If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… though in some cases it’s best to stop, take a deep breath, and have a good long think about what you’re actually trying to accomplish. It takes a lot of guts to admit that, hey, maybe you were the supervillain here or that maybe it’s best to cut your losses and move on.

Some of the most hilarious and groan-worthy fails end up being shared on the majorly popular ‘There Was An Attempt’ subreddit. A community that unites over 3.25 million redditors, r/therewasanattempt is a celebration of bad luck, incompetence, and plain old attempts at mustache-twirling villainy. We’ve collected their best and freshest viral posts to share with you, Pandas, so scroll down, enjoy, and upvote your fave pics.

When you’re done, drop by the comments and tell us about the biggest ‘There Was An Attempt’ style fails you’ve ever seen. If you love the subreddit and what it stands for (aka all the humor), then go give them a follow and check out Bored Panda’s previous articles about them here: Part 1 and Part 2. And remember, Pandas, don’t ever give up on your dreams… but only if what you’re doing is objectively good.

Redditor u/F4T4-M0RG4N4, one of the moderators helping run the entire r/therewasanattempt subreddit, was kind enough to answer our questions. Check out what they told Bored Panda below.

#1 To Help

Image credits: THE_VOLK87

We were curious to get the moderator’s opinion as to why r/therewasanattempt has been as successful as it is. “Pertaining to the success of the community, I think it really came down to the shear flexibility of the topic,” u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 told Bored Panda.

“Across the globe, there are constant instances of attempts which go horribly (and funnily) wrong. r/therewasanattempt is a subreddit that brings these moments in time to one place,” they said.

Bored Panda really wanted to get to grips with what it’s like to be a Reddit moderator. u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 gave us a glimpse at what goes on backstage.

“When working as a moderator, the time you spend volunteering hours depends on your position and what you’ve established. If you are a top mod, you can expect more time to be used modding,” they explained that how time-intensive the job is will heavily depend on where in the hierarchy you fall.

#2 To Be A Smart Cop

Image credits: Sweaty-Bandicoot3289

#3 To Give The Dog A Pool

Image credits: NickWrightData

“As far as how difficult it is to mod, I think it is difficult starting out, but you quickly get the hang of things! The more you participate, the more you can make decisions that are generally well received,” the mod told us.

“When I initially joined r/therewasanattempt, I think the other two mods added me due to me being generally active in other communities. But subreddits are constantly opening mod applications which is the best way to show interest in the position,” u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 said that the best way to become a moderator yourself is to just go for it and apply.

According to u/F4T4-M0RG4N4, moving on from incredibly embarrassing moments in life comes down to realizing that these things happen to everyone. “It’s best to acknowledge that and laugh about it with friends in the future.”

The ‘There Was An Attempt’ subreddit has carved out a sizeable niche for itself since its founding in the late summer of 2015. It’ll be celebrating its 7th birthday in just a few weeks’ time. It just goes to show that quality humor and a good meme format go a long way when it comes to laying the groundwork for a flourishing online community.

If you’re planning on being an active member of the community, then any posts you make have to show unsuccessful attempts. There’s no room for victory on r/therewasanattempt, nope.

#4 To Look Dangerous

Image credits: Careful-Day7125

#5 To Scare Away A Prankster

Image credits: Koochiman

#6 To Make Sure Everyone Knew They Were Religious

Image credits: suckmydicktracy

Meanwhile, every single post has to follow the same format that everyone else uses. The title that you use ought to be a continuation of the phrase, ‘There was an attempt…’, and then you just fill in the rest with what someone tried and failed to do.

The team running the subreddit explains it all in detail right over here. If you don’t follow this rule, your post will end up being removed, so don’t let others miss out on your awesome content just because you forgot how to word the title properly.

#7 To Eat A Muffin

Image credits: psychocalcifer

#8 To Find A Good Excuse

Image credits: Crimsonslash1352

#9 To Win

Image credits: aasboiii

Previously, my colleagues spoke about the subreddit with one of its many moderators, redditor u/F4T4-M0RG4N4. According to them, what sets r/therewasanattempt apart from other subreddits “is how the posts within the subreddit are usually direct posts, whereas r/fail, [for example,] has mostly links to YouTube, and most Redditors prefer to stay on Reddit than to be redirected to another site altogether.”

“Besides, I also think that because of the size of r/therewasanattempt, it’s a lot easier to get a post to be seen (plus, the algorithm helps).”

#10 To Hide His Face

Image credits: Onion-User-2

#11 To Stop Allie From Sitting On The Cake

Image credits: Scaulbylausis

#12 To Draw A Front Facing Horse

Image credits: Jaych1990

The team running everything behind the scenes trips to be as impartial as they can be. They prefer to let the members of the community shape the subreddit how they see fit.

“The most common problems are [the same that are] seen throughout all subreddits that I mod/have modded in the past, but it’s mostly spam and hate speech (which we always remove), though hate speech is mostly in the comments,” mod u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 said.

#13 To Make Things Complicated

Image credits: Go_ask_quan

#14 To Use A Pickup Truck

Image credits: The_Russell_Pinto

#15 To Be Prepared For Parenting

Image credits: reddit.com

“As for the community of the subreddit, I don’t think I could really summarize it. This is another thing I see throughout most subreddits, but the communities are made up of many different people, with different stances on ideas and different personalities. That’s also what I love about Reddit, everyone is on here using the platform, be it for better or worse, you get a little bit of everything,” they shared with Bored Panda.

According to the redditor, people really enjoy the slapstick comedy element of the sub. “At the end of the day, everyone is laughing,” u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 said.

#16 To Ban This Image

Image credits: BoomTwo

#17 To Cook Smiley Buns

Image credits: samir391

#18 To Stop Thieves

Image credits: G-Unit11111

“When I first joined the team, it was mostly a screenshot sub,” they told Bored Panda that after some drama about how there were only three moderators keeping things in check, they invited more people to join the team. They also removed the screenshot posts.

#19 To Remain Anonymous

Image credits: Snadams

#20 To Make A Holy And Pure Stained Glass

Image credits: scot816

#21 To Not Pay The Painter

Image credits: EpsteinsPoolBoy

Very recently, Bored Panda spoke about embracing failure and how to react to embarrassment with Suzanne Degges White, Ph.D, a Licensed Counselor and a Professor at Northern Illinois University.

“A sense of humor and flexibility are key traits to successful adulthood and being able to laugh at our missteps allows us to go easy on ourselves when we do something potentially embarrassing,” she told us.

#22 To Send A Text

Image credits: cooooorn

#23 To Inspire Graduate Students

Image credits: 4BDUL4Z1Z

#24 To Make A Cute Panorama Picture

Image credits: GuardedInstructor

“No one likes to ‘lose face,’ and that is engrained to varying degrees across cultures. Unfortunately, our brains may be especially prone to catastrophizing events and so we might make something more out of something no one else really noticed and no one else will recall later on,” the professor explained to Bored Panda.

#25 To Fly To New York

Image credits: bostero2

#26 To Make A Sign

Image credits: 00BlackSheep

#27 To Hack A Smartphone

Image credits: Varg03

“For decades, magazines have been publishing those ‘Boy! Was my Face Red!’ type of columns where people shared their embarrassing moments. When we are able to ‘get it off our chest,’ we actually feel better about the event. That’s a healthy response to an embarrassing moment. When our personalities are wired to feel that we must be ‘perfect’ in all that we do, we internalize negative feelings about the mistake we made and mistakenly assume that everyone else is judging us due to that one moment,” she said.

#28 To Spell The Word ‘ Trust ‘

Image credits: asocial7193

#29 To Hatch Some Eggs

Image credits: Something_Rog

#30 To Support The “Canada First” Rally

Image credits: CowboyTrout

“Fortunately, our brains are designed to protect us from pain and many of us may suffer horrible humiliation at some point in our lives, but we can benefit from a brain that allows us to ‘selectively forget’ the incident or else we’re able to rationalize it by reminding ourselves that ‘everyone makes mistakes,’ ‘it was just one time and no one will remember it,’ or similar healthy responses.”