It might end up being neither in that particular example. by
Outhra
on 2013-04-29 23:36:00 UTC
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In the instances I've seen, trans-dimensional snatching is more along the lines of "random character that should by no means belong where it is is nonetheless forced there by unknown means". Usually, this results in or is a symptom of a full crossover, but sometimes it's only just random characters appearing where they don't belong, just to please the writer and with little to no mention of what will happen the rest of their world in the absence of its protagonist, which is trans-dimensional snatching at its core.
I remember one mission where the agents charged for trans-dimensional snatching by having a brief mention of the Left 4 Dead characters in a sci-fi universe(I think it might have been Star Wars). It was an unconnected continuum, in a different genre, and the snatched characters were never heard from again outside that scene. Textbook, really.
I think the distinction isn't so much whether World One is the starting point or the ending point, but rather the method. Trans-dimensional hopping is usually a "this is the only way it's going to work" story crutch, since otherwise the Mary Sue wouldn't be able to have knowledge of pizza-making and popular boy bands(not that it stops them), which would cripple the writing style of most Suethors. Trans-dimensional snatching is more a "Wouldn't it be cool if she was here, too?" scenario without the forethought or logical reactions and causes for the transit that would make the appearance of that character halfway plausible.
In that specific badfic, however, I don't know if it would be trans-dimensional anything. It would be stupid, undoubtedly, but since The Big Bang Theory exists in a world so close to World One that Will Wheaton and Steve Wozniak not only exist, but appear as themselves in episodes of the show, it's not out of the question to have Jennifer Lawrence exist.
It's not as though they were saying that her character Katniss Everdeen exists in the The Big Bang Theory continuum, and made her Penny's cousin, without any of the Hunger Games universe present in anything more than throwaway dialogue. That would definitely be snatching, assuming it doesn't expand from there and turn into a crossover.
Giving World One actresses implausible relationships to canon characters is a charge, though, and a major one at that, so I'm not saying drop the idea. Far from it; I'm actually interested to see how a sitcom universe would be PPCed.
Holy schist. by
hermione of vulcan
on 2013-04-29 23:33:00 UTC
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I am not surprised that something that completely off the wall crazy (insane? stupid?) came from the Circle. What. The. Actual. Fudge.
(Notice my creative substitutions.)
I'd say it's outside the PPC's jurisdiction, because it involves a real person. So it's RPF, in a way.