#i might work on this more i have fun witht the idea but its hard to keep going with it yaknow

[uglysockperson]

“quark!” someone shouted behind him, it wasnt hard to figure out who it was as there was a very few who didnt say his name with a drink order following it, or an accusation. and very few who sounded so fond, and if it wasnt rom it had to be him. Theyd been introduced almost a year ago. cardassians loved introducing people, maybe it was showing off how many people they know or their connections but it was almost a nightly occurance one gul or another would introduce quark to visitor of the station, constantly smiling faces and cold hand touches. but he was diffent, his hands snaked up and held ferengi fingers without a sour face. a refreshing change.

“oh glin, how may I be of service this evning” leaning against the bar may be a smooth move in anyone elses book but having to look all the way up to see the person your talking to makes presentation a little rougher. but shuffling to get his little step stool under his feet he feels a cold claw on his chin pulling his face up to meet cold eyes. “I will be needing a holodeck..with company” clearing his throat knowing the cardassian could feel his throat move under his finger “may I assume the same comapany as last night?” “the very same” “well I’m afraid our holodecks are booked for the night but I can arrange private meetings for 2 bars all the same” “its a deal, what time?” “I get out a 0100, but make yourself at home” quark moved off the perch of the grey hand and placed a code card in the hand.

there was hardly a close for quarks, it was more like leaving rom in charge of the few quite hours of the morning, which he excitedly took. quark left him in charge of the count as well as he had an appointment to keep. speed walking to his hall and fixing his collar before entering his own pass code. But down the hall he could feel that all familiar feeling... hed being watched. And if he cant here them it must be odo. but this was hardley anything gto sweat about the constible could hardly arrest him for this. so he presses in his code and enters to see his quarters as they always are but with the addition of a tall lizard lazily sat on his couch reading a padd. “good morning quark” “good morning to you nalin”quark took off his heels and outer coat trying to up his sex appeal before walking over to his guest who had since turned the padd over on the his coffee table. uncrossing his legs as an invitation. theyd been doing somthing like this almost as long as theyve known eachother now there was a familiarity about walking till their knees brushed, a normal event to have a tail tull his thigh until he was sat straddeling a scaled leg. almost a comfort in long claws undoing his shirt before slipping into his waist ban. and equily it was now normal to nibble down a ridged neck and to count scales with his teeth. it was nice to get picked up and tossed on to his own bed. nalin was probrably as kind as they come by cardassian standards but thats hardly saying anything, just because he wasnt outwardly cruel didnt mean he was gentle. he found that out just as quick as they’d started this sort of relationship. But it was better than any holodeck program he money could buy and he was being compensated hansomly for his time.

Now here he was flopped over on this cold blooded lover, who was kindly rubbing his ears. If he could purr he would. “When does your next shift start?” He asks from under quark. “Oh in a while, I need to sleep” “I should leave you to it then” but he doesn’t make a move to remove himself. If quark hard any more energy he’d tease the glib but before he could get to it he had drifted off.

When he woke up he was alone, it surprised him to have not woken up when nalin had left with his sensitive ears he could hear the mans pulse from the bathroom. But either was he saw the hand written note he’d received a handful of times “thank you for the company I will be returning in a few weeks” it was almost a sweet gesture to give him a time estimate. Quark would never be so romantic as to think of it like a promise... but any other goof just might have.

[tema-makes-art-sometimes]

Just saw your vent post and I think diving into your self indulgent stuff might help. For me personally, when working on original stuff, that's when I'll think about things like appealing to others/marketability/etc, but when it comes to fandom stuff, the only audience I care to pander to is Me, Myself, and I. Other people sometimes end up liking it, mostly it just goes ignored, maybe a like by a mutual if they see it. I prefer it this way, since worrying about appealing to more people when writing fanfic makes it feel too much like Writing I Do For Work, and I even never use betas for that same reason, it makes it feel too much like Work Writing, when fandom is Fun Writing.

I'm not sure what you do outside of fandom, but you have so much creativity, I've kinda assumed you've either been doing creative work or are studying to go into it--I can see you in a character design shop tbh, I can see Pin being a villain people would just eat up and love or love to hate.

If you're in a creative field, I feel like it's just good practice to go into Work Creative Space and Fandom Creative Space with different intents, if anything for the sake of mental health, as I've been in a very similar place, where silence on my fandom work would make me rethink what I'm doing, make me want to retcon WIPs, thinking "Maybe if I change this to that or this ship to that ship or change this character to be closer to fanon, more people will want to read/will comment/whatever".

You sound like you already very well know this isn't a healthy mindset, so I'm not going to go into that. I'll just say dive into that self indulgence, whether or not you're doing original creative work in the background as a job/part of study. You have great stuff, but audiences can get burned out just like creatives do. Sometimes it's because they're also creatives. Sometimes it's just burn out from seeing so much art/writing/media ALL THE TIME.

Something a professor told me was that if you got to go to an art museum, and you tried to really appreciate each piece, you'd end up exhausted before finishing even one section of the museum. This can lead to the 'mindless scrolling' a lot of the time. Fandom is becoming a large part of a lot of people's lives, but for most people, it's secondary or even tertiary media, and they're already putting a lot of energy into enjoying and appreciating the media they're in fandoms for. (Yes, there are some people who 'set fire to canon' and are in the center area of a fandom, but most people are closer to the sides, occasionally popping in from time to time but not setting up tents, if that makes sense.) So many of those people just don't have the energy to really get involved with a lot of media produced my fan creators, especially if they follow a lot of them and can only comment or otherwise get involved with a few posts/creators at a time. This can be what often leads to some 'visiting' the same 3-4 creators more often than they may go to another creator.

Setting up a place and waiting for more people to filter in can feel exhausting all by itself, especially when you're trying to create more to fill more of that space and hopefully entice more people to pop in and see what's going on.

When you focus on self indulgence for a while, you're not always looking at the door, since you usually don't expect people to walk in (at least, I never expect it), so when people actually do come in and tap you on the shoulder to see what you're working on and if they can see, it can really help offer that extra boost you need.

I really don't think you're doing anything wrong. A lot of artists who don't do what those "How to get more followers" tips still find an audience, sometimes due to the niche, sometimes starting out niche but expanding as more ideas get tossed in. Some artists who by the book, seem to do everything right, don't get nearly as much. There's really not a right or wrong way to create or share your creations. There are just a /lot/ of creators, so a lot of times, it boils down to how people find your door.

These are all really good points so I am going to share. Honestly a lot of my GerCanMano stuff is pure self indulgence but you're honestly right I think I'm probably gonna focus on some self indulgent shinanigans for a bit, and stop worrying as much about getting things out on time and making it perfect

but I do wanna point out this cause it hit me;

I'm not sure what you do outside of fandom, but you have so much creativity, I've kinda assumed you've either been doing creative work or are studying to go into it--I can see you in a character design shop tbh, I can see Pin being a villain people would just eat up and love or love to hate.

I was in school, but I never declared my major so I had to stop temporarily because I honestly don't know what major to be. There's so many things I like to do, but I don't know if I want to make a career out of them if that makes sense.

Like art, I love art and video games, I'd love to do things like animation or graphic design or be my own indie developer, but I worry if thinking about a game like a business slash whats making me money will ruin the creative process. It wont be making things for the joy of making things, it would be for my job because I had to, and idk- that just isn't as fun. Im worried about that mentality sinking in. I like them but idk if I wanna have to take them full on seriously as a career.

I'm trying to get a minimum wage job right now but its hard to find a job right now in the US job climate, especially with the fact that I have to find job willing to cater to a disability I have currently offrecord because my doctor wouldnt listen to me. Which is even harder because Ive had to walk away from jobs before because they wouldnt give me accomedations without doctors recommendation.

I am planning to set up a Etsy shop right now actually. I need to get a printer, but otherwise hopefully soon I will have a store up with stickers and preorders for keychains. One day I plan to get a button press and make my own buttons. I have hetalia merch planned, as well as my ocs. I'd love and have designs for all sorts of stuff, custom tshirt designs- like subtle hetalia fan stuff like pockets on the chest witht he character "sticking out" with familiar hetalia patterns. I have miraculous ladybug stuff planned. My friend gave me the idea of aster's heart as a friendship necklace and I love it, I could imagine all sorts of needle and thread themed pin merch I have a lot of ideas its just designing and making them and seeing if people would buy them.

I dont quite know what you mean by character design shop if thats something different or not, but yes.

Ill save a ramble about pin for a seperate post this ask is long and so is my response so Ill stop