Subject: My thoughts on transferring biologies
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Posted on: 2010-05-10 05:18:00 UTC
From the patterns I've seen (and remember I'm new, though unfortunately prone to lectures):
In any given continuum, things will follow the default rules of that continuum unless those rules are directly twisted by a 'Sue.
When the rules do get twisted, the continuum attempts to follow them as directly and literally as possible--which results in some rather odd effects, such as Mini creation.
When someone crosses from one continuum to another, he will generally still behave as though the new continuum were a part of his home continuum: Someone from the Harry Potter verse could still cast spells; a Vulcan could still perform a mind-meld. I can only assume that this means characters retain a connection to their home continuum. It doesn't make characters invulnerable to things that would hurt them in their home continua, though: A vampire from "Dracula" would still be vulnerable to a stake through the heart even in a place where vampires do not exist or are not vulnerable to stakes.
Those rules seem to hold true for characters from Sue-twisted continua. A Sue that enters HQ from her own world will still retain her Sue powers. Sue weaponry and magical artifacts still retain their qualities. (Most of the time, though, friendly resident ex-Sues and any Sueish possessions are deliberately depowered to avoid influencing agents.)
Characters from worlds that have been influenced by Sues seem to retain the Suefluence-related characteristics even after they travel to another world. That holds true even if the Sue is killed or the major aberration repaired, and their home continuum reverts to its original state. When the home continuum reverts, all canon characters still in the original continuum tend towards reverting to canon as well, though those who have had the most contact with the Sue will probably have to be neuralyzed. However, any characters on a different world at the time do not revert along with their home canon.
It is probably possible to transfer some of the effects of one's home continuum to someone else. Learning magic from a character recruited from the Harry Potter 'verse seems to be possible, for example; as is becoming a vampire if bitten by a vampire from any one of many places where vampires bite and turn people.
How does this apply to biology (other than my loving long lectures)? Well, basically, biology is just one more rule that a Mary Sue has the ability to alter. The rules of a home continuum--even one that has been altered by a Mary Sue--will imprint on anyone leaving that continuum, and work the same way for them afterward. That means that bad biology would most likely still work for anyone who traveled to World One--even for things that were obviously impossible, such as flying with wings much too small, or being an impossible hybrid with three parents.
Exceptions:
*There are reports of Agents assimilating into continua that aren't their original ones. They are no longer cloaked by the canon (as active Agents would be), but tend to retain some effects from their home worlds. Theoretically, if someone with biology impossible on one world were to move to another and stay there, it might eventually become either dangerous or deadly to stay, or simply become impossible to use whatever powers their original biology granted. (Possibly both, depending on the exact nature of the difference between the two biologies.)
*Some things tend to either blow up in your face, or at least stop working, if you question them too hard (I shan't mention bleeprin). Bad biology in a world that doesn't support it may be one of those things. While there are no recorded instances (that I've found), pointing out the illogical nature of someone's biology, while in a world that does not support said biology, may be enough to cause the current world's rules to assert themselves... possibly in a very messy and satisfying manner. Think of it as a more scientific version of "I don't believe in fairies."