15 Years on dA

Updated 8/23/21: It's hard to believe how much time has passed, but as of October 24th 2020, I've now been on dA for 15 years ;v; Literally half of my life. I'll get sentimental here, but I'm going to recount a lot of what's happened during this time

When I first joined dA, I was 15 years old and still posting my art on Zeldalegends.net under the username Ganondorfs-Girl. But as people there started migrating here, I followed suit and made my account with the same name. I didn't really start sharing art until 2006, some months after creating my account here ^^ Later on at the start of 2013, I changed my username to Anilede and haven't gone back

My early days were pretty quiet, but I had a small group of followers, some of whom still follow me all these years later! I've had friends come and go, but also my dearest friends who've stuck around for so many years.

I started with only two OCs, and nowadays I have over 150 and counting  In the last 15 years, I've shared give and take, 885 deviations. That number includes everything in my gallery and scraps currently, and journals I believe? In addition to that I have 193 deviations in storage (how?? so many rofl) which technically means over the last 15 years I've shared over 1,000 deviations  I never received a DD during that time, but I'll keep working on refining my work so that someday maybe I will ;v;

Having started dA while in high school, my page has seen me through graduation, moving across the country twice, meeting my husband @CaterBug and getting married in 2010 ;v; from there we attended University, had two daughters, I finished my associates degree, and thereafter supported my husband through finishing his bachelor's degree while we then had two sons. Those who've been around long enough know about my son Thane and his medical journey with seizures from birth. It has been quite the bumpy road early on with the many hospital stays, plus having my last son by surprise, and then embarking on my own medical journey.

Just since 2017, I went through pneumonia, 6 surgeries, and entire YEAR of daily migraines which I've only recently gotten an answer for, and on top of it all? My son Thane has been seizure free for 2 1/2 years and going strong ;v;

That's honestly the short version of it, but gosh does it make me tear up just thinking about how much my life has changed since beginning here on dA. I wouldn't have imagined my life the way it is now, 15 years ago. And just over a month from now will be my 10th anniversary with my husband, and Thane's 5th birthday, which doctor's didn't believe he'd live long enough to reach.

A shoutout to my closest and dearest friends, who've all stuck by me over the years!

@Camara-san, @Webmegami, @CressLuna, @Snowfleet, @TheWigglyPlant, @@Metroid-Tamer, @@Aquatiffy  All of you have been wonderful to me, and being able to talk as much as we do, sharing art streams and voice-chatting for hours? I feel so luck to have you all in my life ;v; And the very many followers I have, old and new, I am so thankful you've stuck around

I've also met some awesome people, whom I've either known for a long while, or more recently. Those including @Freiha, @Leowyldemi, @FayeleneFyre, @Saphitea, @Demucreations, @Luifex, @luigirules64, @Twilitmystique, @Duck-Roulette, @Meeshell-Art, @EvelynJade and so many others ;v; (I'm trying to think on little sleep, so many apologies if I forgot you!) I really look forward to getting to know you all better, including brand new followers! ^^

Let me share some of my earliest works on dA:

Compared to some most recent works:

It's been an honor sharing this artistic journey with you all over the years  Here's to many more years of deviousness to come!