Sunshine Challenge 2021 - Prompt 5 (Pan)

[greerwatson]

Prompt 5: Pan

Part man and part goat, Pan is a nature god well known in many mythologies. Born in Arcadia to Hermes and a dryad, Pan was a precocious child whose goat’s feet and horned head delighted the gods, but startled the mortals he lived nearer to; Pan did not live on Mount Olympus, but rather in the forests and wilds of Arcadia. Pan famously invented a musical instrument: the syrinx, or pan pipes as they are more commonly known. He is known for his haunting melodies, and music was often a central part to his worship.

I racked my brain over this one before it occurred to me to consider the bonus prompt, "Chimaera". Well, in Greek mythology, that was the name of a hybrid monster that was part lion, part goat, and part snake (and hence quite an appropriate extra prompt for Pan, who is half man and half goat). Nowadays, the term has been extended to mean living beings with two distinct sets of DNA.

Which made me think of fanfic crossovers.

On the whole, they're not the sort of thing that appeals to me. It's not the concept in itself: it's just that, when I'm looking through the collection for a gift exchange, it's very rare that I know enough about both (or all!) the fandoms involved to be able to appreciate the story. And only once have my offers included a crossover. It was a few years ago when I realized at the last minute that none of the things I was offering for everywoman had been requested by any of the other participants. I combed through everything in vain until, finally, I decided to try to see if any the crossovers might suit. Even then, if a hint of a plot hadn't—astonishingly!—occurred to me, I'd simply have deleted my sign-up.

I guess I just don't naturally come up with ideas that properly mix two or more different fandoms in the same fic. And, when I say "properly", I mean giving each a fair shake. One of the commonest problems with a lot of the stories that are tagged as crossovers is a failure to balance the fandoms more or less evenly. All too often, what you get is a mere cameo appearance so slight that it hardly even merits the name "crossover", and you wonder why the author bothered.

That's not the case with RecessiveJean's "The Girl in the Glass", though. It's a Narnia/Harry Potter crossover focusing on Polly Plummer and Ginny Weasley. A magic mirror allows them to communicate across time; and, although the story focuses a bit more on Polly's side of things, Ginny opens and closes the account. In the end, all is balanced out most excellently.

Comments

[paulamcg]

How wonderful that the prompt made you think about such an essential fanwork-related topic! While I've loved the idea of writing about cross-breed characters in the Harry Potter world, crossovers have remained a lot more alien creatures to me. :) I've been so hopelessly addicted to writing HP fic that I've never got motivated to writing in any other fandom, and even when I've known the other canon, I've felt that I don't know it well enough to appreciate a crossover fic in the way those do who are active in both fandoms. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and a great crossover rec, too!

[smallhobbit]

My favourite way of writing crossovers is IntoABar, when a character from one fandom meets a character from another fandom.

[dreamkist]

You summed up why I usually avoid crossovers - cameo appearances! What is the point of them? :)

I don't know much about Narnia, but I enjoyed that lovely fic!

[enemytosleep]

I have to agree that most often fanfic crossovers seem to either be cameo appearances or simply retelling one story with the characters from another, essentially just renaming everything. I have attempted a crossover for intoabar once and oddly it was a very satisfying challenge to really marry the two fandoms into a single story (whether or not I was successful I leave to the readers to judge, but I certainly enjoyed the challenge in trying). It's one of the more difficult fanfic genres to attempt for sure.

[silveradept]

Good crossovers are difficult to write, and that's even when I do know the canons well enough to try doing it. It is interesting, though, to see how certain kinds of settings lend themselves well to being used in crossover works. I guess they could be the little black dress settings, as opposed to the characters that usually get that designation.

[bemused_writer]

I think a lot of crossovers are more like fusions if I understand that term correctly. Basically, they use the backdrop to explore one specific fandom's characters more than the other. At least, that's how I've done things with some of my crossovers. You're completely correct about how hard it is to perfectly balance both series. I'm not sure that is often managed! The Girl In the Glass looks like a good example, though.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the rec!