Crossworks 2022 Letter

[seal_nonnie]

Hello crossworker,

I go by Brachylagus_fandom on AO3. I love all these canons, and I can't wait to see how you put them together! In each request, I've written about a paragraph of what I'd like in a crossover about each canon and spitballed a couple of specific ideas, but feel free to go with something completely different if inspiration strikes. 
 

DNWs: smut (kiss or fade-to-black is fine), gore

General Likes

• Worldbuilding - how do the canons mesh together? If it's a fusion, how do characters' roles in Canon A transfer into Canon B?
• Outsider POV, characters jumping to very wrong conclusions due to a missing frame of reference, two groups in the same place for different goals
• Casefic, heistfic, and missionfic
• Humor
• Hurt/comfort
• Slice of life and character studies

Castle, Columbo, Criminal Minds, Murder She Wrote, Murdle - crossover, art or fic

I love a good murder mystery, and I would love to see any of these canons together! Casefic with two teams of detectives - or the detectives from one canon now being suspects! - would be great, but I'd also love to see how the characters interact outside of a case; they're all detectives, but they have very different personalities. Perhaps they meet at some kind of professional event, or maybe Canon A's characters are the weirdos in the next precinct over. 

For a crossover involving Castle, Criminal Minds, and/or Murder She Wrote, I'd love to see Castle/Rossi/Jessica interacting as authors instead of (or in addition to) detectives. What are their opinions on each others' work? Do they go to the same writers' conferences?

For a Castle crossover, I'd love to see more of Castle's family; I really liked their dynamic in the show. Maybe Alexis helps Logico solve a case, or maybe Martha is old friends with Jessica. Or maybe some of the cops remember Jessica's tenure in New York and reminisce about her to Castle (or complain about Castle to her).

For a Columbo crossover, I'd love to see him shuffle though the homes of someone else's rich and powerful. Maybe he investigates Baron Maroon, or perhaps he and Jessica meet at a party gone horribly wrong. Or maybe he offers his advice to the next generation of crime-fighters.

Criminal Minds has a more serious tone than the other canons on this list, and that could be fun to play with. I'd love to see the details of a Murdle case relayed as a BAU briefing, for instance. Maybe Jessica's body magnet status is a result of her being a serial killer, or at least enough grounds for suspicion! It would also be great to go the other way and treat one of the BAU's cases as if it belonged in a cozier canon; maybe Columbo "and another thing"s the serial killer, or Inspector Irratino divines the killer via a ouija board. And, given the tension between the BAU and the local police in some episodes, it could be great to see their reactions to the consultants (and, in some cases, detectives) from the other canons.

For a Murder She Wrote crossover, I'd love to see Jessica interacting with any of the other detectives in a professional capacity, either as a writer or a fellow detective. Maybe Grady has fallen under suspicion of murder in L.A., and now she needs to uncover the real culprit with the help of Columbo, or maybe Cousin Emma had a fling with Earl Grey. It could also be fun to have other characters come from/visit Cabot Cove and interact with the locals; perhaps Dr. Crimson was Seth's protegee before she took "residency is murder" a bit too literally, or maybe the Castles go down there every summer.

Murdle is such a wacky canon, and I'd love to see it's weirdness be taken extremely seriously by other canons. It would also be really fun to see how the various other detectives deal with the dynamic duo; I feel like most of them would be similar to Logico in methods, but Jess and Columbo both have Irratino's penchant for drama. And anyone showing up for a Sunday puzzle and asking where the body is would be gold.

 

Birds of Prey, Carmen Sandiego, Heist Society, Leverage - crossover, art or fic

Canons where the bad guys make the best good guys! I'd love to see the teams working together - or at odds! - or just talking about their shared experiences (in general or with each other).

For Birds of Prey, I'd love to see Harley and Cass interact with one of the other con teams; maybe one of their clients also contacted Leverage Consulting, or maybe one of their targets also has stolen art. I also really love the Birds of Prey themselves, and would love to see them teaming up with someone to take down a bad guy. I wonder if Eliot or Shadow-san would know (or at least know of) Helena, and if so what they thought of the Bertinellis; maybe they were members of VILE who turned like Carmen's dad.

For Carmen Sandiego, I'd really like to see how the team meshes with the other heist crews. I bet Zack and Ivy would really enjoy meeting Simon or Hardison, and Carmen and Player would have a lot of fun with Cass, but I could also see age being a point of contention. I wonder what various characters attuned to the criminal underworld would think of their exploits, or if the Leverage crew has ever impersonated ACME agents.

Heist Society is an old favorite of mine, and I love the way the books develop not just what the gang is stealing and how they are stealing it (and how that goes sideways) but why. Maybe the society targets the same person as the Birds of Prey or Team Red (and they have to negotiate so that everyone leaves with what they want/need), or maybe Leverage gets called on the Hales (with the gang either abetting or working to thwart them, depending on the particular Hale involved)!

I love how the cons come together in Leverage, and I'd really love anything that captures that feeling, be it an actual con (planning or execution) or an "and that's how these two things/people are connected". In addition to the prompts above, I think it could be fun to have Archie or Parker connected to the Bishops in some way; maybe he's a secret third brother of Uncle Eddie, or maybe Kat goes to Parker for thieving tips.

39 Clues, Fairy Tail, Mysterious Benedict Society, Percy Jackson, Creator's Choice of Fandom - crossover or fusion, art or fic

 

All four of these canons have worlds that could make for a really interesting fusion and really interesting characters that could make for a good crossover (or be fun to fuse onto)! 

I really like the wide variety of types of magic in Fairy Tail, and I'd love to see who in a fusion gets what kind and how they use those powers. (Archive magic would map well to a character with a very good memory like Sticky, while requip would be a natural match for Kate's bucket - though I could also see her as a dragon slayer thanks to the parental abandonment angle.) For a fusion using Fairy Tail characters, my faves are Levy and the rest of Team Shadow Gear; Erza, Milliana, and the other tower of heaven kids; Ur and her students; and Wendy. For crossovers, I'd love to see how Fairy Tail's magic system meshes with that of other canons with powers (e.g., Percy Jackson's water powers are very different from Juvia's) or how other characters react to the general chaos (and property damage) Fairy Tail guild members bring along. 

The branch system for 39 Clues leads to some pretty simple personality sorting, but I love to see cases where that breaks down (for example, Annabeth's obvious branch would be Ekat due to her intelligence, but I could also see her being a Janus because architecture is a type of design). For a fusion, I'd really like to see how the hunt shapes their relationships (and maybe an exploration of non-Cahill characters who get wrapped up in it, like the Vespers and Guardians - I really wish the latter had gotten explored more in Cahills vs. Vespers). It could also be fun to map how the relationships in 39 clues that were shaped by the serum were instead formed by factors in another canon. My faves for a fusion using 39 Clues characters are Amy, Grace, Fiske, and Dan; the Starlings, especially Sinead; Nellie Gomez; Alistair Oh; and Erasmus Yilmaz. For a crossover, I'd love another group doing the clue hunt or meeting by chance because a location is significant both to the other canon and to the hunt (like there being a clue in Stonetown or on Nomansan Island). The older Cahills would be particularly great for that as they've had more time to venture forth; maybe Irina discovered the six-hundredth floor while she was staying at the Lucian base in New York, or maybe Fiske's time as the Man in Black brought him to Fiore.

I really like the way a godly parent can (but doesn't always) reflect a character's personality and/or skills in Percy Jackson. In a fusion, I'd love to see which characters have the parentage of which god and who's just a clear-sighted mortal as well as maybe a divide between Greeks and Romans (with a mixed group eventually realizing something's hinky). For a fusion using Percy Jackson characters, I am a big fan of Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Hazel, Reyna, and Rachel. For a crossover, I'd love to see both characters who were secretly a demigod all along and characters who are mortals stumble into/across the mythological world; maybe the Shortcut accidentally sets course through the Sea of Monsters, or maybe Chrissy Collins' skills for thievery come from being a daughter of Hermes.

A Mysterious Benedict Society crossover or fusion is the perfect place to put your fave smart kid character with neglectful and/or nonexistent parents (Starling triplets, I'm looking at you). For a fusion, I'd love to see either the society being assembled/in action or how various adult characters fit into the roles of the adults; who is the brainswept secret agent, who's got the evil twin masterminding the Emergency, and who are the lonely smart kids with neglectful and/or nonexistent parents all grown up? For a fusion using the Mysterious Benedict Society characters, my faves are the Wetheralls (and Moocho), Sticky, Number Two, Rhonda, and the show version of Martina Crowe. For a crossover, I'd love to see other characters dealing with the Emergency or otherwise intersecting the plot; maybe L.I.V.E. is the latest of Percy's many schools, or maybe Alistair Oh caught wind of the very peculiar signals coming from Nomansan Island.

 

Babylon 5, Honor Harrington, Star Wars (Original Trilogy) - crossover, art or fic

 

Three space-based canons with rather different worlds that I'd love to see interact!

For Babylon 5, I'd love to see some more of the station; maybe Han Solo is making a semi-legit deal in the Zoccolo, or maybe a Manticoran ship takes leave there. Ranger missions could also be a lot of fun. The Jedi mind trick (presuming it works across species) would be very useful, and I think putting Marcus Cole and Victor Cachat in the same room would lead to an… interesting experience for everyone on several surrounding planets. I also think a parallel can be drawn between Babylon 5's Mars and the Verge planets seeking independence in the later Honor Harrington books, which could be good to explore.

For Honor Harrington, I'd love to see what people with psychic powers think of treecats. Do they vex the Psy Corps? Is there special significance in the world of Babylon 5 of all members of a species being telepathic? Are treecats as a species very attuned to the force, and are there treecat Jedi? I'd also love some of the human characters interacting with the other canons; what is the understanding of the Manticoran-Havenite war like on Babylon 5 or Coruscant? What's Franklin's impression of regen? When Ivanova, Honor, and Leia all walk into a bar, how many would-be baddies walk out again?

I love the wide variety of planets in Star Wars, and I'd love to see characters from the other two canons experience one of them for the first time. It would also be great to see how the more magic-heavy world of Star Wars interacts with the more grounded Babylon 5 and Honor Harrington. What do the Jedi and technomages think of each other? How does Force telepathy compare to treecat telepathy?

 

Alex Rider, Carmen Sandiego, CHERUB, D.E.B.S., Gallagher Girls - crossover, art or fic

 

Teen spies and spy schools have been favorite tropes of mine for a long time, and two spy schools are better than one! (Or, at least, more chaotic. Success of spying not guaranteed.) I'd love to see two agencies teaming up for a joint mission, but I'd also really like to see agents talking about and contrasting their experiences

Alex Rider is a bit more serious of a story, and I'd love to see how its deconstruction of the teenage spy trope meshes with the other canons. CHERUB would be great for this as the teen spies in both are British - how is Alex MI6's only spy when there's an entire uber-secret org for them, and how do the cherubs react to him? - but I'd also love to see him go to college at a place like D.E.B.S., where most of the students came from relatively normal backgrounds, or go on an exchange program to Blackthorne or Gallagher (who, while teens, aren't supposed to be active agents). It could also be interesting to see him interact with Bex's parents, since they're active agents with a child around the same age.

Carmen and the rest of Team Red are on the opposite side of the law from the rest of the protagonists here, and that could be interesting. Do CHERUB agents ever get sent to VILE Isle or work with ACME? What does Shadow-San think of Matthew Morgan or Ms. Petrie? What happens when Team Red picks a target Alex Rider has been sent after and they need to work together?

For CHERUB, I would love to see the agents on a cooperative mission with one of the other agencies (so many clashing expectations! so many strong personalities! such a high chance for extreme chaos!) or how CHERUB as an institution meshes with the other teen spy programs. How would the Gallagher girls' (and Blackthorne boys') existence affect CHERUB missions in the US? Are the D.E.B.S. an acceptable matriculation choice, and if so does the college for spies officially know about the school for spies? Had the children of CHERUB agents been allowed to become agents when she was at the right age, would Bex's parents have had her do so rather than sending her to Gallagher? What happens if CHERUB agents try to infiltrate VILE Isle?

For D.E.B.S., I'd love to see more of Lucy and Amy. Maybe some of the adults involved gossiped about Amy and Lucy, and maybe the two of them end up meeting some younger agents who have heard all sorts of wild rumors (a few of which are true). In addition to the "hero" agencies, Lucy might field them from VILE agents (or a Carmen who developed a very bizarre understanding of the incident based on overheard rumors). Or maybe Max has to field the rumor mill when she works with some other agents or guest lectures at one of the spy schools; I'd love to see her being a fully fledged, super-competent agent.

While the Gallagher girls are training to be spies, they're not sent out on missions like the spies for the other canons on this list are, and I'd love to see how that affects the interagency dynamic. How does their wide base of knowledge compare to the practical experience of Alex Rider? Does a co-mission with CHERUB go as disastrously wrong as most of their self-appointed ones? Do Gallagher girls matriculate to D.E.B.S. after graduation, or is it considered a feeder school for it? Is there any connection between the Circle of Cavan and VILE, and if so what knowledge would VILE agents have of Cammie or her father?