Crossovers, fusions, and AUs in FKFicFest

[brightknightie]

We've had crossovers in fkficfest, but it wandered through my mind today that I can't seem to recall, off the top of my head, any fusions (as distinct from crossovers)* or the most typical sorts of "total"/"mundane" AUs (like, coffee shop AU, high-school AU, band AU).

In this year's game, I'll be sure to list those specifically as allowed, along with crossovers, at the "minimum 51% Forever Knight, however you choose to measure it" threshold.

(This thought is brought to you by the notion of Janette, not Guinan, running Ten-Forward on the Enterprise-D.)

* Addendum: Apologies! I'm probably mis-defining "crossover" versus "fusion," and I may well have blown it entirely on how to reference AUs! Of course the fest has enjoyed future!fic and space and pirates and many things. I should be more careful with vocabulary I don't know well! And with times my memory is clearly failing.

Comments

[brightknightie]

Interesting! My instinct would have been to classify that scenario as a crossover rather than a fusion. But of course I don't know much about how the definitions are developing.

[senmut]

This is definitely a definition thing. I have the following rules for how I categorize:

Crossover - each universe is distinct, and the borrowed character is operating under its own rules.
Fusion - there is only one world, with a set of rules (or canon, so to speak) that applies to all characters no matter the originating universe.

But everyone in fandom has different ideas on it.

[brightknightie]

Thank you for explaining! Just from curiosity, may I ask, how do you approach the "ongoing" universes? That is, for example, can TNG/DS9 or BtVS/AtS or CSI/CSI:NY ever be crossovers, or are they always fusions?

[senmut]

I... don't see those as either. Continuing canon is a GREAT term for them, may I just say?

Take Star Trek. TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, and VOY are explicitly one universe. (Supposedly, ENT is as well, but there's some continuity issues there that make me less willing to accept it.) I would consider them all one universe, with the same rules, and continuity across the board.

One example I can think of where continuing canons might be considered as a fusion for me would be anyone writing Knot's Landing fic that referenced Bobby Ewing being alive and well, because they'd be borrowing a continuity change from their parent show that the writers of KL decided not to use.

AKA, it all gets really muddy when different execs have their hands on the branded pieces of the franchises.