Keep Hoping Machine Running (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thefourthvine) wrote2008-04-25 08:14 pm
thefourthvine) wrote2008-04-25 08:14 pm
Entry tags:
Poll: Crossovers, Oh My
Recently, I was moderately flabbergasted to come upon a Highlander x Yami no Matsuei crossover. I had one of those moments of staring blankly at the computer screen, trying to figure out if I had experienced a sudden linguistic disconnect, and maybe in this language "Highlander x Yami no Matsuei crossover" actually meant "now we all get cake" or something, because surely such a thing, defined as I understood it, was totally impossible.
And then I read it, and realized that, no, it isn't impossible, and I was forced once again to reflect on the fact that Highlander seems to be a fandom that is just very open to crossovers. I know that's partly because, hey, you've got 5,000 years of mostly unfilled Methos backstory, and who is to say he didn't pick up a young Christopher Keller in a gay bar? He could have! He could also have spent fifteen years traveling around with Doctor Who. I mean, it's not like he'd necessarily bring either of those things up in conversation. But also, just, the Highlander universe seems to be unusually smooshy - it is totally willing to cozy up to, maybe even move in with, other canons, as I'm reminded every time the HL newsletter comes out and most of the new stories are crossovers.
Naturally, I got to wondering: what other fandoms are particularly crossover-friendly? And that led, inevitably, to thoughts of those fandoms that are much, much harder to work into crossovers. Which led to thoughts of AUs, which in turn took me to a terrifying meta place, and Best Beloved had to come talk me down. "How about a poll?" she said. "Polls are fun! And, also, you can probably finish one before you fall asleep." (Whereas with actual meta - at the rate I'm currently finishing stuff, I'd have it ready for posting in, um, 2012 or thereabouts, assuming no delays for rain.)
So perhaps you would like to write my meta for me? I offer ticky boxes as incentive!
[Poll #1177790]
And then I read it, and realized that, no, it isn't impossible, and I was forced once again to reflect on the fact that Highlander seems to be a fandom that is just very open to crossovers. I know that's partly because, hey, you've got 5,000 years of mostly unfilled Methos backstory, and who is to say he didn't pick up a young Christopher Keller in a gay bar? He could have! He could also have spent fifteen years traveling around with Doctor Who. I mean, it's not like he'd necessarily bring either of those things up in conversation. But also, just, the Highlander universe seems to be unusually smooshy - it is totally willing to cozy up to, maybe even move in with, other canons, as I'm reminded every time the HL newsletter comes out and most of the new stories are crossovers.
Naturally, I got to wondering: what other fandoms are particularly crossover-friendly? And that led, inevitably, to thoughts of those fandoms that are much, much harder to work into crossovers. Which led to thoughts of AUs, which in turn took me to a terrifying meta place, and Best Beloved had to come talk me down. "How about a poll?" she said. "Polls are fun! And, also, you can probably finish one before you fall asleep." (Whereas with actual meta - at the rate I'm currently finishing stuff, I'd have it ready for posting in, um, 2012 or thereabouts, assuming no delays for rain.)
So perhaps you would like to write my meta for me? I offer ticky boxes as incentive!
[Poll #1177790]
no subject
Hell, I'm very probably forgetting something, but you get the idea: I'm clearly addicted. And really, I would never say "X + Y fandom crossover will never work. The real issues are twofold. 1) Can the writer sell it plausibly, and 2) Will the writer have anyone to whom to sell it? (will readers know both/all fandoms?)I think also, there are differences between mixed show pairings, character walk ons, and moving characters from X show, to Y show's setting.
no subject
no subject
*nods*
It's often the way with crossovers. You think you can quit after just one more, and the next thing you know, you're twitching helplessly and crossing SGA with Are You Being Served?.
Fortunately, it's a good, useful addiction, at least for the people who read you. And obviously it hasn't broken you yet!
And really, I would never say "X + Y fandom crossover will never work.
Yeah, I try to avoid saying "never" about any fannish thing, because, well, the second I say it, someone turns around and does it and makes me love it. (I guess this would suggest that I should say never all the time, but I think you really have to mean it for that to work.)
1) Can the writer sell it plausibly, and 2) Will the writer have anyone to whom to sell it? (will readers know both/all fandoms?)
The second one never seems to be a problem - I'm astonished at how many sources people know. I tend to get completely lost in the multiple crossover ones, just because - well, see above, where
Anyway. My point is - yeah, a great writer can sell anything, anything at all. My question is more trying to get at which ones a writer will have to work hardest to sell, if that makes sense. I mean, I have read successful LotR crossovers. I've also read a lot of just hideously terrible ones. (Including a whole LotR x HP subgenre. This is a much more challenging crossover than people seem to think, really.) And the ratio is so much worse for LotR, I have to think it's harder than most fandoms. (Which totally makes sense to me.)