A proverb riddle, musing about fusions, and fic recs
Here's a proverb riddle - which proverb has changed its meaning over the ages to now mean the exact opposite of what it initially did? Answer at the end of this post . . . :)
I'd also been pulling together some ideas and recs about fusion-tropes for a while, and coincidentally,
esteefee posted about one of them on tumblr
So, Fusions (i.e. actual media-based fandoms in their own right, rather than non-fandom tropes like 'sharing a bed') that have become tropes: When does a fusion become an actual trope?
I think, when it's very popular and people write the fusion across a number of fandoms, and when the stories are definitely fusions i.e. "the way it's always been" - not crossovers. Sometimes especially when the original was written in a certain time-period or medieval/fantasy setting, and people update that and set the core idea (the trope) in the modern world.
Definitely fusion-tropes:
- The Sentinel (TV) - sentinels and guides. Many examples in SGA, like
esteefee's Redemption series or her Finding the Path (H-50) - Phillip Pullman's Golden Compass books - people have daemons. Daemonology (SGA) and Cleave (MCU) by
trinityofone - A Companion to Wolves by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette - psychic bonding with wolf brothers and sisters. This has been written in several fandoms now as a true "always been this way" fusion: like
dira's amazing Generation Kill Every Marine a Wolfbrother series, and
vass's excellent fusion with Imperial Radch - Mouth of the Wolf', and the truly wonderful The tameness of a wolf by
petra - a Slings and Arrows fusion in which Darren, as ever, is utterly impossible.
Somewhat:
- Ursula Le Guin's (A Fisherman from the Inland Sea) - sedoretu foursome relationships are definitely a trope, I think, but these fics are rare. A wonderful example is
luzula's due South fic Puzzle Pieces. I wrote sedoretu-fic in SGA, but it was a crossover not a fusion, as I wanted team AR1 to react to the foursome culture as an alien experience, then gradually give in to it and form their own. An earlier famous sedoretu fusion is Imperfectcircle's An Ever-Fixed Mark (Merlin). - Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books - the trope of psychic dragon-bonding - although most of these don't update the trope but set it in McCaffrey's medieval-style 'verse. Such as Winging It by harrycrewe (H-50), or the Weyrwolves of Pern series by rainproof (Teen Wolf). This Cam/John SGA one is an updated fusion though: With Wings Spread Wide by
skieswideopen.
Probably still mostly a fusion (because there isn't a single core trope as such - more a whole world):
- Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos - It's certainly a common fusion in many fandoms. One great and hilarious example is Strange Geometry by
ancarett where Mike Holmes of 'Holmes on Homes' has to block off an arcane portal. You don't need to know the canon.
Any more fusion-tropes you can think of?
***
The proverb is "a rolling stone gathers no moss". Once upon a time staying in the same place was seen as a good thing, secure and steady, allowing one to 'gather moss' (wisdom? Nah, probably money). In the changing modern world, the proverb's now used to mean that movement and change (rolling on) are good things, that stop you from getting mossy, overgrown and stagnant.
And so to bed . . .