Crossovers! Crossovers! Crossovers!
I am a great big crossover fan. I know some people are fond of stories that adhere to their fandom's canon, or stick to the timeline of their show, or have never even heard of mystic cross-dimensional de-aging portals...but that's not for me. Give me a story that stretches an author's capabilities, that makes me question why I'd never thought before to stick two universes together in such a manner, show me how each 'verse works on its own and then smush 'em together like a fluffernutter sandwich of awesome. Make me think about this new 'verse you're creating in the crossover, and then let me sit back and enjoy the chaos you've created.
Some fandoms have crossover potential built right in: the characters routinely visit other planets/worlds/dimensions/realities/timelines where another show could slot right into place; the two 'verses share a common theme of crime-solving/crime-committing/space ships/vampires/government conspiracies that could overlap with another fandom; the writing style or episode arcs share a similar worldview or sense of humor as another fandom, and the characterizations work well together.
And some fandoms...don't. There's no real reason to think that fusing two disparate worlds together would result in anything less than a trainwreck, and yet somehow, the author manages to weave together a thing of beauty from some completely unlikely sources. And those, I think, are the best crossovers - where I never would have expected a great story to come from, or never would have even thought to look in the first place, and yet after I'm done reading (or, listening) I can't imagine any other way that story could have been told.
So, today's installment of the Amplirecathon 2011 festival is a tribute to my love of crossover stores. Here, have some podfic.
Bad Choice Of Majors (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Stargate: Atlantis)
In this crossover, written and read by havocthecat, we've got a mild case of hand-waving going on as to how the two fandoms connect - magic portal is always a good one for the Buffy cast, and Team Sheppard is pretty good at rolling with the punches when it comes to the weird and wacky ways of Pegasus. The audio's a little crinkly at times (not the cleanest recording ever), but the way that havoc portrays the characters from both shows with such accuracy and dead-on precision is fantastic. John is laconic, Rodney is skeptical, Xander's having flashbacks to Soldier Guy, and Willow babbles just like we love about her. These characterizations are just so true to form, that you'd completely believe Joss Whedon had a hand in writing this episode.
Donna Noble, King Of Camelot (Doctor Who/Merlin)
I don't actually follow a whole lot of Merlin fanfic, but this story - written by netgirl_y2k and read by lunchy_munchy - doesn't actually require me to know a whole lot about the intrigues of King Uther's court to suck me in and hold me spellbound. Thanks to the time/space/dimension-hopping abilities of the TARDIS, Donna Noble ends up in Camelot. And then, thanks to the sheer force of personality exuded by the "best temp in Chiswick", awesome happens. And possibly a revolution or two, as well. The characterization is so spot-on Donna, that you'll be laughing and giggling and generally wondering why this episode hasn't aired yet on television. Plus, there's a really great use of theme-songs-as-scene-breaks in this podfic, to distinguish what things are happening to which people.
Geniuses + Extras (Calvin & Hobbes/Foxtrot)
I was originally a bit hesitant to pick up this podfic - Calvin & Hobbes and Foxtrot were both staples of my Saturday morning newspaper reading while growing up, and I was unsure how the desecration of my childhood memories could possibly be a good thing. But in this story, written by lunchy_munchy and read by twilight_angel, no desecration occurs at all! Taking for granted that Jason and Calvin would be around the same age, and live in the same universe of home'n'school'n'ordinary life, of course it makes sense that Jason would go into computer science, and of course Calvin would be the shy-yet-sensitive artist type. There're some tongue-in-cheek references back to the comics themselves ('Something Under The Bed Is Drooling', anyone?), and the characterization of two cartoon boys who enjoy powertools and science projects comes through clearly. And, in the 'extras', we get cameo appearances from Peter, Paige, and Suzy - rounding out the completely probable world-meshing experiment going on in this podfic. Plus, by the end, you're left feeling like you just read another anthology of either strip - that's how much sense this story makes.
Nerd Alert (Bones/Doctor Who)
We don't need to know how or why Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan ends up in the TARDIS, and we don't need to know what the Doctor does much at all. All you need to know, for this ficlet, is that Bones is insatiably curious about everything, and that the Doctor has a love for his TARDIS only rivaled by that of his love for the Sonic Screwdriver. sophia_helix wrote the interactions between two such intelligent characters perfectly, and iamsab's delivery is completely cracktastic, and utterly wonderful.
Parrot (Pirates of the Caribbean/Harry Potter)
Here's a crossover fic that, from the outset, you wouldn't think would actually work. Captain Jack Sparrow attending Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry? Preposterous! But, at the very heart of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga is a magical view of the world, finding the unexpected and unbelievable in the ordinary and mundane. And who better to find the magical view of otherwise-ordinary life, than wizards? penknife manages to convey the complete devil-may-care attitude of Captain Jack as a child, and pandarus's accent makes the whole story even more believable.
Doesn't Look Like A Hell Dimension (Doctor Who/Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Written and read by Kathryn Anderson, this fic utilizes both a mystic portal and the TARDIS to link up two 'verses, but the true melding of fandoms comes as Buffy and the Doctor begin to interact. They're both in a really bad place, emotion-wise: Buffy having just jumped to her death to save her sister at the end of Season Six, and the Doctor only narrowly having avoided the destruction of worlds at the hand of both the Daleks and Cybermen. Both are heroes, both are grieving, and neither have a way back to the ones they loved and lost. The conversation between Buffy and the Doctor in this podfic is completely heartwrenching, and utterly believable in its sincerity. You don't realize how similarly broken these two characters are, until Kathryn pokes you with it - and by the end, you're hoping that together, Buffy and the Doctor might find a way to help fix each other's cracks despite it all.
Can't Stop The Turtle (Discworld/Firefly)
I am pretty sure that this podfic has been recc'ed before, most likely last year, because it's too supremely awesome to not have been. You've got all the best and most strange aspects of the Discworld (Lord Vetinari! The Librarian! Sam Vimes! The Great A'Tuin!) contrasted against the more pragmatic personalities of the crew of Serenity. For those not in the know, the Discworld is a flat world that rests on the back of four elephants, carried through space on the shell of a giant turtle. And the Firefly-class ship Serenity takes whatever job they can, so long as they get paid. Taking a job from an orangutan, to determine the gender of a giant space turtle, is not too odd for them.... roga manages to capture all the wit and satire of Terry Pratchett's series, and jadesfire2808 delivers line after line of comedic genius. Even if you only know Firefly's canon, well, the Discworld is not too odd a place - after all, there's a world out there that made Jayne their personal icon of awesome!
Walk Out Of The World (Stargate: Atlantis/Firefly)
Written by Martha Wilson and read by summertea, this Firefly crossover is more lyrical than most. Told from the perspective of River Tam, who sees the world around her differently than just about anyone else, we're given a story that reveals certain background information slowly or not at all, and yet makes perfect sense anyway. It's a different feel than many stories, because River is not the most reliable narrator despite her incredible intelligence. Her 'Reader'-ness gets a neat emphasis here, and the beautiful way Atlantis is described will make you swoon. Plus, the idea that River's "I can kill you with my brain" attitude and Rodney's "Smartest man in two galaxies!" ego would meet, should sell you on this story right away.
The Man With No Name (Doctor Who/Firefly)
At over nine hours, this story (written by Sara Dickinson, read by liannabob) is the epitome of awesome. I'd actually read it over at FFN, and then found a link to the podbook, and been all, "Seriously? Awesome!" for approximately three days. Taking place post-Big Damn Movie for Firefly, and post-Season Two Christmas Special for the Doctor, this is a truly enjoyable epic. There's the merging of two 'verses that makes sense, beyond simply 'showing up in the TARDIS' - the way this tale is told, you can see how history might unfold from what we know now into what future space colonists might know then. And, the idea that the Doctor is just as 'undercover' as the Tams, and the entire 'case fic' atmosphere of this story, makes it all the more enjoyable. The characterizations of everyone aboard Serenity are spot-on, and the ramifications of Miranda are logically played out in the way we all wish could have happened, had Fox not pulled the plug on everyone's favorite space cowboy series. There's humor, and angst, and suspense, and general awesome all over the place. Pinky-swear.
Pocket Watch Boy (Doctor Who/Torchwood)
Strictly speaking, I'm not entirely sure this story counts as a crossover: it has characters and alien species and ideas from the shows Torchwood and Doctor Who... BUT those shows both take place in the same overarching Whoniverse. However, this was the very first podfic I ever listened to (and, ultimately, the podfic that started me on the road that led to all the podfics I've made to date) so I'm going to cram it in with all the rest and hope for the best. mhalachaiswords has written my favorite version of Ianto on the internet - what could possibly be better than wee!TimeLord!Ianto, hmmm? - and paraka has read this story to perfection. Plus, the reaction the Doctor has, when he finally meets Ianto, is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. And the way that mhalachai manages to work canon concepts into this new version of everything we think we know - and at the same time, still keep everyone in character, despite the fundamental difference at a genetic level that's introduced to us in this story - is brilliant.
Alrighty then. Hopefully, I've expanded some people's fandom horizons with these ten podfic recommendations, or at least shown why crossover stories are the bestest thing around - Extra problems to solve! Extra characters to love! Extra points during amplificathon! (And just think - originally, my list of crossover fics to rec was fifteen podfics long. You got the condensed version today....)