thelostworldfanforum

That's a clever idea, I like it. Do you think having her meet up with Xan would be part of that or that her involvement with Xan and then the Challenger Expedition would be unrelated? Would you wait until they return or have an assassin come to the Plateau? I think the Season four drafts had a mysterious U-boat appear.

I will save my Roxton's relations planning to prove his death to claim his fortune for the back burner, cuz well, I like that one.

I have to admit I never liked the "Roxton's secret wife" idea. I was never able to buy it, not with the way laws were back in the day, much less the way scandal-sheets and gossips were (and are!).

I do like the idea of M's birth certificate making an unexpected reappearance though, particularly since she was so sure ite was gone. I don't know that it goes particularly well with your MI-5 plot, though. And why would MI-5 believe M was anythihng other than dead? Why would they go through so much trouble going to the plateau to find her? Unless she wasn't the object at all, but instead a surprise for their next agent they sent...after all, they must want something on the plateau, as well as Xan.

I have to admit I like the idea of whoever has the certificate being presented as a long-lost relative of M; it's a different direction, and would lead to lots of interesting explorations of the idea of family and loyalty - particularly if it wasn't immediately clear if the person stating relationship was or wasn't sincere! Edited to add: in fact, the more I think about it, the more I think it would be fun if that question were never answered - because anyone showing up with that certificate is likely to either a) be wearing a red shirt or b) escape the plateau by the end of the episode without the rest of the explorers. Either way, he or she wouldn't be around long.

Hm, much to think about. Thanks for bringing the plot bunnies, cenobitex, and letting us play around with them!

I'm with you to an extent. I don't doubt such name-related conicidences can and do happen, but in fiction it feels contrived to me. I was at the aquarium for the opening of the sea dragon exhibit. The speaker said, "Truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to make sense." Those sea dragons looked like fiction, and if I'd read about them instead of seeing them for myself, I wouldn't have believed it.

I'm afraid I have no plot bunnies of my own at the moment. There's one growing slowly to adulthood, but it is not currently housed in my bunny hutch. ::looks around innocently::

Oh but this is a fun discussion! So many ideas to toss about; it's like plot-shaped hackysack! :mrgreen:

*snort* You, innocent? Yeah, yeah, drop the other one.

But I do believe you (or at least agree with you) that fiction has to make sense, and that weird coincidences that might happen in reality have to have a darn good reason in fiction - even if it's to be a giant red herring.

Nothing wrong with herring, of course, unless you're trying to use one to chop down the largest tree in the forest.

Well, the first plot I thought of was Marguerite getting upset with everyone because Challenger uses up her best needles in an experiment, Veronica ends up spoiling a bunch of drying sheets or some other aggrivation, and Roxton says or does something that gets him in the dog house. Fed up, she goes on a rock hunt and wants to be alone. Roxton insists that she shouldn't and they have another fight and she goes away. Roxton follows behind to keep an eye on her.

Marguerite goes along, quite compentently. She finds a llama, slightly injured and stuck in a pit trap. After wavering, she works to rescue it. After a lot of work and effort, she gets the animal out. The llama isn't badly hurt and starts to follow her as she goes back on her way, now much more muddy, cranky and tired.

That night she curls up in a branch of a tree. The llama rests at the bottom, keeping watch. Roxton approaches her and the llama charges him. He tried to speak reassuringly to it, but the llama spits at him.

Marguerite and the llama continue on the trek. Get to the cave, and find some very pretty stones. The llama is happy to carry her bags for her. She sings songs at it and it likes her singing.

On the way back, Marguerite and the llama are attacked by a pair of raptors, juveniles. Marguerite shoots one and the llama spits into the other's mouth and eyes and then kicks it brutally. By the time Roxton gets to them, the danger is passed. (I saw a video of a mule kicking a cougar to death.)

Marguerite is much happier when she returns with her new friend. The others feel bad for her being upset and do nice things to help make up. Marguerite realizes that the llama would be hard for them to keep and gives it to Assai and the Zanga to use for trading missions. They are grateful.

And how can I resist. ::Yeah, like I really tried!

The Lama

The one-l lama,
He's a priest.
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama.*

-- Ogden Nash

::strolling off into the sunset. My work here is done.

rann

You people frighten me.

I like the idea of them going back to the England of their time and resolving the remaining issues. Having them show up in the future always seemed like a cop-out ending. There's lots of fodder there for fanfic. What will they say about the Plateau? What discoveries will they reveal? What will they keep secret?

rann

I agree with you both. I have alot of problems with the Adventurers returning to our time. For all the comedic issues, there would be a huge culture shock problem, it sidesteps their own issues with their time, and leaves them without resources except for Challenger. Plus, it puts them where they have lost Veronica and Ned forever which is sad.

I think the going back in their own time (within say ten years) would make for more adventure, laughter, romance and heartache.

Кто? Я? ::looks around for her halo--only to find it perched atop her horns:: Whoops!

Cenobitetx looks around for dnash's halo. Finds it being used as a coaster on a shelf behind the sofa with a very flat beer sitting on it.

Okay, here's a question, what's the difference between a crossover, and just being inspired by another story?

For me using the characters or the setting of another story/show/movie turns it into a crossover, just using attributes of characters or stories would be inspiration. Here's some examples of how I view the difference.

Monica did a nice crossover, Valley of the Kings, between TLW and Elizabeth Peter's Peabody series. Monica did a great job of using the Plateau as a launching pad for the adventure in late 19th Century Egypt and stayed true to the Peabody series with a mystery.

Meb straddled the line with There Are Games Afoot. (Poor Malone)

Alanna's Berry, Berry, Quite Contrary was inspired by an episode of X-Files to the delight of those of us who are fans of both shows.

Of course, as always, others will have different views so 'your mileage may vary'.

If anyone hasn't read any of these stories, I can recommend them as a lot of fun and good reads. Normally I avoid crossovers like the plague because, quite frankly, very few are well written. These are most enjoyable stories.

rann

I remember that fic. I really enjoyed it--even though I'm not familiar with Elizabeth Peters other than by name.

I agree with rann. To be a crossover, it has to have the characters and/or place, etc., of both source materials. My fave is actually an ENTERPRISE/Firefly crossover by my friends Leah and Squeaky. For anyone who might be interested, it is Gifts of Home. Please make sure to read the warnings and disclaimers. It's PG-13, but it might not be everyone's cuppa.

I also never liked the idea of the explorers "returning" to 2005. They'd be entirely without resources (even Challenger's genius would have a hard time coping with being 75 years behind modern theory) except for Marguerite's linguistic and social manipulation skills, which would presumably still be "current" - but hardly what she'd want to have to use to support them. Besides, the idea of them having to return to the future simply because a group of future American tourists had never heard of the Challenger Expedition seems really silly to me. Speaking as a proud American, I have absolutely 100% confidence that there are all kinds of famous early 20th century expeditions that your average American tourist family (lost out of time or not) wouldn't have any memory of. I much prefer the idea of the explorers returning within their own time, more or less. Arriving the day after they left would be an amusing conundrum - no one would ever believe they'd gone at all! Of course, that would introduce a massive time paradox in and of itself...hm...