Meta
| Synonyms: | analysis | |
| See also: | Metadiscussion, Metafandom, Metafic | |
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Meta is a term used in fandom, particularly LiveJournal-based fandom, to describe a discussion of fanworks of all kinds, fan work in relation to the source text, fanfiction characters and their motivation and psychology, fan behavior, or fandom itself.
Meta or a meta essay can also be a fan-authored piece of non-fiction writing that discusses any of the above topics.
In fanworks
Sometimes fanworks themselves become metafic, where characters within the text comment on canon or fandom. Back when RPF was rare, some people called any story meta where the characters and the actors for those characters interacted.
In vids, the tag meta is occasionally used when images of fans appear along with images of characters, but the term metavid is more commonly used to describe a vid that comments on a specific show, or its fandom, or fandom as a whole.
Meta: Breaking the Fourth Wall
- As Lucid as Hell[1], a popslash story by Sandy the Older, set in "The Popslash Works In Progress Dorm" where the characters talk about the stories they're characters in, and complain about how slow their authors are.
- In Wendi Jeff and Saundra Mitchell's H:LOTS story Permanently Offline, the actual show's characters were the "real characters" working for the Baltimore PD, having to deal with the actors, and the fans, of a popular show based on their activities.
- Gus Goes For The Gold Star[2], a slash Psych story by Liviapenn, is a Yuletide story about Gus writing a Yuletide story -- meta and recursive, both!
Meta: Fans on Fandom
- The Wave Theory of Slash, originally posted by Lezlie Shell in 1993.
- Slash Fiction is Like a Banquet, an essay written by Arduinna comparing fandom to a potluck.
- Women's Work by Luminosity & Sisabet[3] is a fairly explicit (and controversial) commentary on misogyny in the text for Supernatural.
- Us by lim is a multifandom vid about fandom, and the ways that fans manipulate and use their canon sources.
Meta Zines
- Some of Us Really Do Watch for the Plot, a Supernatural zine published in 2007.
Meta Communities
- 2002: The Metablog noticeboard community provided a central place to post links to "blogs and LJs that discuss issues of importance to fandom." Metaquotes community provides the lighter side.
- 2004: The Shipper's Manifesto, a community for shippers to post meta essays in support of a particular pairing.
- 2005: The metafandom newsletter community on LiveJournal and (after Strikethrough, 2007) on InsaneJournal compiles links to "interesting discussions in fandom" over both journalling sites (but no blogs).
- 2007: The meta_roundup community on InsaneJournal compiles links to ""fannish stuff of interest" on InsaneJournal exclusively.
