open canon, closed canon

[pauraque_bk]

Since the new X-Files miniseries was announced, I've been thinking about what it's like being in fandoms with open vs. closed canons.

I've always struggled with writing in open fandoms, particularly TV fandoms, because I felt like there was never enough time, even during the summer hiatus, to finish exploring the existing canon before there'd suddenly be more and more and more. It wasn't only a matter of getting jossed, but also of feeling overwhelmed by how many things were happening to the characters, and spending so much time mentally processing the stories I was being told (and discussing them with other people in fandom) that it was hard to focus on writing my own. This is a large part of the reason that I didn't start posting XF fic until a few months after the show had ended; for the first time, I could write it without feeling rushed or fearing that the rug would be pulled out from under any story I came up with before I finished it.

Harry Potter suited me better because of the long breaks in between new canon. It felt like there was enough time to digest what we'd learned and write our own stuff before we'd have to reconsider what we thought we knew.

But in pretty much every fandom, I have a hard time seeing new canon as something to look forward to. Maybe it's because I've had the experience too many times of watching a series keep staggering along after it's clearly run out of gas (XF is definitely an example), but I tend to approach new canon with a sense of dread instead of excitement, like I'm always bracing myself for the worst. Being deeply invested in fandom, there's not only the worry of things sucking, but also the fear that new developments will set off new conflicts among fans or poke at already-existing sore points. By the end of the HP series I really couldn't enjoy reading the books, or even read them as books and not as fodder for fandom. It was sometimes hard to tell how I felt about canon events because all I could think about was how others would react.

For all these reasons, when a series ends, it tends to be a relief for me. And when canon is closed, fandom activity inevitably tapers off. It might take a very long time to wind down completely, but down is the overall direction from that point. But with the loss of that sense of urgency and eagerness to find out what happens next, fandoms also seem to lose a lot of their wankiness and the intensity of their conflicts, in my experience. A big fandom at its peak can be a wild ride — too wild for me, sometimes.

HP is kind of an odd case because with Pottermore there has been a constant trickle of "new stuff", and it's been interesting to me how many people who are still in the fandom look at PM with not only a lack of interest but almost a sense of exhaustion. Like — stop. Just stop, it's enough, we don't need this anymore. Not everyone, of course, but I know I find PM a bit annoying because at this point I'd rather just have the canon set and the rules laid out, and it doesn't bother me a bit that the fandom as a whole has basically decided that PM canon is optional.

Then of course there's the Fantastic Beasts movie at some point, and who knows what'll happen with that — or with the XF miniseries, I guess, though since that fandom has been so dead for so long it's harder to believe that it'll have a big effect? I dunno, I just always feel like new canon is a double-edged sword.

What do you guys think? Do you tend to be hungry for new canon or do you like a long hiatus to focus on fanworks more? Do you stick with fandoms after the canon is closed or do you tend to move on to something where there's new material to look forward to?

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment wherever you're comfortable.

Comments

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I like a long hiatus, but I've found my other fandoms have used the hiatuses to be virtually non-existent. Although they're also TV shows, and I find TV fandoms tend to have a shorter attention span. My book loves don't have fandoms, or they're closed canon fandoms like Harry Potter.

I think Harry Potter fandom is an odd case, in that it's... totally different from what it was before, with mostly different people, even. I got into the fandom pretty much as it was growing to its epic size right after GoF (although technically I was in fandom before - but only by about a month), and most people I know still in fandom got in way later - 2005-2007ish tends to be the date, but a few people even later. (Most of my 2000-2002ish friends have either disappeared into the ether or find it amusing I'm still here, but have moved on.) So I think for me, canon has always been evolving because even in between the books, JKR would reveal new information that might debunk an entire WIP.

So I don't really mind, possibly in part because I came into fandom at a time when canon wasn't nearly as established anyway. At the same time, that extreme was less likely until a new book (when you knew your WIP was compromised anyway), whereas now there's a better chance a WIP will be debunked.

[pauraque]

I got into HP something like six months before OotP came out, maybe a bit more. The fandom was already massive by then and still growing. A lot of things have changed over the years. Definitely most of the old guard have moved on to newer fandoms, yet we're still getting fresh blood even now from people who either only lurked before, or have just discovered the books.

even in between the books, JKR would reveal new information that might debunk an entire WIP

Yeah, it used to drive me up the wall when she did that! I remember her going out of her way to shut down fan theories she'd read online because she thought that fans spending time considering them "wasn't productive" since they were never going to happen. It really boggled me that she apparently couldn't understand how speculation could be enjoyable in itself, even leaving aside the relationship to fanfic specifically. Maybe her intention was for people not to be devastated by disappointment when their pet theory didn't come true, but it seemed totally unnecessary and purely anti-fun to me at the time.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

yet we're still getting fresh blood even now from people who either only lurked before, or have just discovered the books.


Yeah, and I honestly do like that. It's fun, even if it makes me feel a little old school at times. :P (There was one occasion where I felt there was a bit of a divide, though. But I'd rather not ramble about that here.)

but it seemed totally unnecessary and purely anti-fun to me at the time.

See, I always felt the opposite - I liked the new info because it gave me things to work with, and I only thought JKR was maybe a bit dismissive once, when she shot down Luna/Neville. I didn't ship it, but found her response... odd. I actually thought JKR was pretty supportive of her crazy fandom. I guess some theories were debunked, but I never minded that either. *Shrugs*

[pauraque]

I wouldn't say she's unsupportive, but there's a difference between support and understanding. I can't remember exactly what theory she was shooting down when she made the "speculating about this isn't productive" comment, but it particularly stuck in my mind because it made her seem so oblivious to the idea that maybe the point of fannish speculation isn't to get the "right" answer (the canon answer) but just to have a good time wondering. A similar case was when she shot down Knight2King, which disappointed me not because I learned it wasn't true (I was already pretty sure it wasn't!) but because it cut off discussion and possible fic about an interesting scenario. Responding to such a fun theory with a flat "you're wrong" seemed to me to utterly miss the point and it did make me bristle.

But I think as someone who's never been in fandom it must be hard for her to imagine the power her casual remarks have over such a large number of people, and how different fanfic-writing fans are from fans who leave it at consuming the source material — let alone the diversity of opinions among fans of both types.