I am a great big crossover fan. I know some people are fond of stories that adhere to their fandom's canon, or stick to the timeline of their show, or have never even heard of mystic cross-dimensional de-aging portals...but that's not for me. Give me a story that stretches an author's capabilities, that makes me question why I'd never thought before to stick two universes together in such a manner, show me how each 'verse works on its own and then smush 'em together like a fluffernutter sandwich of awesome. Make me
think about this new 'verse you're creating in the crossover, and then let me sit back and enjoy the chaos you've created.
Some fandoms have crossover potential built right in: the characters routinely visit other planets/worlds/dimensions/realities/timelines where another show could slot right into place; the two 'verses share a common theme of crime-solving/crime-committing/space ships/vampires/government conspiracies that could overlap with another fandom; the writing style or episode arcs share a similar worldview or sense of humor as another fandom, and the characterizations work well together.
And some fandoms...don't. There's no real reason to think that fusing two disparate worlds together would result in anything less than a trainwreck, and yet somehow, the author manages to weave together a thing of beauty from some completely unlikely sources. And those, I think, are the best crossovers - where I never would have expected a great story to come from, or never would have even thought to look in the first place, and yet after I'm done reading (or, listening) I can't imagine any other way that story could have been told.
So, today's installment of the Amplirecathon 2011 festival is a tribute to my love of crossover stores. Here, have some podfic.
( podfic recs behind the cut ) Alrighty then. Hopefully, I've expanded some people's fandom horizons with these ten podfic recommendations, or at least shown why crossover stories are the bestest thing around - Extra problems to solve! Extra characters to love! Extra points during amplificathon! (And just think - originally, my list of crossover fics to rec was fifteen podfics long. You got the condensed version today....)