open canon, closed canon
May. 19th, 2015 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pauraque_bkSince 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.
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.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-20 02:49 pm (UTC)See, by the time I got into HP (between GoF and OotP), I had already been in X-Files and Star Trek fandoms for years, so when I finished reading GoF my immediate reaction was not "OMG when's the next book coming out?" but "OMG where's the fic for this???" There was no question of waiting for more because I already knew I wouldn't have to. :D
I think when OotP came out I felt like you did about HBP. I really loved the book — it was the last one I could read without anxiety about what would happen and what it would do to fandom, because I wasn't yet invested enough nor knowledgeable enough about what wanks were likely to happen. But a lot can change in two years, and by the time HBP rolled around I was definitely in the camp of the Bitter Old Fic Queens who harshed your newcomer squee. I was dreading the shakeup, and, to be honest, I had absorbed a lot of negative fandom attitudes about JKR. I remember reading the book as fast as possible to find out what would happen, probably white-knuckled with anxiety... You think maybe my lack of enjoyment of the book was not JKR's fault as a writer? :P
When DH came out I was on a break from heavy involvement in fandom, which I usually say is because I was really busy with other things — and that's not false, but I also don't think it was a coincidence that it happened when it did. I don't think my heart could take another experience like the HBP release.
I CAN'T WAIT for Fantastic Beasts. I think it's going to be different enough that it won't evoke those "JKR is besmirching everything!" reactions, and I think it's going to be a much-needed breath of fresh air for HP fandom overall. I'm ready for another wild ride. :D
I have no idea what the movie will bring, but I hope you're right that it'll give the fandom a shot in the arm. The pessimist in me wonders if it'll instead generate a new, separate fandom that is not rooted in the history of HP fandom here on LJ, and will just be a bunch of kids on Tumblr hyperventilating about how Eddie Redmayne's face is ruining their life. We'll just have to see!
no subject
Date: 2015-05-20 03:49 pm (UTC)I hear that. I was on fandom overkill by the time DH rolled around. Definitely didn't have the energy for the wank anymore. Hell, people were STILL bitching about the epilogue when I came back 5 years later!
The pessimist in me wonders if it'll instead generate a new, separate fandom that is not rooted in the history of HP fandom here on LJ, and will just be a bunch of kids on Tumblr hyperventilating about how Eddie Redmayne's face is ruining their life.
LMAO!! I take it some of this has maybe already begun? XD I don't think that's pessimistic. I think it's realistic. I love LJ, but I can't imagine people flocking here in large numbers again, can you? I *am* looking forward to new characters and new fic, though.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-20 04:13 pm (UTC)Not that I specifically know of — just a guess!
But really, you're right that it can be both. There can be a Fantastic Beasts fandom happening on the newer platforms and we can also use the new canon here in established HP fandom. It's a little startling to think about how much fandom as a whole has changed since DH came out in 2007. That was before Tumblr was used as a fannish platform, and well before AO3 existed.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-20 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-21 01:17 pm (UTC)