snowflake challenge #3

[desecrets]

Stumbling through the door late again! I'm not gonna lie, this one has been stumping me since it was posted, and it isn't because I don't have a lot of love for fandom, I do. It's just difficult to know where to start!

However: a toast (in Earl Grey, since that's what I'm having atm) to all the people who write fanfics for tiny fandoms.

I can think of a few fandoms and ships where I've literally only ever been able to find one, or two, fics -- and I cherish those like gold! Tbh I think the unsung heroes of fandom (well, maybe -- I've definitely seen some posts in praise of them on tumblr) are the people who have like 150+ works on ao3 and have written one really lovely fic in like a bajillion different niche fandoms. We owe them so much. Genuinely, no lie, that writer is who I aspire to be one day. If you are that writer, thank you. I'm handing you a hot drink of your choice. And how do you do it?

(And on the other end of the range, there's the one really long MacGyver fic that was posted on InsaneJournal, of all the places, literally 20+ years ago (and I live in fear of the day the whole platform goes down) and had such a good character reveal moment that it literally shaped my relationship with the trope. Absolute king shit. I still think about it regularly.)

Comments

[maevedarcy]

*tips hat as I drop a new fic into a tiny fandom and disappear*

[desecrets]

A pillar of the community! 👏🙏

[dr_zook]

It's really a special kind of frisson one is looking for when painstakingly typing a fandom tag for the first time, because it's not there already, haha. I'm toasting with you at these writers, at myself, and at you!

[potentiality_26]

I'll join you in that toast (with coffee, for me)! I've definitely been in a couple "I guess I'll do it myself" kind of fandoms, but there are people far more committed than I.

It's interesting when you've been in both big and small fandoms, how different they can feel both as a reader and a writer.

[annavere]

This is an excellent toast to make, and I'll join with my own cup of Earl Grey. I adore the people who write for tiny and forgotten fandoms (I only contribute to one of those myself, but I hope someday to expand my scope). I make it a point to check the fandom list whenever I finish a book or film, no matter how obscure, because I am sometimes surprised and amazed. You say it all perfectly.

[phantomtomato]

Another voice in the pile to say that I love that category of fic author! They inspired me to first take the multifannish plunge and start writing for niche fandoms years ago, and although most of my works are still in that original megafandom, I’m proud to have a dozen+ tiny fandoms in the list as well. :D Here’s to all of us making more!

[regshoe]

*joins in the toast* Tiny fandoms are the best <3

[autobotscoutriella]

This one stumped me pretty thoroughly, too!

I appreciate the small fandom/ship writers so much. I got into my current OTPs thanks to one or two rarepair writers; there wasn't much out there and those fics weren't getting a ton of attention, but they completely changed my fannish life. I'll second that toast! (In cinnamon spice tea, because that's what I have.)