Party of One
December 17, 2015 § 1 Comment
Contentless in Cleveland writes,
I’m in love with an actress who, though by no means obscure, does not have an active fandom at all. If I want to look at GIFs of her pretty face, I have to make them myself. Her tumblr tag is full of dudes she just happens to have costarred with once. A new post about her appears on Instagram less than once per week, and then it’s usually just a poster for a film she appeared in (no starring role = no face on said poster). I have reached the bottom of her Getty Images page several times (JUST FOUR PAGES). Needless to say, there is no fanfiction to read about any of her characters.
What’s a fangirl to do when all she wants is the quick rush of seeing new content about her fave, and there is never any to be found? Am I all alone here? Hellooooooooo?
Oh. Man. This is 100% me.
Last year I traveled to Brooklyn from DC on a Monday night just to hear Amy Ryan read a one-act play for NPR. I got there an hour early, peed 7 times, and sat front row/middle seat in a half-empty theater.
The woman next to me noticed my restlessness. “Do you have a friend in the cast?”
“No,” I said. “I just really like Amy Ryan.”
She didn’t ask me any more questions.
Fangirling is work. No one is going to deny that. Fortunately most of us get to share the load. We submit a drabble here, a text from last night meme there, and some good meta when we get ragey. But no way should you have to carry that load.
Whether or not you want to do all that giffing is up to you. What I suggest you do is send out a distress beacon into the darkness of the Internet. Leave some tweets and Tumblr posts, and hope that someday, someone will answer that call. Maybe it’ll take 8 years, but it’ll be worth it.
Until then, STRETCH THOSE LEGS AND ENJOY THE SPACE. TROT AROUND UNICORN. EVERYTHING THE LIGHT TOUCHES IS YOUR KINGDOM. You won’t have to put up with out of character fic or horrible manipulations that you can’t unsee. No one can ruin this for you. No one will buy that last theater ticket that was supposed to be yours.
Like Penny said on LOST, “All we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us.” Thank God your fave has you.
Fangirl Therapy 
A few years on… sure. But I feel this. Where do her people hide? There has gotta be more of us. Either way, if you ever wanna Amy Ryan interact hit me up!