It's a matter of tone control. In my mind, talent trumps canon every time.
I think we can pretty much agree there! (And that applies to the two, sometimes very different depending on the individual; both "actual" canon and "personal" canon, I think.)

I definitely have! Classics. But then you saw my recs to Wendy in the other post; I have a huge soft spot for that very small amount of well-written metafic out there.