tabby coat under all those white splotches

#random pet post #it really is a weird coat pattern #I'm never sure if I should describe him accurately as a white marked tabby or as the first impression people get of a black and white cat #love his little backward C's #I got all my other pets around the same time and they've been dying off one by one this last year or so #I'm down to just this 4yo kit and Bruiser #actually I'm not done whispering in the tags #pretty soon it's just gonna be me and this terrible little man against the world #and he gives me such weird problems you cannot even begin to imagine #took to the leash and harness without a bit of difficulty but I can't take him anywhere cuz he freaks out about people 500ft away #really difficult to find sitters for him cuz he gets so stressed about changes and waits until 3am to SCREAM #he's 17 lbs and wants to sleep on my chest 14 hours a day #took him on a work trip a week or 2 ago cuz of aforementioned petsitting troubles and some kind of wire got crossed #so instead of stress peeing in my laundry basket he now humps the nearest blanket covered limb to alert me of problems #he got scared of his water dish recently and is only now starting to get over it after 3 weeks of drama #he knocked it over last night and humped my leg while I tried to sleep to try and convey to me that he was thirsty #I'm thinking of getting a second cat and just fucking hoping that it'll be normal and maybe Prompto can target it for some of his weirdness

[fictionadventurer]

That C.S. Lewis quote about being "old enough for fairy tales again" is really popular in this section of tumblr, but I think I've hit an opposite stage where I'm old enough for realism again. As a teenager in English class, realism seemed like the boring, baseline option that limited your imagination to only the dullest parts of daily life. If I wanted real life, I'd just live it! Stories should give us something bigger and brighter and more exciting!

But as I get older, I'm starting to understand that realism isn't about limiting yourself to the real world, it's about appreciating it. It's about noticing and caring about those tiny details in life. It's about looking at the seemingly ordinary and unexciting people and saying that their stories are worth telling, too. There's a beauty in gazing upon this world in delicate detail and drawing out those fine shades of nuance that you don't notice in the bustle of actually living life. Realism lets you slow down and recognize that our world has wonders, too, and they don't all have to be big and flashy to be worth our attention.

Younger me also got the impression that realism was depressing--we don't get happy endings because they're not realistic. And it's true that realism has a greater share of sad endings, but that can be a comfort. As you grow up, you have more and more experiences tell you that the happiness of life is buried in a lot of murkier emotions--a lot of turmoil and uncertainty and bad decisions--and realism says that's okay. The story's worth telling even if it doesn't end well, even if people don't rise above their baser natures, even if things are a bit dull. Realism can be happier, in some ways, than those bigger, brighter genre stories, because it acknowledges those murkier imperfections of life and says that they don't erase happiness or make someone's story not worth telling.

Lewis' quote is great, but it's not the whole story. Like Chesterton says, children are fascinated by fairy tales, but the youngest children are fascinated by reality--"A child of seven is excited to hear that Tommy opened a door and found a dragon, while a child of three is excited to hear that Tommy opened a door." Fantasy is a fantastic escape, but like all travel, the point of it is to make us see our own world more clearly when we return home. And that's where realism comes in. Those types of stories aren't about casting off childish fancy and focusing on the grim details of adulthood--they can be about regaining an even more innocent and child-like wonder.

#books #i've been building this thought ever since i started really getting into gaskell #she's the one who opened my eyes to the beautiful compassion of realism #like any genre the book is shaped by the author's lens #there can be very ugly realism but she showed me that it doesn't have to be #reading henry james helped solidify these thoughts #and i think i'm firmly in my realism phase now #i've got a couple of trollope books to try over lent #and i'm very excited about it #when i would not have been only a few years ago #i've matured to the place where i can enjoy long boring detailed stories and i'm very excited about this development