he has that, mm, je ne sais quois (a predisposition towards utter, self-destructive devotion)

How do you build confidence as a writer and start to feel okay with your own writing, as well as the stats your writing gets? I’m not a new writer, and I don’t think I’m a bad one, but I am really bad with capturing the fandom zeitgeist, and a lot of the times when I try to write characters based on how they acted in canon, I get accused of bashing them. I don’t care about rude or unflattering comments on my fics, but definitely fewer people kudos my fics when I try to write the characters how I see them instead of fanon characterization, and it sucks to know I don’t make fic recs lists or even get casually recced for anything I’ve ever written on Discord because of my writing choices. More and more often, I feel like I shouldn’t write because I know my fics will never get the praise and attention BNFs do, and then I feel guilty for not writing. But I also know that if I do, I’ll just end up with more fic readers won’t want, and let’s face it: it’s not like anyone will choose my fics when they could have a BNF’s. Is there any way for me to accept that no one will ever love my fic as much as they love fics by BNFs, and to stay motivated in spite of feeling like my writing is just permanently unwanted? Or would giving up at this point be kinder to myself if I can’t stop comparing? (I know frequent advice in these cases is to focus on building friendships and finding a community, but IME, people in fandom either aren’t interested, don’t reach out, or already have had their friends circle since the LJ days and don’t want to bother with you. Any advice on where I’d even begin?)

*hugs* Oof. That's a rough spot to be in, anon, and you're definitely not alone 💗

I think in this situation, you need to figure out what exactly it is that you're looking for. You start by asking how to get confidence as a writer, but I think you already have it. You know what stories you want to tell, and you write those stories the way you want to tell them. To me, that means that you have plenty of confidence. You have a clear vision and goal, and you write with them in mind.

Next, you mention stats but I don't think that's the issue either - except inasmuch as they can be a sign of other things. Stats on their own, however, are just numbers attached to your works. If seeing those numbers on your works and the works of others causes you distress or annoyance or another emotion you'd rather not experience, then I strongly recommend using a site skin to hide them.

The bulk of your message is about what it sounds like the issue really is: attention, praise, and yes community. You want people to get excited with about your works. You want people to talk to other people about the things that you write. You want to feel loved, or at least appreciated. You're not alone in wanting those things either.

I think the writing side of things is going well - at least from the information you've provided here. The part that isn't working for you is the posting. Putting your work up on AO3 is not only dissatisfying, it's actively discouraging you from writing more.

I'm going to make my own suggestion and then I'll leave the floor open for the blog to add in their thoughts: Have you considered role playing instead of fic writing? For the last several years, I've tucked my writing away in a discord server with my fandom bestie. We've written thousands of stories and millions of words, almost none of which have ever been posted to AO3. We don't feel the need for comments and kudos because we're both having so much fun collaborating with our blorbos and each other, writing things to make the other one happy (or sad or laugh etc), that what other people might think about it doesn't actually matter.

She also RPs in various servers with friends and strangers alike, but I haven't enjoyed that as much as just shooting replies back and forth with her. Your mileage may vary, as they say, but that might be one way to get the feedback and excitement that you're craving - whether it's in a big server with lots going on or just a little corner of 2 or 3 people.

What do the rest of you think?

The DCA Palooza is finally here! We're so excited to have you here.

After years of hard work...

The DCA Palooza is finally here.

And here's the intro post.

Why was the Palooza created?

Recently, I made a note commenting on the atrocious reblog-to-like ratios for the Daycare Attendant Fandom. As @chandlelures calculated using their own art, 18 percent of their notes were reblogs, and the rest were likes. Now some are fine with this. For them, likes are any other type of validation except that logic falls flat when you consider how this site works. Reblogs put art on your follower’s dash, keeps the art circulating, and you can leave nice compliments in the tags which artists will probably screenshot and read when they’re feeling sad. It’s about a feedback loop of good vibes and participating in community.  The ratio particularly affects smaller artists who may average 10 notes at best, and when over half of those notes are likes–well, it hurts their chance of growing their audience and having more people see their hard work. 

That’s why I’m excited to introduce the DCA Palooza! 

It’s not just about fixing numbers, or asking people to reblog more. It’s creating an event space where we can share our ideas and art, while also promoting image accessibility (writing IDs, tagging for eyestrain and flashing, etcetera) for disabled fans too! It’s addressing the wider cultural shift that many older fans have complained about, where we’ve started treating ourselves as content creator and consumers, instead of fans all obsessed with the same blorbos. To do our part in fighting against this and building community…

Here are our main goals: 

Encourage fans to reblog and support smaller artists.  

While we love the concept of “gallery spaces” from @roachworks Gallery Jamboree! You don’t need to create a sideblog to become a curator. If you want to join Monthly Wrap Ups (where you promote new artists and AUs you found) all you need to do is tag @dca-fanart-gallery to join the event! We’ll see your tag, reblog from you, and then go hunt down those artists you mentioned and reblog from them too :D! 

Host weekly magmas and community events 

Magmas are a place where multiple artists can draw on the same canvas. It’s a great way to find new artists and their art styles, and have fun with their community. They’re currently hosted by @venomous-qwille every Saturday, and we post the art pieces in our Discord

Raise awareness about accessibility 

In the Discord Server, we ask that you write short IDs for every image you post and hopefully learn to write IDs for your own art. The main gallery will promote accessible artists and link to resources for writing image descriptions, as well as write IDs for much of the art we reblog. It doesn’t take too long to learn, and as the original artist, you’ll know what to emphasize in an ID than we’ll ever can! 

How can you support us?

Check out and follow @dca-fanart-galleryl! It’s run by a blind Y/N who’s trying to understand where the heck these blorbos came from. Donate your abandoned sketches to become coloring pages for the @dca-coloring-book! Look at the ID guides tag and make your art accessible for your fellow blind/visually impaired fans. And most excitedly...

Join our discord server and have loads of fun!

Our Flag Means Death is antiracist in a lot of ways, it’s queer, and it’s an adult comedy, so I guess I had hoped coming into this fandom that it would be better than other fandoms. I hoped that the fact that it is catered towards a minority group would lead to a fan base with a better understanding of systemic oppression, that an adult fan base would be able to pick up the themes of the show better than the mixed ages fandoms I’ve been in before, that the themes of antiracism would lead the racist white people to abandon the show around episode 2 when Stede gets put on trial for being white. That hope has lead me to give people in this fandom a lot of the benefit of the doubt, but boy you guys are stretching my limits. I want this fandom to be safe for people of color. I want to see more Roach and Spanish Jackie and Fang cosplays. I want my black and brown mutuals on this site to make more silly little posts about whatever blorbos make them happy. I want people of color to be able to write fic and make fan art without being worried about harassment, and I want them to be able to read fic and look at fanart without having to see a ton of racist tropes. I’ve been a cosplayer for almost a decade now, and I’ve seen first hand black cosplayers who were doing exactly the same thing that I’m doing except for doing it while black get chased off of instagram because of the harassment. I know that some people don’t partake in fandom spaces online because they see it as a white space. And I know that some people probably came out of the shadows for this show because they saw people on screen who looked like them and thought like I did that maybe this time it would be different, and I want them to be right. I don’t want black and brown people to abandon this fandom because it get’s too toxic. That’s why I’m yelling about racism in the fandom now, while it’s still kind of early.

tag game, stranger things edition!

i was tagged by @thatgirlwithasquid and @intothedysphoria, thanks y’all, I really appreciate it! 💕

1. ride or die ship/otp : Hellcheergroveton! every combination in this ship is adorable and it has all my favs too ☺️

2. most annoying ship : m*leven. I am beyond tired of watching a young disabled girl be taken advantage of and have it be treated as romantic. El deserves to live partner free, and M*ke deserves to go in the whole garbage can.

3. second favorite ship : Hollogrove. Since it’s not part of the core hellcheergroveton relationship, I’ll branch out a little and bring in my girl Heather. I love her and Billy I’m a relationship and can totally see them spending the rest of their lives together ♥️

4. favorite platonic dynamic : Billy and Max, or Dustin and Steve. Or Steve and Gareth. Cause I headcanon Gareth as becoming Steve’s caregiver after the events of the show leave him with cognitive and physical disabilities

5. underrated ship : Hollogrove, Cunningway, Pompompineapple, Stonathan, Cheerscoops, Calicheer, Rockie, Stargyle, Cammy, Kegboys, Steather, Argilly, and so many more but I’ll stop there.

6. overrated ship : Any of the fruity four (it makes me wanna gag just typing it) ships. I haven’t looked in the fandom tags for a year because it’s oversaturated with passionless, factory produced, carbon-copy fanworks that look like Harringrove fics put through ai to be rewritten as St*ddie, or Buckleway into r*nance. I’m sick of it. It’s boring. I’ll come up with my own steddie content, thanks.

7. one thing to change in canon : Everything. Not even joking. I’m going blorbo shopping and bringing all my favs back to my dollie house to play fix-it.

8. something canon did right : Um. I guess letting actors put in feedback and details of their own. Like Millie choosing for El to touch Billy’s cheek, Dacre giving us backstory on Billy’s mom and also on Billy’s disability (BPD), both he and Joe Keery refusing the original scripts, Joe Quinn improvising Eddie’s crush on Chrissy, and so on. All of the actor choices are the only good things about the show at this point.

9. a thing I’m proud of creating for the fandom : @disabledbillyandsteveweek! There's more information about the event over on the blog, but basically it’s an event starting in about two weeks meant to highlight Billy and Steve as disabled characters, through all kinds of fan works and different ships!

10. a character who is perfect to me : Christine Renée-Beth Cunningham. Nobody compares to my cheer girl.

11. the most relatable character and why : Also Chrissy. She reminds me a lot of myself, especially how I was when I was still in highschool, being timid and struggling a lot with my mental health. I wish she could have grown and gotten help and felt better since I’m on my journey to doing so right now, but I’m forever grateful to have seen a character with an eating disorder and an abusive family on screen, portrayed in a heartfelt and generous way- all thanks to miss Grace Van Dien

12. character I hate most and why : Neil, Karen (actually just the Wheelers in general except little Holly), Brenner, Owens, the lady that shot Benny, literally so many of them. Anyone who intentionally and unabashedly hurts other characters without remorse.

13. something I’ve learned from the fandom : To be patient, because even when things seem tough or impossible, we can make it. Together, with friends who understand us, and who share our pain, we can fight and keep going! Especially because this community will always have folks who understand and have our backs, we just have to find them ❤️❤️

14. three tags I seek out on ao3 : I actually don’t read fic on ao3. The extreme amounts of severely triggering content hosted on that site is just too much for me and I can never seem to avoid it. I only post to ao3 because I know people find it easily accessible, but I had one too many mix-ups that led to me being in a terrible state of mind, so I discontinued using the site.

15. a song I strongly associate with otp and/or favorite character : I’ll never shut up about “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce. Conveniently off the same record as Hop has on Vinyl and Cassette, it’s my favorite song ever because it’s so tender and loving and even though it’s old people music yall should give it a listen. It applies to any ship, but especially packs a punch with Harringrove. Also “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John.

I’ll tag: @eddie-munsons-guitar86 @honey-tongued-devil @martianclown @hephaestn @jaylikesrainbowtigers @denkiddo1 @enchanted-day-dreams @stranger-themes-blog @ratbastardbilly @thinger-strang But there’s no pressure to do it! You absolutely don’t have to if you already have or if you just don’t feel like it! <3

I’m osa and I would never in my life use the word blorbo lmao. Idk maybe I do need to mark myself somehow so you don’t have to ask. On the other hand I could just write you on kofi or sth

U didn’t get any infection from the dog, did you?

I’m okay, life is living I guess lol

Ye that’s why i was like huh?? Like u didn’t seem the type to use skrunkly or blorbo. You can maybe just put O at da end ig? Hmmm kofi messages have been glitching for me like it doesn’t show me the messages on the site even tho i got like an email about it

Oh nah but there’s a huge ass bruise on my leg kdjjss also i made sure to wash it and like out alcohol right away

That’s a big mood rn ngl

Don’t like it?  Don’t read it.

Coming back to this useless dead site to have a shitty opinion vent.

I don’t have a single ounce of sympathy for the creator of Welcome Home.

You put a lot of work and effort into a personal art project.  Congratulations!  You put it on the internet?  Fantastic.  You don’t want people to do stuff with your characters?  Tough shit.  Should NOT have posted it on the internet. 

You deliberately chose this specific style that some have compared to DHMIS, colorful puppets and all, undoubtedly saw how people reacted to that show and thought “nah I’ll be fine.”  Even though nothing about DHMIS is conducive to tumblr sexyman bs it still got vacuum’d up by the internet and had people shitting out nsfw art of red guy.  You thought “Nah I can control the internet.”  Newsflash idiot, you can’t.  You chose a style that activated the few neurons that the autism creatures of the internet had left and they descended on your work like carrion birds.  You start explaining shit like how its your passion project?  Nice!  That means I can make an AU right?  “No its my property” fuck you thinking you have a choice on how people interact with media.  “People don’t have a right to treat other people’s original creations like that” shut the fuck up you mouthbreathing troglodyte.  Trying to control how people consume media is like trying to ride a paper plane through a tornado: you fucking cant.  The only “right” you have is to not be upset when hordes of internet people start tearing apart your blorbos and drawing them spreading their ass-cheeks. 

What I’m trying to say is:  You posted it on the internet.  The second you did, you gave up control over it.  Show it off however you like cause its nice, but the second you try to control how other people act is the moment you truly shine like a polished ball of shit that you are.  There is so much pretentious bullshit trying to control how people view your art it is STAGGERING.  “But its polite to treat them with respect.” I’ll respect them when they respect themselves and not post their autistic rambling “dark” kiddie shit on the internet and act like they are superior to others just because they have passion.  Good on you, you made art like the fucking millions of other internet users.  Now shut the fuck up.