Thanks for noticing?

I gotta admit, I've given that kind of feedback. After some of the crap you read, it's like water in the desert. You almost don't believe it's actually there and you're so grateful for it, you're shouting it to the rooftops.

Um. I left feedback to a Stargate fic on TtH once that ended with something like "...and thanks for taking the time to get the geography of Colorado Springs right. Not many do."

Yeah, it was the kind of feedback that just made me boggle. I mean, really, speaking for myself, a lot of crossovers waste way too much time on setup, when what the reader wants is that moment of collision. I am not going to waste 4,000 words getting Sheppard to the Uncharted Territories, dude.

Eh. Anyway. At least my SPN/SCC crossover has gotten a nice reception.

a lot of crossovers waste way too much time on setup

So true. My theory is that people waste time on setup because that's the part the makes them feel clever. "Look, I have done such a realistic job getting Harry and Hermione onto the Starship Enterprise, nobody would ever guess that they weren't part of the same world."

My theory is that people waste time on setup because that's the part the makes them feel clever. "Look, I have done such a realistic job getting Harry and Hermione onto the Starship Enterprise, nobody would ever guess that they weren't part of the same world."

fwiw, I actively enjoy a clever sewing-together of 'verses. And have problems suspending disbelief when the crossover requires one of the 'verses to have its rules rewritten/canon be glossed over - or when there's no explanation at all.

Which - totally ymmv, and yay for everyone having their own beautiful cake. But I'm balking a bit at dismissing this sewing-together as self-congratulatory timewasting.

And have problems suspending disbelief when the crossover requires one of the 'verses to have its rules rewritten/canon be glossed over - or when there's no explanation at all.

That's definitely a problem, too. I don't write fanfiction, much less crossovers, but getting the two (or more) universes involved together in a way that works and pleases most people has got to be very difficult. I can't think of too many crossovers where there wasn't at least some mild bending of canon, but a crossover is, to me, ultimately an AU story anyway so some bending is allowed in my mind.

And sometimes it's the buildup that's the fun part! Seeing how you can in fact put character X into scenario Y and make it feel natural.

But then, I'm a sucker for crossovers and AUs.

Ailleann spoke for me in that post.

I tend to be a hard sell for crossovers. The ones that work for me are set with canon characters in a familiar 'verse, and you begin to notice a background character, or characters. They fit into the current canon, but there's something recognizable and familiar about them as they pass through, or become less relegated to background. It gives a little frisson when you do recognize them, and realize they've managed to fit right in for the most part and are incognito in the current 'verse. I like that moment of recognition, and give the writer props for cleverness, deftness and the tidy melding of 'verses.

But that's just me and what I like.