(no subject)
For those of you who weren't aware Burn My Sins Away has a subtle Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover in part 3. That has had my brain thinking ever since and whenever hiyacynth and I talk about it crack is spawned involuntarily.
One of the things I loved most about BMSA was how it gave me the opportunity to think about the different kinds of magic and how what they teach and practice in England could be completely different from magical practices in other parts of the world. That was a lot of fun and something I guess I should talk about some day.
Anyway, Cyn and I were talking about some of my Mary Sues (yes I Mary Sue myself, no you will never, ever get to find out how) and this discussion took place.
hiyacynth: I bet the Watcher's Council is a cooperative entity to the Ministry of Magic. They're all Muggles, of course, and the magicks they do use is different than the Wizarding world's magicks, but the Council is aware of the Wizarding word's existence, and they share info. Don't you think that the Council would see Voldemort as another apocalypse-loving demon to be slain? Maybe they wouldn't be privvy to (or overly concerned with, as it's out of their jurisdiction) the lead up to the War, but I bet they threw a Slayer or two at Voldemort during the last big battle, which surely would have been visible on some level to the Muggles. Or, maybe some of Angel's crew got involved, since the Council would still be recovering from the Season 7 fiasco...I bet the Watcher's Council is a cooperative entity to the Ministry of Magic. They're all Muggles, of course, and the magicks they do use is different than the Wizarding world's magicks, but the Council is aware of the Wizarding word's existence, and they share info. Don't you think that the Council would see Voldemort as another apocalypse-loving demon to be slain? Maybe they wouldn't be privvy to (or overly concerned with, as it's out of their jurisdiction) the lead up to the War, but I bet they threw a Slayer or two at Voldemort during the last big battle, which surely would have been visible on some level to the Muggles. Or, maybe some of Angel's crew got involved, since the Council would still be recovering from the Season 7 fiasco...
liptonrm: You know, I bet the Ministry and the Council do know about each other, but how willing do you think the wizarding world would be about calling on muggle help? Even if they know about slayers and watchers and the like I have a feeling that they'd not only have a bit of a superiority complex but that they'd also be all stiff upper lip and decide that this was a problem they would handle on their own. I mean, sheesh, we've never even heard that they turned to other wizarding governments, let alone some strange muggle hybrid entity with their strange super-powered girls and their plebian magical talents.
Snobbery is alive and well in the Wizarding World.
I actually read a pretty good fic told from Xander's POV about the Wizarding World and how Harry & Co. decided to defeat Voldemort by syphoning magic out of the world. I should send you the URL for distraction purposes (though I think it's on LJ, so for tomorrow's distraction purposes;-).
FYI, that fic is A Gift of Ordinary Magic by liz_marcs and is highly recommended.
hiyacynth: You raise an interesting question about the prejudices each side would have against the other. The WC is such a bunch of unbearable snits, in general, that it probably REALLY bugs them that the Wizarding world leaders are so snooty about them and their approach to magic.
Also, as you pointed out, they serve different purposes in their respective worlds. The Wizarding leaders are the government of a world population of people, whereas the WC is really a secret society that functions strictly within the Muggle world, protecting it from demons and the like. The Wizards' don't seem bothered by demons. I think they probably have agreed to run their two organizations, and never the twain shall meet. Except when something really big happens.
But, ugh, demons and vampires and werewolves and dragons will occasionally crossover, and it's SO unseemly.
And, hey, I bet that naturally talented witches like Tara actually belong in the Wizarding world, but were, like, in the wrong school district and never got their Hogwarts USA letters. :-) < /discussion>
And then we went on and had fic ideas that I won't be talking about but that are really, really good. I know that BtVS/HP crossovers are as old as the cosmos but I don't care because the ideas are so tantalizing. Fandom doesn't like to think outside of canon but we should, we should be writing stories about American wizards and Indian wizards and Japanese wizards and how they see the world. Of course, in my head after Hermione finishes at Oxford she becomes a sort of magical anthropologist and explores the different magical cultures and tries to show Wizarding England how stultified it's become with its focus on wand magic and bloodlines and the like, that there's a whole other world of magic out there that England has cut itself off from because it's too afraid/snobby to deal with.
In other news I had felafel for lunch and it was delicious.
One of the things I loved most about BMSA was how it gave me the opportunity to think about the different kinds of magic and how what they teach and practice in England could be completely different from magical practices in other parts of the world. That was a lot of fun and something I guess I should talk about some day.
Anyway, Cyn and I were talking about some of my Mary Sues (yes I Mary Sue myself, no you will never, ever get to find out how) and this discussion took place.
hiyacynth: I bet the Watcher's Council is a cooperative entity to the Ministry of Magic. They're all Muggles, of course, and the magicks they do use is different than the Wizarding world's magicks, but the Council is aware of the Wizarding word's existence, and they share info. Don't you think that the Council would see Voldemort as another apocalypse-loving demon to be slain? Maybe they wouldn't be privvy to (or overly concerned with, as it's out of their jurisdiction) the lead up to the War, but I bet they threw a Slayer or two at Voldemort during the last big battle, which surely would have been visible on some level to the Muggles. Or, maybe some of Angel's crew got involved, since the Council would still be recovering from the Season 7 fiasco...I bet the Watcher's Council is a cooperative entity to the Ministry of Magic. They're all Muggles, of course, and the magicks they do use is different than the Wizarding world's magicks, but the Council is aware of the Wizarding word's existence, and they share info. Don't you think that the Council would see Voldemort as another apocalypse-loving demon to be slain? Maybe they wouldn't be privvy to (or overly concerned with, as it's out of their jurisdiction) the lead up to the War, but I bet they threw a Slayer or two at Voldemort during the last big battle, which surely would have been visible on some level to the Muggles. Or, maybe some of Angel's crew got involved, since the Council would still be recovering from the Season 7 fiasco...
liptonrm: You know, I bet the Ministry and the Council do know about each other, but how willing do you think the wizarding world would be about calling on muggle help? Even if they know about slayers and watchers and the like I have a feeling that they'd not only have a bit of a superiority complex but that they'd also be all stiff upper lip and decide that this was a problem they would handle on their own. I mean, sheesh, we've never even heard that they turned to other wizarding governments, let alone some strange muggle hybrid entity with their strange super-powered girls and their plebian magical talents.
Snobbery is alive and well in the Wizarding World.
I actually read a pretty good fic told from Xander's POV about the Wizarding World and how Harry & Co. decided to defeat Voldemort by syphoning magic out of the world. I should send you the URL for distraction purposes (though I think it's on LJ, so for tomorrow's distraction purposes;-).
FYI, that fic is A Gift of Ordinary Magic by liz_marcs and is highly recommended.
hiyacynth: You raise an interesting question about the prejudices each side would have against the other. The WC is such a bunch of unbearable snits, in general, that it probably REALLY bugs them that the Wizarding world leaders are so snooty about them and their approach to magic.
Also, as you pointed out, they serve different purposes in their respective worlds. The Wizarding leaders are the government of a world population of people, whereas the WC is really a secret society that functions strictly within the Muggle world, protecting it from demons and the like. The Wizards' don't seem bothered by demons. I think they probably have agreed to run their two organizations, and never the twain shall meet. Except when something really big happens.
But, ugh, demons and vampires and werewolves and dragons will occasionally crossover, and it's SO unseemly.
And, hey, I bet that naturally talented witches like Tara actually belong in the Wizarding world, but were, like, in the wrong school district and never got their Hogwarts USA letters. :-) < /discussion>
And then we went on and had fic ideas that I won't be talking about but that are really, really good. I know that BtVS/HP crossovers are as old as the cosmos but I don't care because the ideas are so tantalizing. Fandom doesn't like to think outside of canon but we should, we should be writing stories about American wizards and Indian wizards and Japanese wizards and how they see the world. Of course, in my head after Hermione finishes at Oxford she becomes a sort of magical anthropologist and explores the different magical cultures and tries to show Wizarding England how stultified it's become with its focus on wand magic and bloodlines and the like, that there's a whole other world of magic out there that England has cut itself off from because it's too afraid/snobby to deal with.
In other news I had felafel for lunch and it was delicious.