Crossovers
Nov. 17th, 2007 12:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lyoreI've been thinking a bit about crossovers recently - writing them and reading them. Lucky you, I feel like sharing :)
I've seen crossovers get a bit of a bad rap, but I have to say I really like them* - I think it really gives the characters (and the author!) a chance to stretch their wings.
Consider when you have the observation of canon characters by characters of a difference canon. It gives the 'new eyes, new appreciation, new perspective' of an 'outsider POV' fic, but in this case it comes with an added bonus - because the observer isn't a cypher, their observations can shed just as much light on their characterisation as the characters they are observing.
And the same goes for character interactions - the way they respond to one another can through light on both characters, especially when you have a pair/group with strong similarities as well as distinct differences. Such interactions can make the differences and similarities in very apparent to the reader, without the author having to draw direct attention to it in the fic.
Plus, there's the fact that I love seeing the characters tossed out of their comfort zone, and I love seeing one set of characters I love meeting another set. Not to mention the technical challenges of getting the canon together in the first place - while it's easy(ish) in some cases (SG-1 get an alert about possible Goa'uld activity in a small town in California), it can be a lot harder to sell when one canon is set in, say, 21st Century earth and the other is in a galaxy far, far away (of course, sometimes this doesn't matter, depending on the fic).
*Done well - all of this applies to well done crossovers, of course. Done badly? I hate watching people mangle two sets of canon even more than I hate watching it done to one.
But that's just what I think - What about you?
[Poll #1090050]
I've seen crossovers get a bit of a bad rap, but I have to say I really like them* - I think it really gives the characters (and the author!) a chance to stretch their wings.
Consider when you have the observation of canon characters by characters of a difference canon. It gives the 'new eyes, new appreciation, new perspective' of an 'outsider POV' fic, but in this case it comes with an added bonus - because the observer isn't a cypher, their observations can shed just as much light on their characterisation as the characters they are observing.
And the same goes for character interactions - the way they respond to one another can through light on both characters, especially when you have a pair/group with strong similarities as well as distinct differences. Such interactions can make the differences and similarities in very apparent to the reader, without the author having to draw direct attention to it in the fic.
Plus, there's the fact that I love seeing the characters tossed out of their comfort zone, and I love seeing one set of characters I love meeting another set. Not to mention the technical challenges of getting the canon together in the first place - while it's easy(ish) in some cases (SG-1 get an alert about possible Goa'uld activity in a small town in California), it can be a lot harder to sell when one canon is set in, say, 21st Century earth and the other is in a galaxy far, far away (of course, sometimes this doesn't matter, depending on the fic).
*Done well - all of this applies to well done crossovers, of course. Done badly? I hate watching people mangle two sets of canon even more than I hate watching it done to one.
But that's just what I think - What about you?
[Poll #1090050]
no subject
Date: 2007-11-17 11:07 pm (UTC)I really like the idea of shifting characters out of their comfort zones, and even more of using different 'verses and characters to comment on each other. For instance, both Firefly and BSG (at least the new one - I haven't seen the original yet) have that used-universe feel, and both involve groups of people more or less stuck on a ship together on the run, the Operative's ideas remind me a lot of some of the Cylons' ideas, and they both play on the idea that imperfection is an essential part of being human - but they've also got some interesting differences. It would be fun to put them together.
Now, those two could probably cross over fairly easily. We don't know exactly what condition Earth is in in BSG, so it could be mysteriously destroyed after sending colonies to another system like in Firefly. I'm more interested in crossovers where they universes seem like they could coexist like that. (Though I shouldn't talk, since the one crossover I've written is SW/HP, and they have really incompatible magic systems. But at least they don't actually physically cross over?) Unless it's crackfic wherein all the fictional Chosen Ones have a big fight over who's the real One, of course :D
no subject
Date: 2007-11-18 10:17 am (UTC)I'm more interested in crossovers where they universes seem like they could coexist like that.
I don't know - in some ways, yes, because they are more believable, but in other ways I love seeing the innovative ways people manage to get them together.
SW/HP crossover, huh? Got a link? I'm in the same boat - currently in the middle of writing a Star Wars/Supernatural crossover, which don't really have a lot in common in terms of the universes mythology. Not that that is stopping me *g*
no subject
Date: 2007-11-19 07:42 pm (UTC)but in other ways I love seeing the innovative ways people manage to get them together.
I guess this is one of those things where I say, "Well, it the author is really good, and it's well executed... then sure!" I'd be more likely to check out an unknown story if the universes looked easily crossover-able, but if it's an author I trust, why not?