Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Crossover fanfiction - the good and the bad

Me too. Renting dvds from netflix now, so that's why it's on my mind. Kimber's still my favorite, even though I didn't think she would be.

I'm really enjoying rewatching. It's got consistent characterization, and even teh bad guys have motivation. Of course, I never outgrew cartoons anyway.

tvnerdgirl, I know this thread hasn't been posted on in forever. But I was just watching Remington Steele last night, the ep Red Holt Steele, and I thought it illustrated the most interesting similarity (and dissimilarity) between Lois and Laura. Laura's house was blown up, and she was, of course, distraught. So much that was there meant so much to her. And I don't think that blowing up Lois' apartment would do that to her. But blowing up the Planet. . . we saw what it did. It put her adrift and vulnerable and such. I guess, after all, in the early day sof the show, the Planet was more home to Lois than anywhere else.

I'm not a fan of crossover stories. One reason being if you don't watch one of the shows then the stories very often either don't make sense are just aren't interesting. Also I find that most crossover stories have dealt with shows I never cared for - ie. X-Files and Buffy. I know both were popular but I just didn't care for them. So to me half of the characters are unknown and not interesting.

From the few I have read I also have to agree that one set of the characters usually comes off better than the other. Also there have been a couple of crossovers I've read that the show included other than LnC seemed to be just a cameo appearance. They mainly seemed to be included as a reason for having Lois and Clark investigating something that they might not be involved in otherwise. Felt the stories would have worked fine without trying to specifically tie it to another show.

But FanFiction is about what you enjoy writing about so to each his own. There seems to be an audience for most everything. Also we are all free to skip crossover stories if we wish. So I generally do because I just don't care for them.

Cross - over stories can be enjoyable if you know both shows and like both shows. If you don't like both shows, then it's a lost cause.

Would have to disagree here (sorry, Nancy ).

Going back to my first post on this one, one of the best Xs I've ever read was Becky Bain's Timeless . I had never watched Beauty and the Beast and had only the sketchiest of knowledge about the characters, but Becky's story made me care as much for them as for Lois and Clark and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So, I'd tend to say, give it a try, even if you don't know half the source. You may regret it. But then again, you may read a really good story.


LabRat

I enjoyed it, too, and I'd never watched a single ep of B&B. What Becky did was treat the B&B characters as original characters rather than as fanfic characters. In fanfic, we don't have to describe characters or settings, explain backgrounds, etc. because the readers already know them. That seems to be the way most people handle cross-overs--assuming that the readers know both TV shows well. But when the readers don't know the other show in the cross-over, that method of writing can result in a "who cares?" attitude on the part of the readers. If you're posting in this fandom, you can get around that problem by describing the other TV/movie characters the same way you would any other characters that the readers had never met. It's been some years since I read "Timeless," but I seem to recall that Becky also kept us in L&C's POV for a long time so we had a chance to meet the B&B characters through familiar eyes.

You're right, LabRat, some people can explain the characters well, and make it enjoyable even if you don't know the show. I was speaking in broad generalties, because most of the time there are lots of assumptions that the reader knows both shows. At least that's been true for most of the cross-overs I've read. I actually like cross-overs, but I'm selective with them. I do think I would have a hard time reading a cross-over if the other show is one that I really don't like though.

And yes, I've read Becky's story, too. It's very good.

I agree with both sentiments here. I have to say, though, that with fandoms like L&C, or HP, or BtVS, where there is more than one version of canon (i.e. movies, comics, books, shows, etc.), the assumption that all of the different genres in that fandom can be crossed at will is utterly ridiculous.

I do have to say though, that as long as a X-Over fic doesn't make me say to myself, "This is definitely a cross-over," or worse, "This is definitely a BAD cross-over," then I enjoy it.

I was actually assigned to GE a nice Batman/L&C cross-over. There was more "other stuff" than either Batman or L&C in this particular fic, but I had fun GE-ing it.

An L&C fan is not necessarily going to have read the Superman comics (pre- or post-crisis), nor are they necessarily fans of the movies. Just as someone who has seen the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie might not have been interested at all in the much more serious, more occult-like television show.

Assuming that someone writing a fanfic can post a story somewhere dedicated to one corner of the fandom which is basically about another corner of the fandom (with possibly a few characterizations or settings in line with the first corner) is a bad assumption.

For instance, I've seen fics in the L&C Archives that are based on the comics--or even the movies--with the Lois & Clark in the fics being based on the show.

Some of these were quite enjoyable, but others I wouldn't read at all, because just by reading the descriptions, I thought that the authors were assuming that I'd know the basic Superman comic book "universe."

And if I wanted to read fanfic based on the movies (which I do love--except for III and IV), I'd find a Superman movie fanfiction website--not the Lois & Clark Fanfiction Archive. Know what I mean?

Heck, I didn't even know what "post-Crisis" really meant until last week when I was looking up something about Batman & Robin on Wikipedia!

/rant

I also think a crossover can only work if the author knows BOTH universes he/she is writing in extensively. For instance I would never cross L&C with something like Doctor Who because I only know the bare basic premise of Doctor Who (and even that gets confusing sometimes). But I would be willing to say cross L&C with like Charmed because I feel like I know both universes pretty well. If an author is writing a crossover and the author doesn't know much about one or more of the fandoms' their crossing or just thought it would be cool to cross a fandom he/she likes with a fandom he/she really doesn't care about or know about, then it shows and comes across half - backed.

Another thing is I agree with everybody else: A believeable crossover has to have the fandoms close together in time and space. That means for the most part, the characters have to live in the same time period (a common problem for Star Trek crosses) or if you want to cross Star Trek or Star Wars with another fandom, at least provide a way to make the crossover work that doesn't just absolutely destroy all sense of disbelief. Also crossing similarly themed fandoms work better than trying to work completely different fandoms.

I love crossovers, but I've read enough to understand why some people would rather run the other way when they see Crossover anywhere near a story.

To chime in here, and still be a little original instead of a "me too", I usually hate X-overs for all the reasons listed and with the one notable exception.

BUT, every once in a while, when it's a short, comedic X-over, I can get it. Marcus Rowland's Drabble X-over with Star Trek DS9 and LnC was quite clever.

Usually, it seems forced to me. I'm just really picky about fanfiction--there has to be a gap that seems to ask for writer intervention. For instance, I watch CSI:Miami and L&O:SVU sometimes, but you won't catch me anywhere near the fanfiction.

If I were able to watch Dr. Who, I think I might get into that fandom. It seems to lend itself. But, alas, I can't.