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Day 231 - Going off the Reservation
Dail is still off having Adventures in Real Life, and I'm going to do something different from my usual links to writing stuff. I'm going to pose a question, a question about - crossovers.
In our AUs, we crossover into other universes a lot, if not with the characters themselves (Sentinel, NCIS, Stargates, Star Treks, et cetera) then with the universes (Firefly, Startgates, Treks, et cetera). What qualities in another show do we find attractive enough to want to put our boys into it or mix them up in it?
For me, it's either the characters themselves or some quality to the universe - usually a threat (the Wraith, the Alliance) - that I'd like to see our boys have to deal with. I was reading a Lone Ranger comic this morning (the joys of being the comic buyer for a local bookstore) and I was pleasantly surprised at how very well done it was, both in setting, history, and characterization. I'm having very serious thoughts about how TLR and Tonto - a Kiowa - would interact with the seven, especially in a situation that put them on 'the same side' if not working together.
I've also had thoughts and discussions with others about a crossover with The Wild Wild West (Artemus Gorden, meet Ezra Standish. Jim West, give Chris Larabee your tailer's name. Or maybe just your pants. Ella Gaines and Dr. Lovelace?). That's both character and universe (um, Steampunk Seven????)
What draws you to a crossover, either as a writer or a reader? What do you want to see in our seven?
In our AUs, we crossover into other universes a lot, if not with the characters themselves (Sentinel, NCIS, Stargates, Star Treks, et cetera) then with the universes (Firefly, Startgates, Treks, et cetera). What qualities in another show do we find attractive enough to want to put our boys into it or mix them up in it?
For me, it's either the characters themselves or some quality to the universe - usually a threat (the Wraith, the Alliance) - that I'd like to see our boys have to deal with. I was reading a Lone Ranger comic this morning (the joys of being the comic buyer for a local bookstore) and I was pleasantly surprised at how very well done it was, both in setting, history, and characterization. I'm having very serious thoughts about how TLR and Tonto - a Kiowa - would interact with the seven, especially in a situation that put them on 'the same side' if not working together.
I've also had thoughts and discussions with others about a crossover with The Wild Wild West (Artemus Gorden, meet Ezra Standish. Jim West, give Chris Larabee your tailer's name. Or maybe just your pants. Ella Gaines and Dr. Lovelace?). That's both character and universe (um, Steampunk Seven????)
What draws you to a crossover, either as a writer or a reader? What do you want to see in our seven?
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As a reader, I'm usually game for any crossover as long as I know the other fandom(s), at least enough to follow along, and don't outright despise the other one. *g* Though I despise very few! I'm more likely to know just enough about it to know I'm not interested. For example, put the Mag7 guys into Buffy and it might be an exceptionally cool story, but I won't read it because I only ever watched a couple of episodes of Buffy; it didn't interest me and I stopped, so those characters and that world are not attractive to me personally.
Every reader will have their own likes, dislikes, and meh responses to other fandoms, which makes writing crossovers also a gamble. When I write a crossover, I know I'll probably lose x-amount of readers who simply won't care to read about either characters and/or a world they don't know or outright dislike.
Since I principally enjoy our characters in an OW setting, I'd like to see them crossed with pretty much every western out there! Sometimes it has to go AU to warp the timelines, but I don't mind. Obviously, I think crossing with Deadwood and The Quest both work, since I've done it, but seeing favourite characters from other shows turn up would be ace, too. How about Rafael returning with his own Magnificos, and one of them is Manolito from High Chapparal? Mano in Four Corners! Mano and Rafael and Chris all being relaxed and bad ass and amused with each other! I would like that, I'm just saying. :)
But basically mixing the guys with any of my own favourite shows works (for me!), like Falling Skies (either Kayim's OW version or the modern-day FS world would be great by me); one of the crossovers I've long thought about is putting our guys into the Jeremiah post-apocalyptic world, just because I love that show. And, really, that's the main criterion I use: if I love two worlds, then I get ideas about putting them together, even knowing readers might not agree. I have a SGA crossover idea that's been simmering for ages (that would put the SGA characters into Mag7's world). I have a half-written story that puts the Pros characters into the Mag7 world. Oh, and there's my half-written Carny fusion, of course.
Subjective as all get out is how I see this topic, as both a writer and a reader. I'll write (or at least think of ideas *g*) if I love two shows/sets of characters, and I'll read stories that cross Mag7 with shows I like, other things being equal, such as pairings. I always focus on characters and settings rather than plots, so things like other fandoms' threats, like the Wraith, don't suggest ideas to me. It simply boils down to characters I like whom I want to see interacting. ETA: Or a world I like in general, such as post-apocalyptic ones like FS and Jeremiah, that I'd like to slot characters I love into, either interacting with the other characters or not.
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And yeah, I'd echo your thoughts on crossovers and the lovely potential for crossing the Mag7 world with other old west shows. I was musing on Lancer the other day....
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(I put them on a gray and a palomino so I could sneak this in: "When a shaft of sunshine angling through the gap between the high false fronts of Digger Dave's and the cigar shop next door touched them, the two horses momentarily shone silver and gold before they stepped into shadow and became ordinary, weary horseflesh again." *g* Also, it's called "Running in the Dark", which is a clumsy take on "Blind Run", though I don't know if anyone would actually make that connection....)
Ooh, I'd love to see the Lancer boys cross the paths of our Mag7 ones! More thoughts like this one are needed, obviously. :)
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Hee, yes, I wonder what Chris would make of Johnny Madrid... and if JD ever ran across Scott Lancer back east *g*
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I like the way you phrase this, and I know for myself that crossovers tend to be things I write for myself; I don't tend to read many crossovers myself, for precisely the reasons you state: I have to know the other universe enough to care about it. I will say that I have read a few crossovers written by authors I love which have compelled me to check out new series, but that is a rarity.
How about Rafael returning with his own Magnificos, and one of them is Manolito from High Chapparal? Mano in Four Corners! Mano and Rafael and Chris all being relaxed and bad ass and amused with each other! I would like that, I'm just saying. :)
UUMMMMMMMMM - is it hot in here or just me . . . ? What a GREAT idea!! But to get back to the point, that's part of where my thinking started - the OW crossovers. It's not like we don't have a lot of westerns to choose from. *g*
. . . and there's my half-written Carny fusion, . . .
Why yes, yes there is. Yes there is. YES THERE IS. HALF WRITTEN. AHEM. What does the muse need to be motivated to work on this??????
It simply boils down to characters I like whom I want to see interacting. ETA: Or a world I like in general, such as post-apocalyptic ones like FS and Jeremiah, that I'd like to slot characters I love into, either interacting with the other characters or not.
Dail has actually mentioned the Jeremiah universe also. And this is exactly what I mean by 'universe' - that place where I want to put my favorite characters to challenge them, to bring out other nuances of their personalities and relationships. You know, it occurs to me that in many ways, the SGA universe is post-apo as well. The Wraith are part of that 'apo' and the SGA guys are part of the rebuilding of the society. It's got a lot of similarities to FS and Jeremiah, all of which are similar to the OW (and the world of Firefly as Joss Whedon conceived it).
Great thoughts!
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Poor JD would be so antsy if Rafael, Mano, and Chris were all hanging out together in the saloon. *g* But seriously hot, yeah? It makes me wish I were a fan artist and could draw those three together. Barring that, I'd love a fic that went there!
My Carny story! I really want to finish that one, but I don't think I have a muse. It's just me, and I'm hard to motivate sometimes, even for me. I must put this fic on my To Do list: add to Scrivener, which might help provide the impetus to get back to it.
Jeremiah is a great universe for post-apocalyptic fans, which I am a card-carrying member of. It'd require juggling the Mag7 guys' ages to slide them into Jeremiah, but I have actually put some thought into that; basically, they'd have to be all closer in age than in canon (because in Jeremiah, everyone "over the age of puberty" died, so the guys would have to be within ~13 years of each other).
Excellent points about the Pegasus dystopia resembling the worlds of FS, Jeremiah, and Firefly. I can see from there how the Wraith would spark ideas that could be translated to the Mag7 world. If you ever wrote it, it goes without saying I'd read it. :)
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And I do actively encourage you to think on the Carny story (I've got to get Scrivener, don't I; Van likes it too). let me know if I can help in the motivation department . . . *g*
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Regards crossovers, I don't come across too many I 'd stop and read - except if I have great love for both/all shows involved. Even then, unless in the hands of a writer whose world-building and characterisation I trust, one or other show (or its characters) can risk being diluted somehow. Having said that I do occasionally enjoy musing on writing them. My current thoughts are Mag7/POTA (tv version) because of the peril and conflict scenario, the "being on the run" element that's such fun to subject characters to :)
Good topic!
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I do, however, look very much forward to your Deadwood and Firefly crossovers!!!! Characters, universe, or both?
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Re Deadwood, FF and WWW... ha, when I said my 'to-do' list I was really meaning 'to-watch-one-day'. I have only basic knowledge of the characters and universes so until I manage to clone myself in order to watch all the things.... *sigh*
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And apparently, you and Penn are going to force me to have to watch "Lancer" too . . . though POTA is higher up on the list. I definitely agree about the dark/light imaging . . .
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They might not be to your taste when you finally sample them, but from my perspective, you have a major treat in store watching Firefly, Deadwood, and WWW! Though it's been years since I saw any WWW, so my memories are a bit washy, but I did enjoy it at the time. And it's slashy as all get out, of course.
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Oh - my. Oooohhhhh my. Collars? How very - I have so got to go back and watch this show again. Why yes, the 70s were a wonderful decade, weren't they? If Mag 7 had been on then, I suspect there would have been a lot more bathhouse meetings.
I can definitely see the crossover potential now. The 'wonderful hopelessness' and all the bare bodies . . .