I want to keep the "childrens' fiction" theme ...

On OFU crossovers: do they work, or are they confusing? by Laburnum on 2008-09-24 20:18:00 UTC Reply

We're looking for a slightly different storyline to the usual "Sues invade" thing for the OFUR. I had the idea that we could bring in a dimensional rift which, instead of allowing Sues in, allows in something horrible from a fandom which does not have any fic or an OFU, therefore the characters and monsters do not know what's going on and behave exactly how they would in their canon, i.e. killing everything in sight. Would this work, or would it just confuse people who don't know the other fandom?

Well the only horrible thing by Fichunter on 2008-09-26 12:06:00 UTC Reply

Would be something out of Hellsing. Perhaps a horde of Millenium Vampires would do the trick.

Or perhaps The Anon horde might be A good idea. On all accounts They seem to have a loathing for furries, if only for their susceptability to trolling. They are highly chaotic, filled with controlled rage and hate for their enemies on their *chans.

Warhammer 40k seems good if only for the Orks.

Are any of these Good?

I already had an example, I just wanted to know ... by Laburnum on 2008-09-26 13:34:00 UTC Reply

... if using it would just confuse people who weren't familiar with it. I didn't want to explain what my example was in case of spoilering my own writing.

Re: I already had an example, I just wanted to know ... by Anonymous on 2008-09-28 03:28:00 UTC Reply

If it's really obscure good writing, and fits into the story's patterns and prose, most people's eyes just gloss over it until they read about it somewhere else.
I myself didn't notice the drow comment in OFUM 'til I started reading R.A. Salvadore.

Well, Miss Cam did a crossover in OFUM 2... by Lily Winterwood on 2008-09-25 23:04:00 UTC Reply

And though I haven't read about Death, drow, or daleks, I still thought it was amusing.
They work, but... by Neshomeh on 2008-09-24 21:31:00 UTC Reply

Since I can guess what the other fandom might be, I have to wave a little caution flag for the sake of my sanity. Isn't part of the idea to keep Redwall's innocence intact? And to show how bad fanfic is bad? If the pure, undiluted canon is trying to kill everyone, it's a slightly strained message.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea; I'm just saying choose wisely.

~Neshomeh

True. by Laburnum on 2008-09-24 22:16:00 UTC Reply

We did have the idea that something a lone Sue did caused the crossover, stranding the students in the other canon or letting it in or whatever.

(Which one did you guess?)

My guess. by Neshomeh on 2008-09-25 00:52:00 UTC Reply

My first guess was Jack, but I also seem to recall mention of nasty things from the Deptford Mice books, which is my second guess. I haven't read them, though.

~Neshomeh

Bingo. by Laburnum on 2008-09-25 00:59:00 UTC Reply

What could be more fun than pitting a bunch of kids against the giant snake god? Such a shame I probably can't use it because nobody would get the references ... and I was so keen on this idea, too.

Still possible by Winter on 2008-09-25 02:54:00 UTC Reply

If you want to keep the idea, but maybe broadening it a bit to a general invasion by various cosmic horrors, I'll be happy to help however I can.

I want to keep the "childrens' fiction" theme ... by Laburnum on 2008-09-25 03:17:00 UTC Reply

... just so I can have characters look at each other and say "These came from KIDS' books?!" Or something.

Heck, maybe I could avoid the crossover if the cosmic rift thing erases all memory of the OFU world in the minds of the vermin staff members ... they're insanely violent and difficult to handle already, even if they are not cosmic horrors. And there are a lot of them.

You could always try... by Winter on 2008-09-25 03:40:00 UTC Reply

The original versions of common fairy tales and Disney movies, for example, though it might drop the cosmic horror theme. Snow White, for example. In the fairy tale, Snow White was about 14. She was woken up from her coma by one of her children sucking on her finger and accidentally removing the splinter that made her fall into the coma. Yes, children. She had been raped and given birth twice while asleep, and when she did wake up, she immediately hunted down the good prince responsible, who had gone home to be with his wife... and in a couple of versions, she ate her kids in a rage at the end.

Oh yes, I know those. by Laburnum on 2008-09-25 11:45:00 UTC Reply

I'm using them for my ficlet series "Scarytails Can Come True" (fairytales as retold by vermin. You have to change surprisingly few things about them).

Since this is you... by Ansela on 2008-09-24 22:45:00 UTC Reply

I'll take a guess at Jack/i>.

Actually ... by Laburnum on 2008-09-24 22:56:00 UTC Reply

... we were going to use Jack earlier, in a comedy chapter. (insanegrrl and I have already shown in missions that the Jack cast know about the Canon Protection Initiative - well, the dead ones do - and there have been shoutouts to Redwall in the canon comic - see Artie's wife being treated in Saint Ninian's Hospital - and I find the idea of a field trip in Hell to be deeply amusing.) Besides, Jack already has a fanfic board, though not an OFU - webcomic OFUs may not be a good idea because the original author would be looking over your shoulder all the time and things would get weird.

The one I was thinking of is purely PG-rated, but still rather darker and more gruesome than Redwall (not that Mossflower doesn't have its fair share of random deaths, but they're slightly more avoidable there). Trouble is, it's also very obscure, so it's likely that nobody reading would understand what was going on. Probably a bad idea, then.

Dark, gruesome, and obscure? by Winter on 2008-09-24 23:06:00 UTC Reply

If that means Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, or one of the darker, creepier Dungeons And Dragons books (Lords of Madness, Book of Vile Darkness, etc) a specialist going through PPC Orientation is present and available.

Guess again. by Laburnum on 2008-09-24 23:14:00 UTC Reply

Though now you mention it, it might work better if several things were mixed in there - more dangerous therefore more fun, and more chance that someone who's reading will have heard of at least one of them.

Oh, they can provide gruesome by Winter on 2008-09-24 23:30:00 UTC Reply

If you want dark, gruesome, and dangerous from any of those three settings, give me a call. There are many, many options to choose from, ranging from simple body horror to mind [CENSORED] to things that really should not be discussed in polite company.

The ones I was thinking of are, technically, kids' books. by Laburnum on 2008-09-24 23:36:00 UTC Reply

But they're full of various wonderful Cosmic Horrors which will eat your soul at the slightest provocation.

Dare I guess? by Winter on 2008-09-24 23:43:00 UTC Reply

Almost every kids' book, ever? Aside from the blatantly Anvilicious ones, kids' books in general have a disturbingly large number of Cosmic Horrors.

But that's fine if you wanted to expand it-DnD, WH, and WH40k have plenty of Cosmic Horrors of their own. Just read http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CosmicHorror and scroll down to the Tabletop Games page.