Now let’s talk about the neatness of very different cultures or groups running into each other. This is far easier to pull off in original fiction than the AU Villain. Entire books and even series can be made out of cultural clashes; Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold is one stunning example, and C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner series is one of my personal favorites to read and re-read.
The thing is, it usually takes a whole book - or series! - to set up a proper cultural clash. If all you want is to write a relatively short, fun story exploring the concept, you may not have the energy for that. So how to do it in a short piece for fun?
Trick #2: Crossover Cultural Clash.
Every show, and group of heroes, has its own “culture” and standards as to what are the proper ways to do things. How do you defeat an enemy - by beating them in a card game, or beheading? How do you treat a friend; candy and hugs, or a rough pep talk when the chips are down? What are the limits when you’re defending people you care about? What’s the worst thing that could happen to you on any given day?
If you find two shows that you think you can make fit together for a story, you have a built-in culture clash.
Three authors on Archive of Our Own I’m particularly going to recc’ for this: Kryal,Ellen Brand, and Jedi Buttercup. I’m sure there’s plenty more, but I’ve been following these three for a long time.
For Kryal, two that are particularly good are The Dragon-King’s Temple (Stargate/AtLA) and What the Cat Dragged In (MCU/Miraculous Ladybug). The usual levels of violence are higher in Stargate and the MCU, so there are some interesting ways things either get toned down (ML) or we see more real-life consequences than usual (AtLA).
Ellen Brand has plenty, but I really like Unprofessional Opinion (outsider take on Detective Conan) and Loose Ends (Tony Hicks of Godzilla: the Series poking Sunnydale). An outsider’s look at how really weird a canon situation is brings the wonder of the original canon right back again.
Jedi Buttercup… wow, so many awesome crossovers. Pausing to Wonder (CSI/Dragonriders of Pern), imagine the delinquency (Sleepy Hollow/Guardians of the Galaxy) and Of Iron and Fire (Fast and Furious/The Last Witch-Hunter) are three in particular you would never think work… and they do.
In case anyone’s wondering, there is one particular culture clash I’d like to see in a fic, but I’m not sure I can write it myself. That would be Shen Yuan (Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System) as Shen Qingqiu suffering reverse culture shock by getting dumped back into the modern world still as a xianxia cultivator… and still up against monsters that need his level of skills and power to take down. Say, if he ended up in the Chitauri invasion of NYC, or something….
(Which a friend pointed out is actually three culture clashes in one neat package. 1) Reverse culture shock of coming back to the modern world. 2) NYC is definitely not China. 3) Aliens WTH.
Bonus: I’m a scholar and geek, not a fighter, why does everyone expect me to use this sword, I’m not Liu Qingge-!)
I hate how white people invented the we don’t owe each other anything mindset
Someone from the Uk Here!
Maybe it was just how I was raised, but I was taught to clear off when dinner was being cooked like it was rude to hang around and expect to be fed by another person’s family unless you’ve been invited round specifically for dinner/lunch
Hi person with common sense that isn’t from the uk here i think the english are demonic
Ukrainian here, and this is weird as shit. when you have someone over who’s not an immediate neighbour who can just go to their own house for food in 2 minutes, you feed them. even if it’s not dinner/lunch/supper/breakfast you just present Arrival Food even if it’s just some crackers over there on the table. and if they’re around for dinner they eat dinner with you. if its undesirable to eat dinner together for one or more participants of the hangout then they need to leave before dinner (so they can have dinner at their own home or elsewhere)
The US drinking age being 21 is what happens when you have a country with such an intense problem of alcohol abuse they have to ban it for 13 years just so everyone will calm the fuck down.
wait… where are people legally drinking alcohol at age 8?
PROHIBITION, TSUKINOINABA!
@tsukinoinaba in Ukraine it’s illegal to SELL people under 18 alcohol, but there’s no law about them not being allowed to drink it. like obviously adults will be responsible for the consequences if anything bad happens to the kids but it’s not illegal to pour them a tablespoon of wine at a family gathering or whatever
i mean i dont know anyone who does that at age 8, it’s more of an early teens thing, but it’s not illegal
