Meta Analysis and Other Fandom Stuff

When I was in my teens this television show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer was released. It didn’t pull me into what is affectionately known as meta analysis in the fandom spaces but the show did have me write novel-length fan fiction for the first time in my life. I’d been writing novellas in English since my early teens but in my late teens and early twenties it was fan fiction that helped me hone my grasp of written English and of storytelling as a whole. It also connected me with readers and the thrill of getting weekly feedback. I’ll admit that sometimes I miss it but as I’m now enthralled with the prospect of creating my own worlds from scratch there simply isn’t enough finger-juice (ew) to go around.

It also takes a specific type of show to inspire the fan fiction and/or meta analysis bug to bite and I’ve not come across such a show in quite a while either. The latest was KinnPorsche a few years back.

Now, fan fiction laid the foundation for what would years later bring me into the wonderful world of analysis but the building blocks that were then added onto that foundation were my university studies and falling in love with screenwriting. My university studies encouraged the sort of critical thinking that is essential for deeper media comprehension—the sort of thinking that hadn’t quite been taught at high school level, even though we’d brushed up against it—while my love of screenwriting taught me the ins and outs of story structure and why it matters, not only on screen but on any page.

This is why I’m deciding to share some of my analysis on this website.

Meta analysis is about digging into what’s on screen and translating the visual into the written. It’s an immensely rewarding exercise and it teaches us so much in terms of effective storytelling, especially when it comes to narrative structure because what can be said without dialogue in the visual medium of film can in turn be shown to the reader through description on the page.

Study one medium and we understand the other.

At least that’s been part of my journey into writing. And I’d like to share it with you.

There’s a timespan of about a decade and a half between my first foray into fan fiction and me beginning to play around with series analysis in a more serious way.

During those sixteen years I wrote about a dozen fanfics of varying lengths for the Buffy fandom and a few for the Sherlock fandom as well; began to explore screenwriting through courses, literature, and trial and error; studied Film & Literature at uni; spent time as a writer on a tv series in a writers room in Stockholm; and moved to London where I was blessed enough to find opportunity of working as a reader for a few established production companies. All this to give an idea of what my starting point was once I began not merely watching a series but feeling a need to make sense of its subtext for myself.

While Buffy brought me to the outskirts of the fandom space (where the fanfic writers dwell), it was another series of similar spirit that brought me into the heart of that space. That series is called Supernatural.

For three years I spent every day engaged with its fandom space as what was, at least then, known as a meta writer. I also wrote a handful-ish amount of shorter fanfic because damn that hunter and angel had me in a chokehold with all that unspoken s.t.u.f.f.

Soft disclaimer: Supernatural has been off the air for going on six years this upcoming fall and I haven’t been in fandom in that same capacity since its series finale so I apologize if I’m out of the loop with the terminology. Back in 2023 I spent a few months fervently writing Killing Eve meta analysis on Reddit (linked on this website) after partaking of its series finale devastation, and I’ve posted less than a handful of meta analysis of KinnPorshe on Twitter, but being as immersed in fandom as I was during Supernatural I have not.

Still, this particular blog is more about the worthwhile effort of engaging with meta analysis than it is a commentary on fandom as a whole so I hope you’ll forgive me any old-timey lingo, as it may occur.

I’ll admit that I don’t know if sharing the analysis is of use to anyone unfamiliar with the particular series that the analysis deals with. The analysis is, in a way, like a review but more in-depth and absolutely unavoidably riddled with spoilers for whichever episode it’s dealing with. Often there are spoilers linking to other episodes or even the series as a whole, so spoiler alerts will be added at the top of each new post for the safety of all.

My hope is that the analysis can be of interest as it links strongly back to my Writing Essentials blog series.

Everything I write about in that blog series has its origin in my meta analysis.

BtVS made me fall in love with a group of characters in ways I never really had before. I wanted to spend time in their world, get to the bottom of what made their hearts swell and their minds race, hence years and hundreds of thousands of words spent happily exploring. Sherlock had a friend and I in day-long discussions about our shared interpretations of the implied love story between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, the subtleties of which had us entirely immersed in the possible meanings resting just below the surface of the narrative, in the subtext.

Subtext is the bread and butter of meta analysis.

Subtext is also seductive because it’s subjective and open to the aforementioned interpretations.

This seduction is part of the lifeblood of any thriving fandom because it keeps discussion alive and engaging. There are as many angles into a story as there are eyeballs ogling it and most of fandom is focused either on sharing a POV that may serve to clarify the subtext and deeper meaning of that story to others, or focused on consuming and more often than not enjoying and appreciating said shared POV.

Some of fandom, however, focuses on the darker aspects of any space that promotes discussion, where emotions run high and egos even higher. It can get rather ugly which is one of the reasons why I’ve distanced myself from those online spaces. Rather than all the positive sides to fandom that give energy, the drama has a tendency to drain that energy away, though I’ve always culled my experience and curated my content to help keep my online space feeling safe enough. You get me? We all choose what we engage with online. If we don’t want drama then we ignore the drama. Sometimes the drama ends up on our doorstep either way, though.

Anyway.

Fandom gifted me with a training ground and I’m forever grateful for that but at this stage in my life I would rather spend my years and hundreds of thousands of words on my own creative endeavors.

A natural progression, perhaps.

So, if my opinion is that subtext is the bread and butter of meta analysis, and meta analysis in turn can assist a writer with their storytelling via a deepened understanding of subtext, then what exactly is it about a story’s subtext that makes it so bread-y and buttery?

Well, it’s what delivers a story’s hook.

The hook of a story is what digs into the pit of a reader’s stomach and connects them to the narrative in ways that makes it nigh on impossible for them to disengage. When done right, at least. It sounds brutal but anyone who has ever had a reading or viewing experience that’s dug that deep knows how satisfying it can be. It can also be pure torture if the ending doesn’t go as one has hoped but even in those moments there can be little glimmers of beauty.

The hook is what makes the reader want to know what happens next.

The hook is the mystery of it all, the concealed meaning of it all, linking up with the thematic question in a beautiful little parallel dance of sprinkled what-ifs and could-be-s.

The hook isn’t about voice or tone or structure but rather all about heart.

And the heart always comes from a writer’s understanding of their characters and what their journeys are.

When we write, no matter the medium, our plot is text. Our plot is what is stated to the reader on the page because if the plot is a muddle then the reader won’t be able to grasp what our story is trying to do. A diluted plot means lessened stakes, lower momentum, and a weakened overall structure.

When we write, no matter the medium, our character journey is subtext. The purpose of our character arc (their journey from point A to point Z) is explored through their choices, reactions, and actions. Interpreting a character’s choices, reactions, and actions is what most meta analysis focuses on. Plot points are secondary but of course considered in the grander scheme of things.

I’m hoping my approach to meta analysis will prove helpful to someone out there trying to make sense of their own narrative and the choices they’ve made subconsciously while writing.

Working on our analytical skills as writers really does make writing itself a more enjoyable practice. Not to mention aids in strengthening our editorial eye, allowing us to apply it as we write rather than once we’re done with a draft.

That’s what it’s done for me, for sure.

Bringing a touch of analysis to the writing process makes it less about planting a forest and hoping you might find a path through it and more about walking an unknown path and discovering new plants and wildlife as you go. A comfortable in-between heading out with a map and getting completely lost in the thicket, if you will.

Go check out a post or two and let’s see if you agree.

xx