March Meta Matters Challenge, Check-in 5

[yourlibrarian]

Hello everyone! It's check-in time again to see how we're all getting along with our meta importing.

Comment below with any of the following:

1) What fandom would you like to find more meta for (through this challenge or otherwise) and why?

2) Number of works you've managed to either identify for future transfers, or which you've now moved to AO3.

3) Any problems you've been having as you copy/import your meta.

Remember, this account accepts anonymous comments, so if you don't have a Dreamwidth account we still want to hear from you and have you take part.

As always, if you've got tips you've developed during this process, do share them with the group. And if you can help someone out with a problem they're having, share a solution.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

So, my answer to #1 has changed as a result of this process! I have been focusing on concert reviews this past week. At this point I have now moved 4 more works since the last check-in and expect to add 1-2 more today, which will complete that set.

Because I have been enjoying re-reading these reviews, I would be curious to read other concert reviews, particularly of tours I attended myself, including shows for David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, and Sting, as well as for shows I have never attended but would have liked to (The Monkees, The Police).

[leahandillyana]

1. Sailor Moon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Madoka Magika, Yuri Kuma Arashi and on Western front Steven Universe have a lot of symbolism that used to be widely analysed but little of that meta found its way to AO3. Critical analysis of popular media is also pretty rare.
2. Four total, though one is an ongoing anthology-like thing.
3. None.

[yourlibrarian]

have a lot of symbolism that used to be widely analysed but little of that meta found its way to AO3

I'm hoping that the number of contributions we've been having to the AO3 collection might help get people thinking about moving over their content too. And especially since meta seems to be recced less than other fanworks, trying to find something you once read can be pretty difficult.

[alexseanchai]

I'd like to see more Miraculous Ladybug meta. There's no shortage on Tumblr.

Still trying to figure out how to find all of my own ML meta without going to my Tumblr tag for the fandom and scrolling for-fucking-ever. I have used that tag, according to my tumblr archive, 1747 times, most of which are my reblogging fanart or whatever without commentary of my own. And I haven't found a tumblr theme that both stacks reblog contents and reblogger neatly together like the dashboard does and has not got infinite scroll. In absence of some way to filter out stuff I didn't add anything but tags to when I reblogged it, I will be scrolling for a while!

Also I asked silveradept if the Dragonriders of Pern meta they're importing is for this challenge and I did not get a definitive answer.

[yourlibrarian]

I have used that tag, according to my tumblr archive, 1747 times

That is...definitely a lot.

[impala_chick]

1 - Merlin! I'm late to the fandom, so it's interesting to dig up old meta posts from when people were first watching the series. I also would really like more people to chat about music - especially Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, and other people who have made big comebacks.

2 - I feel like the meta I've written isn't worthy of being archived? But this challenge is inspiring me to explore more meta topics.

3 - I haven't tried yet, but I'm excited to read through the meta tags now that this is happening!

[yourlibrarian]

I would love to see more Merlin meta as well. I came across a few pieces, but this is when I first started noticing how little I would see. In my previous fandom, SPN, there were multiple meta communities focusing on different things, there was so much being written. And there were always a bunch of episode reviews every week.

Of course, I was late to Merlin fandom but even so watched the last season in time with the American fandom. I think I've posted all my episode reviews as well as meta of it to AO3. But I found very little else of it on AO3 and very rarely saw anyone post something in that vein on Tumblr.

And yes, do try it out and see if you get a response! I'm pretty sure one of the reasons we're missing all the Merlin (and many other fandoms') meta is because so many people feel the same about their writing.

[impala_chick]

Yes, SPN had so much meta! There were great discussion posts back in the early seasons. I haven't seen much discussion related to any new fandoms, but I wonder if that's more to do with the fact that shows come out all at once instead of week by week. That format gave me more time to reflect and also read meta posts.

I just got into Merlin last year, so I tried googling and browsing LJ tags and I've been able to find only a few meta posts. Is your AO3 name the same as your DW name? Feel free to link me and I'll check out your posts! I'm currently rewatching Season three so that may inspire me to write and reflect more this month.

[yourlibrarian]

I haven't seen much discussion related to any new fandoms, but I wonder if that's more to do with the fact that shows come out all at once instead of week by week. That format gave me more time to reflect and also read meta posts.

I think that changes in TV production has made a big difference. It's not just the episode release schedule but the shorter seasons and the bigger (and more unpredictable) gaps between seasons and the greater volume of shows. All of these encourage people to move on rather than stop and reflect. And it makes it harder for a fandom to gather and grow all at one time. I mean some fandoms explode regardless (look at Good Omens last year), but I think it means a lot more small fandoms.

Merlin, of course, came early enough to avoid a lot of that and it has certainly proved to be a large active fandom. So yes, I find the lack of meta mystifying, though I think it also reflects the difficulty of finding it on sites like Tumblr and the breakdown in community functions when many social media platforms don't enable it.

And yes it is. Here you go :)

[impala_chick]

That's true, the volume is crazy! I don't even know what most of my friend's list is watching these days.

Tumblr tagging is such a mess! Sometimes I stumble across some good meta but then I can never find it again.

Thanks for the link!

[wheatear]

19 works posted so far, probably 20-ish to go.

As for fandoms I'd like to find more meta for... The fandoms I'm in, especially anything Final Fantasy VII related right now. I'm really interested to see what both new and old fans make of the remake. Also it would be cool to see meta that covers multiple fandoms, since it's always fun to see common themes, parallels, comparisons etc that people notice.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes! I also find it interesting to see meta comparing canons, although in fairness this limits readership since there are lower chances they know about both of them. I wrote several such pieces years back comparing Supernatural to Buffy, and a few more where I wrote more about a topic and used a few canons as examples.

Sounds like you're keeping pace with the weeks alright!

[alexseanchai]

I know there's a lot of FF7 meta in the Dreamwidth comments of synecdochic's fics, but that's (1) not remake (2) tangled all up in meta specific to synecdochic's FF7 fics, so possibly not what you're looking for?

[nrgburst]

LOL I usually sneak meta into my fic end notes, to explain the motivation behind the fic and how I came to that conclusion via the text. But meta discussion in fic comments is awesome!

[wheatear]

Yeah, I was really thinking of meta that responds to the canon. It's cool to see so many comments from a few years ago though! I'm looking forward to seeing the remake fandom take off as well.

[eidolonlathi]

1) It would be nice to see more meta getting archieved for all kind of manga. As it's often over many years a series is running there's a lot of speculations and theories developing as long as a canon is still ongoing(and often even long after): It's a pity to think so many of these posts will eventually get lost completely.

2) I'm still in the process of writing new meta based on smaller posts. This week has been unexpectedly busy, so I haven't come as far as I would have liked to. But I'm in the middle of writing and bringing some of those new posts towards their completion.

[yourlibrarian]

Regarding fan speculation about future seasons, I recall someone saying somewhere that their posts were less useful because they had been Jossed along the way. But I think that it's still quite interesting to see what the fandom had been assuming in retrospect. I know that some of my early SPN posts had assumed certain things were going to happen which didn't. So I wish people would preserve those posts. They're still valuable!

[nrgburst]

1. Any that I've been part of! LOL I love reading meta, even if I disagree with it.

2. I've got 3 more, I think? Then I'm done.

3. I've lost 3 subscribers since I've started doing the project, despite posting all meta under a pseud. :(

[yourlibrarian]

Aw, that's a shame. I didn't even realize we could see subscribers on our AO3 accounts? How did you find out?

[nrgburst]

It's the first stat on your Statistics page!
I mean, I knew these people had subscribed to me for fic, and an odd effect I've noticed from posting the meta is that I get a random smattering of extra kudos on my other fics, probably from people who read the meta and then went looking to see what else I've written. But it's still a bummer. :(

[yourlibrarian]

Haha, I'd definitely forgotten that. I know I've looked at the Stats page before but I don't think I've done so in a very long time.

I'm rather surprised that people have subscriptions to, I'm going to assume, series I've written rather than my account generally. I wouldn't have thought any of them were that popular.