Real World Crossover

Synonyms:
See also:	Crossovers, RPF, Self-insertion, Self-Shipping, Trapped in Another World
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Real World Crossover are RPF fanworks (usually fiction) that portray the characters on a show or film switching places with their actor counterparts.

Another variation has the focus of a fan being transported to the universes portrayed in books and on screens.

Blake's 7 and Star Trek: TOS are two fandoms with many of these stories. For Lord of the Rings examples, see Girl Who Falls Into.

The first media real world crossover was Visit to a Weird Planet (1968).

Very few people had any trouble with these RPF stories as they were usually gen and humorous.

Fan Comments

I don't think there has ever been opposition here to posting humourous, clearly satirical portraits of hypothetical *professional* antics of the XF creative staff, cast, and crew. And stories in which XF characters cross over into the real world and/or in which CC, DD, GA, etc. cross over into the XF world have generally been quite well-received, provided that they didn't invade the real-life "characters"' privacy by speculating on the state of their marriages, implying adultery, questioning the paternity of their children, or portraying them in sex scenes of any kind. Even mildly wistful UST by CC towards Scully has been written about successfully, without (IMHO) infringing on his rights or belittling his real-life marriage/wife in any way.

I understand why people object to actorfic. I just think it's important to keep in mind that there has been some great parody or real world crossover work done in the past - work that delighted many fans and was not in any way harmful to the actors. Putting a blanket "halt" to all actorfic because one or two people have written hurtful stories is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Examples: Actors and Characters Switching Places

While there may be some fan interaction in these stories, that is not the focus.

Star Trek

• Visit to a Weird Planet by Jean Lorrah and Willard F. Hunt (1968)
• Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited by Ruth Berman (1976)

Blake's 7

• The First Malady, fiction by Valerie Leibson (Avon Club Newsletter #8 (1982))
• Interval, fiction by Judith M. Seaman (Horizon #6 1984)
• (Dead?) or Alive by John Humphries (Chronicles #20 (1985)
• The Totally Imaginary Cheeseboard by Jean Airey and Laurie Haldeman (1988)
• The Other Side of the Coin by Jean Airey and Ruth Berman with Laurie Haldeman (1988)
• Just Testing by Moira Dahlberg (Chronicles #41 (1989)
• Christmas Story 1994 by Sue Bursztynski (Chronicles #59 (1995)

• The Cost of the Cheeseboard by June Bauer and Beth Friedman (1995)

Doctor Who

• In a Glass Lightly by Jean Airey Faces of Time #2 (1982). In it, Tom Baker walks off the set for the last time as Peter Davidson takes on the role of the Doctor. As Baker walks home, he finds a police box, steps in, and is transported to the Doctor Who universe.

Examples: The Transported Fan

Other terms are Portal Fantasy, Isekai.

Star Trek

• Enterprise Involuntary (Being an Exercise in Wishful Thinking) by G.M. Carr (from Sol III #1 (1974)
• A Very Active Imagination by Elizabeth Carrie (Millennium #1 (1977)
• One Way Mirror by Barbara Wenk (1980)
• The Displaced, Transition, and Continuum, a series of novels by Lois Welling (1978-83)

Star Wars

• So Much For Reality, Right? by Jane Sibley (from Kessel Run #2 (1981))

Lord of the Rings

• Misfit in Middle-earth (2009) and Misfit in Minas Tirith (2010), both by Doris Beetem the Younger