the only meta I'm interested in anymore is work that focuses solely on opening new interpretive possibilities
Amen.
The best examples I can think of are the old Ship Manifesto essays for non-canon ships that the manifesto authors had accepted weren't going to happen. It's not necessarily real, but look at how fun it is to read the text this way! That's where the magic happens.
Yeah! I have a vague memory of Ship Manifestos, plus things like Ship Primers for people who were just getting into a ship. It really emphasizes the nature of not just fandom in general, but shipping in particular, as a community activity. So many ships essentially exist because of genuine outreach from proponents, and by the end, exist almost entirely independently of their respective canons.
Les Mis is a really fun fandom for this because so much of our shipping activity is based on minor characters (the student revolutionaries and anyone else their age) and set in a kind of collective modern AU. We're all drawing from the canon in some way, but it's pretty far removed from the bulk of our fanworks. To the point that you have to tag things "canon era" because the default is modern AUs.
"The prequel movie will finally put everyone on the same page about the characters' pasts." No. Boring. Unblocking just for the pleasure of hitting block again.
Preach!
I! Missed! This! Real comment threads are the best.
I know, right????
It was hard to understand that at the time because, ahem, many of us were lying about our ages to be in fandom c. 2003.
Sometimes I long for those days, rather than the youth-led discourse of "why are you old people and your Adult Content not expelling yourself from fandom, a young people thing for young people???" Back in my day, if you couldn't pass for 18+ based on your perceived maturity level and ability to walk away from content you didn't like, you didn't get to sit at the table with the cool kids!
no subject
Amen.
Yeah! I have a vague memory of Ship Manifestos, plus things like Ship Primers for people who were just getting into a ship. It really emphasizes the nature of not just fandom in general, but shipping in particular, as a community activity. So many ships essentially exist because of genuine outreach from proponents, and by the end, exist almost entirely independently of their respective canons.
Les Mis is a really fun fandom for this because so much of our shipping activity is based on minor characters (the student revolutionaries and anyone else their age) and set in a kind of collective modern AU. We're all drawing from the canon in some way, but it's pretty far removed from the bulk of our fanworks. To the point that you have to tag things "canon era" because the default is modern AUs.
Preach!
I know, right????
Sometimes I long for those days, rather than the youth-led discourse of "why are you old people and your Adult Content not expelling yourself from fandom, a young people thing for young people???" Back in my day, if you couldn't pass for 18+ based on your perceived maturity level and ability to walk away from content you didn't like, you didn't get to sit at the table with the cool kids!