Half-Crazed Antics of a Fangirl

Bet you’ll never guess what gave me this idea

For the fourth year in a row now, it's time for Small Fandom Summer! Join me for Small Fandom Summer! It's real easy to play:

Make a fanwork for something that has fewer than 1000 English-language works on AO3

Post it to AO3

And then you've done it! You've made a thing and you've diversified the fandom ecosystem! You're basically a hero.

Q: The fandom I want to create for has more than 1000 English-language works on AO3, but the specific pairing I want to write for has fewer than that. Does that count? A: Yes! Q: What if it has more than 1000 English-language works on AO3, but, like, just barely? A: Okay! Q: What if it actually has a lot more than 1000 English-language works on AO3, but it still feels small? A: Sure! Q: What if I don't want to post it to AO3? What if I don't even have an AO3 account? Can I post it somewhere else? A: Wherever! Q: What if-- A: Just do a thing, friend. Make a thing. Share the thing. This is not meant to be restrictive; this is meant to be inspirational. Create the fanworks you want to see in the world. Make a stranger happy by appealing to their niche interests. Bring joy.

And if you want to give yourself some silly little Steam-like achievement badges to commemorate your accomplishments, well, you're in luck! I've made a bunch of them right here! You can grab the ones that apply to your work and paste them wherever you like and feel good about what you've done. Here's a few of my favorites:

So you see? This is meant to be silly and fun.

There's nowhere to sign up. There's nothing to commit to. There's zero pressure. You just do it if you do it, and don't if you don't. But if you do want to play (yay!), tag your stuff with #small fandom summer so we can all swoop in and appreciate everyone else's efforts.

Green icon of a magnifying class over a beetle. Who's That Boy? (wrote for a character that previously had no AO3 tag)

Orange icon of a tape measure. Size Matters (wrote the longest fic to date in the fandom)

Grey icon of two women holding hands. Lesbifriends (wrote the first F/F fic in the fandom)

Yellow icon of a smiling face surrounded by hearts. My Special Person (wrote something because you knew that one person who'd appreciate it)

Blue icon of an elephant and a mouse. Lorge and Smol (wrote a crossover between a fandom with more than 1000 works and a small fandom)

Grey icon of handcuffs. Testing the Waters (this had better not awake anything in you)

Yellow icon of two fish approaching a hook. Hooked! (wrote something for the first time and are already planning on writing something else for it)

So fun fact: beetles are an incredibly diverse group. Not only are they the largest order of insects, but there are also more described species of beetle than there are any other kind of animal. Because of this, there is this quote attributed to a scientist, J.B.S Haldane, that went something along the lines of: if there is a Creator, then he must have an inordinate fondness for beetles.

I don't know if he actually said that, but ya'll... hear me out. Whatever one's beliefs are about the nature of God, or if one even exists, this is genuinely such a funny concept to think about. I mean here we are, mortals on Earth with our own niche interests like turtles, legos, plants, pottery, medieval swords, dinosaurs, vintage coins, etc.

And then there's Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, and sure, His work and glory is to bring to pass the eternal life of man, but also.... well....... listen folks, He just really likes beetles! That's His thing. Don't question it.

You think grandpa’s room full of model trains is impressive? Oh wait until you see the entire planet God has just for beetles! They may not be His children, but they are absolutely His babies.

The angels will keep asking "Lord why are you making so many of these?" and He'll like hold up a bunch of weevils and say "I just think they're neat!" [insert a Marge Simpson meme that I'm too lazy to make here]

Later they’ll ask “Lord, why did you let that asteroid kill off the dinosaurs? Are we to contemplate the mysteries of life and death in the cycles of your creations?”