Microfandom
| Synonyms: | rarefandom, Really Tiny Fandom, Fandom of One |
| See also: | Overnight Fandom, Rarelit, Yuletide |
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A microfandom is a very small fandom. The definition of "very small" is fluid; the term generally refers to sources with:
- some fannish interest beyond a single fan
- zero to a handful of fanworks (what constitutes a handful is in the eye of the beholder, an upper cut-off of anything from 5 to 50 might apply)
- no specific communities or fansites.
Yuletide, an annual rare fandom gift exchange, only allows fandoms with a combined total number of fanfics on AO3 and fanfiction.net of less than 1000.[1]
Often the source material is a classic, a childhood favourite and/or a lesser-known work associated with a creator/actor with a fannish following.
Microfandoms sometimes progress into small fandoms, often because a popular adaptation draws in many new fans (for example, the 2004 adaptation of Gaskell's North and South or the 2011 film of Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth). Determined pimping and creation of infrastructure can help to grow microfandoms, but a critical mass of creators is hard to gain and sustain.
Examples
- 8 Femmes (2002 film, based on an earlier stage play)
- AER: Memories of Old (2019 single player, standalone puzzle and exploration game)
- All Japan Pro Wrestling in the early 2000s after the NOAH exodus
- All Tomorrows (2006 science fiction book by C.M. Kosemen)
- The Bedlam Stacks (2017 book by Natasha Pulley)
- The Binding (2018 book)
- Bubba Ho-Tep (2002 film and earlier novella)
- Cast a Deadly Spell and Witch Hunt (1994 film) - two HBO films set in a post-WW2 America where magic is ubiquitous, starring private eye H. Philip Lovecraft.
- A City of Bells (Elizabeth Goudge)
- The Clangers, Bagpuss, Ivor the Engine, and Noggin the Nog, animated childrens' series by Oliver Postgate
- Clara Sheller (French live-action TV show 2005-2008)
- Cleopatra 2525 (2000-2001 SF series)
- Cultist Simulator (2018 video game)
- Danger Mouse Animated British series (1981-1992, new series coming in 2015)
- The Destroyer martial-arts action/adventure novel series originally by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir. 140+ books.
- The Godfather
- The Good, the Bad, the Weird (South Korean Western film, 2008)
- The Hainish Cycle (Ursula Le Guin)
- The Handmaiden (South Korean thriller film, 2016)
- Hanover Street, 1979 film
- Hævnen/In a Better World, 2010 Danish film
- Hellspark (Janet Kagan)
- Innocent Blood (1992) - John Landis vampire comedy
- Iron Sky
- K-Pop - lesser-known groups such as Anyband, B1A4, Cheon Sang Ji Hee, F.T. Island, and many more.
- Lalaloopsy
- Littlest Pet Shop - particularly the branches of the fandom covering the television shows
- The Mark of the Horse Lord (Rosemary Sutcliff)
- Mack Bolan novel series originally by Don Pendleton, 600+ books.
- Milly-Molly-Mandy (Joyce Lancaster Brisley)
- Mystery Men (comics and film)
- Pee-wee
- Reverie (TV series) - Only one season (2018). Included due to no known fandom presence outside of seven fanfics on AO3.[2]
- Rockapella
- Saved
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
- Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (2015 book)
- Space Patrol (1962) (British SF puppet series)
- Sparkhouse
- Suez Canal Obstruction
- t.A.T.u.
- The Last Kids on Earth books and animated tv series (2015 - present)
- Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (Czech time travel film, 1977)
- Tropic Thunder (2008)
- Walking with Dinosaurs and sequels.
- Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and other Aardman animation
- Weekend (2011 m/m movie)
- Wives and Daughters (Elizabeth Gaskell)
- Yellow (2001-2004) (four-volume yaoi manga by Makoto Tateno).
Where to Find Fanworks
Microfandoms are well represented at Yuletide and other rare fandom challenges/exchanges such as Small Fandoms Fest. They are also to be found at rare fandom communities such as Rarelitslash, RareSlash and Fandom of One. Fancake, a multifandom reccomendation community, also did a round for Small Fandoms.
Where the microfandom is associated with a larger fandom, the latter's infrastructure is often a good source. Promote-a-thons sometimes include microfandoms.[3]
Reference
- ^ Fandom Eligibility for 2017 on Yuletide Admin comm on Dreamwidth
- ^ Reverie (TV 2018) on AO3. Accessed 16 February 2021. If crossovers and challenge compilation fics are not included, only four fanfics. Zero on FanFiction.Net, Wattpad, Tumblr, or coming up on search engines.
- ^ For example, icepixie: The Small Fandom and Rare Pairing/Rarely-Written Character Promote-a-thon! (accessed 7 June 2013)