It all happened in an instant. The character you loved, shockingly dying on screen. Your favorite ship, suddenly becoming canon. The ending of the story, bittersweet and heartbreaking.
How does one react to that heart-squeezing moment? Do they cry? Do they grieve or rejoice for a moment, before continuing with their lives? What about those that need an outlet, need to express their emotions that they just felt-where can they go?
Usually, I would recommend getting involved in that story’s fandom life. Whether it be a novel, a Webtoon, or even a movie, you can typically find someone saying something about it on the internet.
Yet, what about the cases where you were touched so profoundly by something, yet there was an extreme lack of discussion about it?
This is what I have dubbed the ‘Black Hole Fandoms’. Black Hole Fandoms are small, tiny, and practically nonexistent. I have had my fair share of Black Hole Fandoms-which is why I’m able to so comfortably name it.
When you experience strong emotions, react to a small beauty, it’s only natural to want to share those feelings. When you suddenly find yourself with a lack of audience to share with, it threatens the overall joy that was felt in the first place.
Which comes around to the Black Hole (meaning it sucks you in).
Due to a lack of content, you’ll search until you’ll find something. Maybe it’s a niche blog on Tumblr, maybe it’s a 10-year-old fanmade video posted on YouTube, or even a terribly written unfinished fanfiction on a lesser-known and sketchy looking website-whatever it is, it ignites that small ember of hope within you.
You’ll gather all you can find until you become so desperate that you need to make your own content. Perhaps you’ll change your profile picture to one of the characters in the show, or write a short story changing the ending.
Yet, in the end, that desperate need and search will only yield what the internet has to offer. If you’re lucky, your interest in that particular ‘fandom’ will dwindle to a small extent, able to acknowledge in occasional passing. On the other hand, what I call a “Fandom Famine” could be experienced-where you’ll feel emotions similar to grief, due to the lack of appreciation for the creation which you clearly view as an artistic masterpiece.
If my oddly specific descriptions seem to be confusing you, this video from popular fandom blogger YouTuber ColeyDoesThings might help express my point.
The most recent Black Hole Fandom I’ve experienced (I rarely stay in dead fandoms-I need constant content people) was the Book Thief.
(There’s also a spoiler for The Book Thief so continue at your own discretion.)
I read the book, utterly loved it. Then I watched the movie and proceeded to cry like a nut when Rudy died. He was so much younger than my book brain imagined!
Torn, I took to the internet to find others feeling my grief. Tumblr was practically dry as a miraged oasis in the Sahara desert, and its always difficult to find comforting content on Instagram (once you accept the fact that the majority of fan activity on Instagram is screenshots of other social media, it loses its shine).
So I found solace on Twitter, returning to the bluebird app like a pitiful duckling with no direction. After a semi-anger semi-grief tweet, I put my phone down and thought that’d be the end of it.
But alas! Minutes later my phone pinged with a Twitter notification. Rushing to interact with the notif, I see someone has replied to my emotional Rudy rant!
Yes, someone has agreed with me-much tears were spilled over Rudy’s death and I wasn’t being overdramatic. It’s always wonderful to share emotions about the same things, especially wonderful works of literature and cinematic masterpieces.
And, perhaps, not every single fandom is dead or a black hole. Perhaps-it is just dormant and needs some reviving.