#fandom anniversary

YAYYYY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SHORTS WARSSSSS (i scheduled this post on the 29th)

credit to michelangelo for the hands i traced them and referenced for the shading 💀 always credit the creators guys

also if anyone feels like printing this as a poster tag me!! just please don't sell it or whatever .,.

anyways yap sesh under cut yall know the drill

I’ve seen my JD mutuals making anniversary posts, so I decided to do it too. :)

First of all, I want to say that this is no doubt the best experience I have ever had in a fandom.

Just Dance is something I like to call a Sandbox Fandom™️, where all the characters and settings are open-ended to the point where you can do whatever you want with them. No two fans have the exact same interpretations of a character, be it their backstories, personalities, or relationships. There is no rock solid ‘canon’, and I don’t think I would enjoy the fandom as much as I do if there was. And everyone just… gets it. We love seeing what everyone does with this silly little franchise. We love hearing each other gush about their thousands of headcanons. We love reading each other’s fanfictions and seeing each other’s art.

You all have a gift, and I hope nobody takes that joy and whimsy away from you.

My first Just Dance game was JD 3, which I got for my 7th birthday. I liked the game, and I played it on and off throughout my life. But I never became a full-on fan until last year, where I watched Tatoaka’s lore videos on TikTok. I liked the idea of the main story, so I bought the new games so I could experience them myself. I had fun and properly exercised for the first time in a while.

But then, it happened…

YOU!

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!

I took one look at these gayass goths and it was all over for me. I instantly went to look up fanart for them. Some small headcanons I had bloomed into an entire, detailed storyline that I made up for them. The very first fanart I ever made for this fandom involved them.

And in honour of the anniversary, I redrew it. There’s been a lot of improvement and it’s only been a year!

(This is how they show their love, I promise.)

And then I found Doodle’s discord server. Everyone there is so cool and supportive and I immediately felt welcomed! There’s even many that I would consider online friends at this point. I’ve been in past discord servers where I felt like an outsider and was ignored by everyone else. But I never felt that way here. And I thank you all for it.

I would like to shoutout my mutuals for making my experience in the fandom a memorable one:

@uneasylex, @croftersforlife, @eviesroompookie, @supyovalk, @anja-the-sane-panda, @swannox, @stylishkatz69, @spaceanxshark24, @localsimpissleepy, @phoenixriaartemis, @ssstarlighttt, @ruthyanypunto, @iggypancakes17, @marianaaags, @doodling-doodle, @karis17love, @lightning-and-sparks

All of you are awesome as hell!

And don’t think I’m discounting you just because you’re not on the tag list. Every single one of you has done your part to make the Just Dance fandom what it is today.

When I first watched this movie on an old CRT TV while doing another girl’s nails at a science camp, I had no idea it would have such an impact on my life. But even then, I was so intrigued by this “chick flick” (yes, the people considered this film named after a big, sweaty man a “chick flick”) that my bottle of nail polish was left forgotten and spilled on the floor.

I kept coming back to Wreck-It Ralph—I’d watch it every time it came on Freeform, I made a beeline to watch the sequel, and when my hyperfixations turned creative, I found myself drawn to the characters and story of Wreck-It Ralph once more.

I found a community of friends pretty quickly—and fell in love with all the sweet Core Four and Hero’s Cuties headcanons @bashfulgnome, @shitpost-it-tristan and others came up with. Their stories and ideas about the Core Four being a close-knit family warm my heart with every post.

I knew going in that the Wreck-It Ralph fandom on Tumblr is currently mostly made up of Turbo fans, so when I branched out into stories about Hero’s Duty, I knew I wouldn’t get much attention. But @bashfulgnome and @shitpost-it-tristan have sat for hours talking to me about my stories and my OC, Cyndra, on Discord. I’m so grateful to those two, and the others who gave Markowski and Cyndra’s story a chance—@cartoonygothopossum, @have-thumb-candy, @badbugbotblood, @royalwalnutmoths…

It’s been more than a year since I started this hyperfixation, and thanks to you guys and your interest, I doubt it will fade away any time soon.

Long live Litwak’s Arcade!

Exactly 1 year ago today, I published my first ACGAS fic, No Good Deed, on Ao3. I had just finished S1 and I was so excited - and now, a year later, I've seen the whole series and written 21 (😬) fics!

I've been having so much fun in this lovely little corner of the internet - can't believe it's only been a year! Here's to many more!

Happy birthday to both Sherlock Holmes and me!!!