Ship Manifestos

March Meta Matters Challenge 2026 Returning!

2026-02-18T19:01:10Z

Posted by: yourlibrarian

March 1 is just weeks away, so that means the kickoff to this year's March Meta Matters Challenge will be taking place soon! The challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation, plus there will be some prompts for creating new meta.

Feel free to ask questions here about the challenge, locations, etc. Otherwise subscribe to marchmetamatterschallenge and look for our opening post on March 1!

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March Meta Matters Challenge 2025

2025-02-11T00:45:31Z

Posted by: yourlibrarian

The kickoff to this year's March Meta Matters Challenge is just 4 weeks away! As usual, the challenge involves identifying and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation. There will also be several prompts for creating new meta. ( Read more... )

Feel free to ask questions about the challenge, locations, etc. at our announcement post and then look for our opening post on March 1!

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shipmanifestos @ 2025-01-30T14:54:00

2025-01-30T15:07:55Z

Posted by: maulester

Title: "To show you a smile": An Eizen x Edna ship manifesto
Author: maulester
Fandom: Tales of Series
Pairing: Edna/Eizen
Ao3 link: link
Dreamwidth link: link

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A Cravex/Mortdred Ship Manifesto

2024-11-30T23:33:09Z

Posted by: miscellaneous_section

title: True Love Can Exist Even in the Darkest of Hearts
author: miscellaneous_section
fandom: Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light
pairing: Cravex/Mortdred
Dreamwidth | AO3 | SquidgeWorld

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Pearlina Manifesto

2024-10-05T06:30:54Z

Posted by: bedes

Title: "Having You by My Side Makes Today Perfect: The Pearlina Manifesto"

Author: bedes

Fandom: Splatoon

Pairing: Pearl Houzuki/Marina Ida

Dreamwidth Link | AO3 Link | SQWA Link

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March Meta Matters Challenge Returning Soon!

2024-02-10T16:53:09Z

Posted by: yourlibrarian

It's less than a month until the kickoff for this year's March Meta Matters Challenge! As usual, the challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation. There will also be several prompts for creating new meta.

Check out our FAQ or ask questions about how to participate. Or just subscribe to marchmetamatterschallenge and look for our opening post on March 1!

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Meta: "Why I Love Wednesday Addams"

2023-03-31T07:37:06Z

March Meta Matters Challenge Starts in 2 Weeks!

2023-02-17T15:19:51Z

Posted by: yourlibrarian

The March Meta Matters Challenge is focused on not just new meta, but making sure older meta gets a chance to be read and remain a part of fandom history. Join us in March to start archiving your work!

Participants will be locating past meta work and copying it over to a secondary location to ensure its preservation and improve its access. Everyone will work at their own pace and set their own goals for the month. Prompts for new meta will be offered and check in posts will encourage participants to keep going with their older work.

Visit the community for more information and join in on March 1!

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The March Meta Matters Challenge Is Returning...

2022-02-03T23:56:44Z

Posted by: yourlibrarian

...for year 3! The marchmetamatterschallenge is focused on not just new meta, but making sure older meta gets a chance to be read and remain a part of fandom history.

While new meta is also encouraged, the priority for Meta Matters is to make sure meta doesn't vanish with sites or personal accounts when those get closed or moved. That's also why the challenge will be using the Archive of Our Own as a destination site and collection host.

This will be a month-long event kicking off on March 1 with bi-weekly check-ins. March Meta Matters will close on April 1.

Find out more about the challenge through our introduction or the FAQ. Feel free to leave questions on either post.

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The March Meta Matters Challenge Reopens for Year 2

2021-02-11T16:18:54Z

Posted by: yourlibrarian

Just a reminder to everyone who has ever created any meta that the marchmetamatterschallenge community will be up and running again to help get you going (or started!) on archiving your meta works on AO3.

While creators have often used multiple sites to host their works, one type of work has generally been left out of fans' efforts at archiving and preserving fanworks -- meta. In many cases, meta posts have not been copied anywhere else other than the location where they were first posted, leaving them hard to find and particularly vulnerable to loss.

So what if we can make a small dent in getting it saved? The March Meta Matters Challenge is focused on not just new meta, but making sure older meta gets a chance to be read and remain a part of fandom history. While new meta is also encouraged, the priority for Meta Matters is to make sure meta doesn't vanish with sites or personal accounts when those get closed or moved.

This is a month long event that kicks off on March 1. There are no signups and anyone can participate, whether here at Dreamwidth or elsewhere.

If you have any questions about MMM, look over how the challenge works, or visit our FAQ or leave a comment!

Also, if you enjoy meta? Check out the over 250 works archived in 2020.

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valvert manifesto: aka I tell everyone why they should ship my otp

2018-12-11T02:06:01Z

Posted by: blue_stars

title: A Whole Mess of Depression, PTSD, and Forgiveness
author: blue_stars
fandom: les mis
pairing: valvert (Valjean/Javert)

canon recap:
Canon for les mis is hard to be concise about, as Victor Hugo (its original writer) did enjoy his tangents. And I've always been rubbish at summaries. So let's get on with the sparknotes plot summary, I guess!

The story opens some time in the early 1800s. Using math (GASP), I'm pretty sure it's 1828. The first two characters we're introduced to (and are supposed to care about) are Jean Valjean and Javert. Valjean, our main protagonist, is just finishing up his sentence of 20 years hard labor becasue he stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew. Javert, well, has various positions in the police throughout the story but for now he's the warden sending Valjean off to his parole. But it proves to be a sisyphean task for our hero to find honest work as a parolee, since nobody is willing to give him a chance. So what he does is he throws out his parole card and sulks for a while, before a kindly bishop takes him in and lets him rest. He's not been shown kindness in 20 years, so Valjean is rightly freaked out and doesn't really know what to do in this situation. Being all jumbled up and wanting to make a fresh start, he steals some silver without thinking about it. Then he promptly gets arrested again, until the very same bishop steps in and tells the cops that the silver was actually a gift, and then gives him even MORE silver. Valjean then goes off to a nearby town and assumes a new fake identity.

Just so happens that Javert, who convenently has pretty severe face blindness, also lives in that town. He spends the next ten years looking for the very man who is living in his town, probably befriending him. Valjean becomes mayor at some point, but shit doesn't get too exciting again until 1838, when Valjean rescues his doppelganger. Javert goes to Valjean and is all like "You know, the only person other than you who is strong enough to do that is the very man I'm hunting down. Let me know if you see him." Now probably a little nervewracked, Valjean ends up rescuing ANOTHER person (I only saw the play, so I'm not sure if this was the same day or a couple weeks later or what). This person is Fantine, who is a single mother trying to support her daughter. Honest work didn't make enough, as her daughter Cosette is a bit sickly. Cosette is stuck living with this innkeeper and his wife, who are, to put it simply, abusive, constantly belittling their "adopted" daughter. Fantine had to turn to sex work to keep her daughter alive.

Anyway, Fantine quickly trusts Valjean enough that when she dies of an illness she trusts him to adopt her daughter. But soon after Valjean watches his friend(? acquaintance?) die, he gets word that he's been captured! At least, his doppelganger has. He feels duty-bound to protect Cosette, a child he's never met (probably becasue of some guilt that remained within him from being unable to save his sister or nephew), but he also doesn't want to see an innocent man get punished for things he did not do. So he shows up at his doppelganger's trial and tells everyone they have the wrong guy. He dramatically takes his shirt off to reveal the mark he bore from his time in prison and tells everyone that actually, HE'S Jean Valjean! Javert is, presumably, feeling really awkward at this point. But before he can be properly captured again, Valjean runs off to grab Cosette from her abusive foster family.

After Valjean leaves, Javert has an existential crisis because he's conflicted between his repressed feelings (which we'll get to in a moment) and what he believes to be his duty. So Valjean spends the next 10 years on the run while raising a kid, and Javert spends those years trying to track him down. Then, next thing you know it's the French Revolution of 1848 (they had a lot of revolutions, at least 3), and we're introduced to a group of college kids. One of them meets Cosette and they fall in love at first sight or whatever (I hate the love at first sight trope, so I'm not as enthusiastic as these two 18 year olds probably were). But all of the college kids go to fight in the June Days Revolution. Valjean, who doesn't want his daughter to have depression or ptsd like he does, goes into the fray to protect Cosette's new boyfriend (his name's Marius by the way, I'm just not too emotionally attached to him).

And you know who else is there, fighting to suppress the revolution? Surprise (or not)! It's Javert again, and he gets captured and tied up by the college kids. Valjean, seeing his nemesis in such a vulnerable state, takes out a knife and cuts the ropes binding Javert, who proceeds to run off to have another existential crisis.

Back in the battle, this one girl, Eponene, gets shot and dies trying to protect Marius, who she has a major crush on. Marius goes into a catatonic state and basically becomes a sitting duck. So Valjean sees him and starts carrying this grown man (it's debatable whether college kids can be considered "grown," but whatever) to safety. And at this point, Valjean is like an old man, so that's crazy! Maybe it's the adrenaline strength, but still! While Valjean carries his daughter's boyfriend to safety, all the other college kids are shot and killed tragically, and Javert has his existential crisis and commits suicide.

Some unspecified amount of time later, Valjean watches Cosette and Marius get married, and then dies of old age. (this has been an overly sarcastic production. jk i wish i was overly sarcastic productions)

So, now that I'm done being Sparknotes, let's get into why you're really here: Character and ship analysis!

Valjean:

When I first saw the play, I defiantly imprinted on Valjean, probably because I could sense some mental health problems, which was something I could really relate to at the time (and still can). It meant a lot to me to know that there was at least one mentally ill-coded character who was a good person at his core. I've always interpreted Valjean as having ptsd and depression from being unable to save his family and from his time in prison. He definitely blamed himself for the suffering of others, even when it was definitely not his fault. But at the same time, he has a growth mindset that I couldn't help but to admire as a confused 15 year old stuck in a fixed mindset. Despite inaccurately believing himself to be a terrible person, he still made an effort to be more compassionate and to be the bigger person. Of course he could have used a therapist, but at least he was doing slightly better mental-health wise than his counterpart.

Javert:

There's a lot to unpack here. Javert was the fixed mindset to Valjean's growth mindset, the bitterness to his somber guilt. I didn't like him very much at first, but he has grown on me over the years after revisiting his character and the fact that he was definitely went through some trauma in his past. His parents were criminals, and whoever "helped" him overcome that must have been quite the emotionally abusive/manipulative person. All his life, he repressed his every emotion, which any therapist can tell you is not a healthy thing to do. As a very Lawful Neutral kind of person, he must have beaten himself up inside over the attraction that in his time was considered horrible, not to mention illegal.

Subtextual Evidence:

I always felt like Javert's obsession with Valjean had some repressed romantic and/or sexual feelings interwoven within it. Just saying, he recognized him by his strong muscles. Honestly, half of his existential crises involving Valjean feel like he's trying to sort through complicated feelings that he believes he shouldn't be feeling. Half the reason he hates him is actually probably internalized period-typical homophobia. On the other side, Valjean was willing to give Javert a second chance. He saw some potential in this man to grow as a person, or at least saw the pain that can only come from repressing and cursing one's emotions. He may have even seen himself.

Meta Stuff (why I love this ship):

Something I've found out recently is that Valjean and Javert are actually based on the same person! Victor Hugo knew one man, and split him into two characters. This means that they're quite literally two halves of one whole! And when you look closely at the characters, it actually makes sense. Together they make up an entire reaction to trauma. A person will blame themself. A person will lash out. A person will believe they are fixed, and a person will grow.

Also, this ship is absolutely perfect for angsty/feelsy fluff. At its core, it's two broken people trying to stitch each other up. That's probably my favorite part of this ship, as I really love that kind of content. Two halves of a whole picking up each other's broken pieces just carries a melancholy optimism that I can really feel.

fandom guide:

It's pretty standard that every valvert shipper reads A Reflection of Starlight at some point.

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setting sail on a magical ship

2014-08-21T00:19:59Z

Collaboration Post

2014-08-20T21:57:56Z

Posted by: bloodconfetti

If you're interested in doing a ship manifesto, but maybe you'd like some help, this is the place to look for a collaborator(s) – fill out the form below, and hopefully you will get a response soon!

Fill out the form below, adding as many fandoms and as many ships as you'd be willing to collaborate on. I would suggest putting your fandoms in alphbetical order, as well as your ships, first and last name.

Best modes of contact: (email, PM, reply comment, instant messenger, etc.)
Timezone: (look up your timezone here)

[Fandom A]
Ships:

[char a/char b]
[char a/char c]
[char b/char d]

[Fandom B]
Ships:

[char s/char t]

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Pineapple Express → Dale Denton/Saul Silver

2014-08-20T03:59:06Z

Posted by: bloodconfetti

title: Hawaiian winds stirring up dust
author: aloneinthistown
fandom: Pineapple Express
pairing: Dale Denton/Saul Silver

ao3 link: link
warnings: blood and injury, spoilers

( BFFFs )

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Ship Manifesto Formatting

2014-08-20T03:52:03Z

Posted by: bloodconfetti

This should be the basic structure of your manifesto. Feel free to get creative with it, but all elements should be represented, if only by a sentence or two. There are two options for posting:

For direct posting to the community:

title: [title of manifesto]
author: [your username]
fandom: [fandoms]
pairing: [paring]

( text )

title: [title of manifesto]
author: [your username]
fandom: [fandoms]
pairing: [paring]

<lj-cut text="text">canon recap:<blockquote>this is the area where you give a general overview of what the actual fandom is</blockquote>

[character a]:<blockquote>this is the area where you talk about the first part of your ship</blockquote>

[character b]:<blockquote>this is the area where you talk about the second part of your ship</blockquote>

the ship:<blockquote>this is the area where you provide canon or subtextual evidence for your ship. </blockquote>

meta:<blockquote>this is the area where you explain why you love the pairing. sell your ship to people! humanize the ship.</blockquote>

fandom guide:<blockquote>this is the area where you rec communities/blogs, fanart, fanfic. a how-to guide for getting into your ship for newbies looking not only to dip their toes in, but also to find what you think to be the best of the best fanworks.</lj-cut></blockquote>

For posts linking to your manifesto on AO3:

title: [title of manifesto]
author: [your username]
fandom: [fandoms]
pairing: [paring]

ao3 link: [link]

This format was created by the absolutely wonderful backland.

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