Goodfic Guide; Crossovers

[rc45]

Problems with Crossovers

By Oracleofchaos

In my years of reading Fanfiction, I have seen countless crossovers. Now, the concept of a crossover is actually quite appealing. I mean, who wouldn’t love to see Luke Skywalker meet Aragorn, or Drizzt Do’Urden find acceptance among the Elves of Middle Earth? Unfortunately, very few continuums actually can co-exist with Lord of the Rings without serious modification. Part of the problem stems from the fact that most Crossovers are plots by Sue Authors to give their characters extra powers. I cannot number the times I’ve seen Jedi Sue magically appear in Middle Earth to snare Legolas and battle Sith who are on their way to join Darth Sauron. It’s just not right… Please do not magically transport people in your crossover. Not to mention the number of times Drizzt has been magically transported to Elven lands where he falls in love and the rest of the story is angst and sex.

Let’s look at the right ways to do these things… If you absolutely must do a crossover between a medieval and/or magical world and a futuristic one, please avoid the magic portals. They are so overused, give ‘em a break. Instead, consider that the space-faring people could land/crash on your medieval world. Also, have a good reason for them visiting an unknown planet and stopping there. Don’t just have them randomly out in uncharted space and crashing, unless they do that a lot. I regret to inform you that sticking Drizzt in Middle Earth doesn’t work. Don’t do it. One, Middle Earth doesn’t have Drow (when people make references to dark Elves they usually refer to elves that haven’t seen the light of the two trees, not that they are evil and dark-skinned.). Two, middle Earth has been thoroughly mapped and there’s no place for an undiscovered Faerun.

Now, you can ignore the things above only if you’re doing a parody. Certain rules can be ignored in that case. However, I do not specialize in Parody and you really should check with someone in that department before taking my word for it. Below is a list of things you should think about when doing a crossover.

1. Why is your character(s) there? (Supplies? Lost? Crashed? Exploring?)
2. Is the character a Sue in any way? (Upstaging anyone? Showing off a bit? Falling in love left and right?)
3. What is the point of the story? (Comparison between cultures? Study of certain people in uncertain situations?)
4. Do the histories of the two worlds have something in common? (Major battle of good vs. evil? Scientific development? Mythology similar?)
5. How will you overcome the language barrier? (Is there a magic spell or universal translator? Does the person have a knack for languages?)