Poll: Crossovers, Oh My

[thefourthvine]

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

Comments

[giandujakiss]

Anything where the characters live indefinite life spans or travel in time is very crossover friendly.

But Jesus Christ, Quantum Leap!! Sam could be anyone. You could rewrite every single episode of anything and say Sam was there.

[thefourthvine]

Sadly, I know nothing of Quantum Leap (although Best Beloved has just given me a briefing, but apparently she is still bitter about the ending). But it sounds like a fabulous crossover fandom for sure. (And you're so right about time travel and immortality - they practically beg for crossovers.)

[neonnurse]

I hear BB's pain. I am still so bitter about it that, compared to me, the disenchanted voters in Pennsylvania are fairy unicorns. With diamond Smiley Face tattoos all over them.

[feonixrift]

Quantum Leap + Methos = Ow my head!

[musesfool]

Man, I love crossovers. In fact, I tend to take them as challenges - the crazier they appear, the more I want to be able to write them, and write them well. (See my O11/LotR idea in the poll.)

I think some universes are harder, but if you match them with a more porous 'verse, you can make it work. Or if you just do a sort of fusion/crossover, like putting the Winchesters 500 years in the future in the Firefly 'verse, or making them part of the Colonial Fleet on BSG, etc.

Also, it's harder to match up two 'verses with differing magical systems, but we've never let that stop us. Also, I can't believe I forgot X-Files. like HP and BtVS and SPN, X-Files is great for crossovers because all the weird stuff is supposed to be a secret, so you can always handwave stuff away as govt. conspiracy.

[thefourthvine]

You realize that if you don't now WRITE the O11/LotR story, I will never smile again. No pressure or anything. Just my whole happiness at stake.

I love crossovers, too, although it took me a while to get to that place, because I started in LotR fandom so virtually all the crossovers I read did not work at all.

And I actually had X-Files in the original version of this poll (curse LJ and its poll option limits!), but I thought it would probably be crossover-resistant, actually. *has learned something*

[musesfool]

You realize that if you don't now WRITE the O11/LotR story, I will never smile again. No pressure or anything. Just my whole happiness at stake.

The scary part is that I am actually THINKING about it. Oh GOD.

But yeah, LotR is like the WORST for crossovers.

Actually you know what's an awesome crossover fandom? Good Omens. And also Sandman. Because angels and anthropomorphic representations of human conditions can go ANYWHERE at ANY TIME.

As for the poll - if you paste the code into the update window, you can just add options manually by copying one of the lines and changing the text between the code, so if you've got the following:
<*lj-pi>yes<*/lj-pi>
<*lj-pi>no<*/lj-pi>.

you can add as many new lines as you like by c&p'ing and then changing the text: <*lj-pi>maybe<*/lj-pi>.

If that makes sense.

[daegaer]

Good Omens, oh yes! All of history is your crossover oyster

[pentapus]

Ok, I just had to comment because it has long been my policy that Methos is THE crossover character. I mean, he could plausibly show up in almost any fandom. Bonus points if the story is told from the non-Methos point of view and if that POV passes through the story oblivious to Methos' less than mortal qualities. I have no idea about any other fandoms, but I have always dreamed happily of a world where methos crossovers were their own fandom. XD

[holli]

I have had long and very pleasant conversations about how Methos, Jack Harkness, and various other long-lived folks should form some sort of club. Or at least make out a lot.

[pentapus]

Hee. Though there'd be the tricky fact that such a gathering would probably be the textbook example of Things Methos Prefers to Avoid. :D

[melannen]

I once tried to write a story where Lazarus Long put together a special "oldest man in the universe only" club room at the cross-universe convention. :D (But I kept finding more characters to toss in. And then they tried to turn it into an orgy and Aziraphale walked out.)

[thefourthvine]

MY SECRET PLAN IS WORKING. I AM PLEASED.

(Also, I have Appetite thoughts. FYI.)

[miss_porcupine]

I tend to abhor crossovers, mostly because of Talking Dog Syndrome (it's not what he says, but that he says at all) -- crossovers tend to expend all of their energy on making the fandoms line up and have very little left over for the actual plot. The crossovers that I've liked are ones that match up the fandoms well and then get on with the business of the story in its own right.

Highlander/historical fiction can work for obvious reasons. Once upon a time, I read a nifty Sharpe/Methos story that involved a great deal of sitting around in pubs through the years.

Police/special agent procedurals mash up well with extra-normal activities. Supernatural has made it even easier by showing just how screwed up Sam and Dean look to the authorities, but there's also been SG-1/NCIS, which is the military version of the same pairing, but with added rules and regulations and bureaucracy.

Of course, I come from comics, where every few years or so DC and Marvel decide to invade each other's universe and wackiness ensues....

[thefourthvine]

I used to hate crossovers, but that was mostly because I started in a very crossover-resistant fandom, so I kind of decided they could never, ever work. But I have come around! Just, it has to be done well.

Highlander/historical fiction can work for obvious reasons.

Oh, totally, although many times that works so well it doesn't feel like a crossover at all.

Of course, I come from comics, where every few years or so DC and Marvel decide to invade each other's universe and wackiness ensues.

Crossovers are just one of the many things I think fandom handles better than creators. Although I love the idea of Amalgam Comics. Dark Claw, OMG! Sparrow! *swoons*