Yesterday morning I dreamed up what I consider to be an interesting marriage between two fandoms, or two familiar story worlds. It started out as simple thought—as if I have any other kind—which was basically, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if story A's characters and aesthetics were inserted into story B's geography and plot?" Let me give you an example to help you better conceptualize what I'm driving at—one I'm not actually working with, but tonally is similar. Imagine taking the characters from The Wizard of Oz and trying to incorporate them into the plot and tone of The Lord of Rings. For instance, the Munchkins take the role of Hobbits. Glinda the Good Witch takes a role similar to Gandalf. The flying monkeys function as the story's orcs. The slippers serve as the one ring. Etcetera. It's an amusing premise. And I don't have an issue with anyone calling it silly or ridiculous. But my question is: What if the author wants to write it with sincerity? What if they don't want to make a comedy, but rather shoot for the tone, suspense, and emotional stakes of the The Lord of Rings? I don't want to imply that something like this has never been done before, because I'm certain it has. But I would think it's quite a challenge. So, if you were going to attempt a story like this, what are some things you'd try and keep in mind as you went about writing it?
That's a pretty cool idea. It would kind of have to be a spoof or satire, though, or else would be no point for it to exist.
