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Entry tags:
Worldbuilding Exchange Letter
Dear Worldbuilder,
Unbelievably, this is a placeholder! I'm going to clean up the fandoms before assignments go out, I really hope. Okay, make that "before Sunday", worldbuilding author. Sorry about that! If you already have an idea, ignore the new stuff and go wild.
I am having a heck of a time with this prompt because I am one of those "but everything is worldbuilding!" fans. Character is formed by the intersection of person and circumstance, and circumstance is worldbuilding. Plot is constrained and freed by worldbuilding. It's unlikely you will write a thrilling pilot-on-pilot starfighter dogfight in a universe without spaceflight. Sex is definitely informed by worldbuilding. Who you do it with, what acts are acceptable, what is kinky, what is Beyond The Pale, how often you do it, and how you feel about that... it's the intersection of biology and social programming! And social programming is worldbuilding.
I hope this makes clear how excited I will be about what element(s) you choose to focus on in your fic. I want a story that to goes off on Anabaptists in fantasy AUs or materials engineering or how to make a really good space!custard (food availability and regional variation is definitely worldbuilding), whatever gets your crank turning. Geek out, turn it into fic or meta. The social, the political, the economic, the scientific, the mystic, the technical, the philosophical - do it!
To give you some idea of stuff I like, feel free to check out my DW Dear Author tag.
I've asked for fandoms that have gaps in canon that might be fun to address, or because they're gap-fillers and I think there's more that could be done in those gaps. Also, I asked for fanfic or meta for all fandoms, because I really don't see the distinction.
Alliance-Union - C. J. Cherryh
Worldbuilding: Azi-Cit Transitions (Alliance-Union), Mindwipe (Alliance-Union), Reseune Culture (Alliance-Union), Tape (Alliance-Union), Parent-Child Relationships (Alliance-Union), Transfer of Power (Alliance-Union)
Characters: No Characters (Alliance-Union), Original Character(s) (Alliance-Union), Alicia Quen-Konstantin (Alliance-Union), Angelo Quen-konstantin (Alliance-Union), Damon Konstantin (Alliance-Union), Elene Quen (Alliance-Union), Jordan Warrick (Alliance-Union), Justin Warrick (Alliance-Union)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
I was not the one to nominate "Worldbuilding: Azi-Cit Transition", but it is clearly relevant to my interests! If there was ever a fandom that cried out for meta, it's Cyteen, with those canon excerpts from textbooks and interviews and Ari recording advice for her future replicate. Do not feel constrained to do that if it's not your thing. There are also great swaths of space and time between novels, Earth to Cyteen, pre-FTL to Gehenna, and beyond, that would benefit from gap-filling, you have no idea how much I would love to hear about the early Merchanter's Alliance or the cook on a sublight run dealing with the realities of years-long voyages and what food options are available, or your personal fix-it to the kind of white European bias in canon.
Something that doesn't get discussed much in canon, but at the same time is all over the U-A 'verse, are single parenting and rocky parent-child relationships in Reseune-centric canon. Jordan and Justin, Olga and Ari, Amy and her mother, the Nyes past and present - Reseune parents get very wrapped up in planning their kids' futures, whether the kids want that track or have other plans. It's an interesting contrast to parenting on the other side of the line, where there are still expectations (see the Konstantins) but they come off as less toxic. Something to think about. Part of that is also the transfer of power from the older generations to the younger generations; Regenesis and Finity's End talk a little about those things. I'd love to see a fic that gets into that.
Fringe (TV)
Worldbulding: Cortexikids (Fringe), Multiverse or Alternate Timeline (Fringe), People Affected by Walter's Experiments (Fringe), Time Travel Paradoxes (Fringe), ZFT (Fringe)
Characters: Original Character(s) (Fringe), No Characters (Fringe)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
Well, speaking of canon gaps. Fringe theorizes a wide multiverse, but shows us only two(ish) universes that get tangled in each other; what is going on with the time travel is an exercise that leads to heated debate. Feel free to do play with some of that. Or, what happened to the Roy McCombs and Rebecca Kibners of Walter's early forays into human experimentation? What about those other kids subjected to the cortexiphan experiments? Does anyone ever form a support group? Gosh, the IRB paperwork for Walter's work would probably qualify as meta and as a horror show. Or if you miss a good old fashioned destruction by the advancement of technology, do a thing with ZFT. This is a fandom where I'm seriously unfussed about which characters show up, if it's not a "no characters" sort of story.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Worldbuilding: Early Years of the Rebellion (Rogue One), Construction of the Death Star (Rogue One), Mon Mothma's role in the Rebellion (Rogue One), politics of the Rebel Alliance (Rogue One)
Characters: No Characters (Rogue One), Original Character(s) (Rogue One), Cassian Andor (Rogue One), Jyn Erso (Rogue One), K-2SO (Rogue One), Lyra Erso (Rogue One), Mon Mothma (Rogue One)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
and also
Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn
Worldbuilding: Heirarchy of Karrde's organization (Thrawn Trilogy), The Imperial Palace (Thrawn Trilogy)
Characters:Original Character(s) (Thrawn Trilogy), No Characters (Thrawn Trilogy), Mara Jade (Thrawn Trilogy)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
I grew up dipping in and out of the old Extended Universe, which, notably in Zahn's novels, is an exercise in gap-filling and spackling over conflicts in what grew into a sprawling contradictory canon. So I am piling my prompts into one heap.
I love the scrappiness! I love the shoestring sense of the original trilogy, in contrast with the luxurious aura of the prequel trilogy. My experience of Star Wars was informed by early exposure to the Thrawn trilogy, so the Rebellion / New Republic has always been a bunch of barely unified squabblers fighting the Empire for half a dozen different reasons. That's reflected in my worldbuilding tag requests. I would love to see the incredibly awkward earliest days of the Rebellion, when the most logical pool of anti-Imperial activists for good Senators like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa to reach out to were... the Sepratists they'd just spent years fighting. Or tell me the story of that time a Rebel mission was incredibly screwed up because Group A (with the intel) wasn't talking to Group B (stuck running the op) without a mediator (Mon Mothma?). I'm finally watching Rebels and am working through the second season, I can't wait to get to S3 to see if Thrawn uses any of this sort of issue against the Rebellion. Write about Death Star subcontractors, with made-up engineering (or real engineering and ethical problems in a made-up universe). Write about being a parent and a Rebel. Or jump across the fence and squeeze Mara into the new canon in a vaguely canon-compliant way. Come on, if Rebels can have Inquisitors, there can totally be an Emperor's Hand or two. (Please?)
Does Karrde's organization exist in the new canon? How does it fit into the Republic as envisioned by TFA? Or if you want a straight up EU missing scene, I'd be up for that, too.
I feel like I'm stinting the prompts here a bit; if that's so, it's because the canon has such rich possibilities for worldbuilding, and because I can't think of much I would not love. Thematically, I'm here for fraught parent-child relationships, which Star Wars does in spades. I'm a bit sad Rogue One didn't go for the Bail-Leia Galen-Jyn parallel, but it's an imperfect universe and you can't have every character beat. But if you want to do something else, there's so many choices! Maybe something with freedom and droids in the Rebellion. I am all for K2 being sarcastic and cutting and probably right in the most deflating way possible.
A few generic likes/dislikes:
Stuff I Like: people working together to overcome obstacles, snark and snappy dialogue, banter, darkfic, place as character, postapocalyptic, N Times Characters Did A Thing. I have a bulletproof love of competence, including competence at being villainous, and characters finding connections and trusting each other. Add "in bed" to any of this for great shippy times.
Do Not Wants: PWP, bloodplay, coffeeshop AU, high school/college AU, explicit descriptions of sexual assault, cross-generation (May-December) ships, cheating and/or infidelity.
Shippiness is okay, and background pairings, whether F/F, F/M, M/M, are all excellent options. OT3 is one of my favorite solutions to love triangles.
Above all, have fun! Thank you for writing something that explores one of these fandoms.
I am having a heck of a time with this prompt because I am one of those "but everything is worldbuilding!" fans. Character is formed by the intersection of person and circumstance, and circumstance is worldbuilding. Plot is constrained and freed by worldbuilding. It's unlikely you will write a thrilling pilot-on-pilot starfighter dogfight in a universe without spaceflight. Sex is definitely informed by worldbuilding. Who you do it with, what acts are acceptable, what is kinky, what is Beyond The Pale, how often you do it, and how you feel about that... it's the intersection of biology and social programming! And social programming is worldbuilding.
I hope this makes clear how excited I will be about what element(s) you choose to focus on in your fic. I want a story that to goes off on Anabaptists in fantasy AUs or materials engineering or how to make a really good space!custard (food availability and regional variation is definitely worldbuilding), whatever gets your crank turning. Geek out, turn it into fic or meta. The social, the political, the economic, the scientific, the mystic, the technical, the philosophical - do it!
To give you some idea of stuff I like, feel free to check out my DW Dear Author tag.
I've asked for fandoms that have gaps in canon that might be fun to address, or because they're gap-fillers and I think there's more that could be done in those gaps. Also, I asked for fanfic or meta for all fandoms, because I really don't see the distinction.
Alliance-Union - C. J. Cherryh
Worldbuilding: Azi-Cit Transitions (Alliance-Union), Mindwipe (Alliance-Union), Reseune Culture (Alliance-Union), Tape (Alliance-Union), Parent-Child Relationships (Alliance-Union), Transfer of Power (Alliance-Union)
Characters: No Characters (Alliance-Union), Original Character(s) (Alliance-Union), Alicia Quen-Konstantin (Alliance-Union), Angelo Quen-konstantin (Alliance-Union), Damon Konstantin (Alliance-Union), Elene Quen (Alliance-Union), Jordan Warrick (Alliance-Union), Justin Warrick (Alliance-Union)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
I was not the one to nominate "Worldbuilding: Azi-Cit Transition", but it is clearly relevant to my interests! If there was ever a fandom that cried out for meta, it's Cyteen, with those canon excerpts from textbooks and interviews and Ari recording advice for her future replicate. Do not feel constrained to do that if it's not your thing. There are also great swaths of space and time between novels, Earth to Cyteen, pre-FTL to Gehenna, and beyond, that would benefit from gap-filling, you have no idea how much I would love to hear about the early Merchanter's Alliance or the cook on a sublight run dealing with the realities of years-long voyages and what food options are available, or your personal fix-it to the kind of white European bias in canon.
Something that doesn't get discussed much in canon, but at the same time is all over the U-A 'verse, are single parenting and rocky parent-child relationships in Reseune-centric canon. Jordan and Justin, Olga and Ari, Amy and her mother, the Nyes past and present - Reseune parents get very wrapped up in planning their kids' futures, whether the kids want that track or have other plans. It's an interesting contrast to parenting on the other side of the line, where there are still expectations (see the Konstantins) but they come off as less toxic. Something to think about. Part of that is also the transfer of power from the older generations to the younger generations; Regenesis and Finity's End talk a little about those things. I'd love to see a fic that gets into that.
Fringe (TV)
Worldbulding: Cortexikids (Fringe), Multiverse or Alternate Timeline (Fringe), People Affected by Walter's Experiments (Fringe), Time Travel Paradoxes (Fringe), ZFT (Fringe)
Characters: Original Character(s) (Fringe), No Characters (Fringe)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
Well, speaking of canon gaps. Fringe theorizes a wide multiverse, but shows us only two(ish) universes that get tangled in each other; what is going on with the time travel is an exercise that leads to heated debate. Feel free to do play with some of that. Or, what happened to the Roy McCombs and Rebecca Kibners of Walter's early forays into human experimentation? What about those other kids subjected to the cortexiphan experiments? Does anyone ever form a support group? Gosh, the IRB paperwork for Walter's work would probably qualify as meta and as a horror show. Or if you miss a good old fashioned destruction by the advancement of technology, do a thing with ZFT. This is a fandom where I'm seriously unfussed about which characters show up, if it's not a "no characters" sort of story.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Worldbuilding: Early Years of the Rebellion (Rogue One), Construction of the Death Star (Rogue One), Mon Mothma's role in the Rebellion (Rogue One), politics of the Rebel Alliance (Rogue One)
Characters: No Characters (Rogue One), Original Character(s) (Rogue One), Cassian Andor (Rogue One), Jyn Erso (Rogue One), K-2SO (Rogue One), Lyra Erso (Rogue One), Mon Mothma (Rogue One)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
and also
Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn
Worldbuilding: Heirarchy of Karrde's organization (Thrawn Trilogy), The Imperial Palace (Thrawn Trilogy)
Characters:Original Character(s) (Thrawn Trilogy), No Characters (Thrawn Trilogy), Mara Jade (Thrawn Trilogy)
Media: Fanfiction, Meta
I grew up dipping in and out of the old Extended Universe, which, notably in Zahn's novels, is an exercise in gap-filling and spackling over conflicts in what grew into a sprawling contradictory canon. So I am piling my prompts into one heap.
I love the scrappiness! I love the shoestring sense of the original trilogy, in contrast with the luxurious aura of the prequel trilogy. My experience of Star Wars was informed by early exposure to the Thrawn trilogy, so the Rebellion / New Republic has always been a bunch of barely unified squabblers fighting the Empire for half a dozen different reasons. That's reflected in my worldbuilding tag requests. I would love to see the incredibly awkward earliest days of the Rebellion, when the most logical pool of anti-Imperial activists for good Senators like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa to reach out to were... the Sepratists they'd just spent years fighting. Or tell me the story of that time a Rebel mission was incredibly screwed up because Group A (with the intel) wasn't talking to Group B (stuck running the op) without a mediator (Mon Mothma?). I'm finally watching Rebels and am working through the second season, I can't wait to get to S3 to see if Thrawn uses any of this sort of issue against the Rebellion. Write about Death Star subcontractors, with made-up engineering (or real engineering and ethical problems in a made-up universe). Write about being a parent and a Rebel. Or jump across the fence and squeeze Mara into the new canon in a vaguely canon-compliant way. Come on, if Rebels can have Inquisitors, there can totally be an Emperor's Hand or two. (Please?)
Does Karrde's organization exist in the new canon? How does it fit into the Republic as envisioned by TFA? Or if you want a straight up EU missing scene, I'd be up for that, too.
I feel like I'm stinting the prompts here a bit; if that's so, it's because the canon has such rich possibilities for worldbuilding, and because I can't think of much I would not love. Thematically, I'm here for fraught parent-child relationships, which Star Wars does in spades. I'm a bit sad Rogue One didn't go for the Bail-Leia Galen-Jyn parallel, but it's an imperfect universe and you can't have every character beat. But if you want to do something else, there's so many choices! Maybe something with freedom and droids in the Rebellion. I am all for K2 being sarcastic and cutting and probably right in the most deflating way possible.
A few generic likes/dislikes:
Stuff I Like: people working together to overcome obstacles, snark and snappy dialogue, banter, darkfic, place as character, postapocalyptic, N Times Characters Did A Thing. I have a bulletproof love of competence, including competence at being villainous, and characters finding connections and trusting each other. Add "in bed" to any of this for great shippy times.
Do Not Wants: PWP, bloodplay, coffeeshop AU, high school/college AU, explicit descriptions of sexual assault, cross-generation (May-December) ships, cheating and/or infidelity.
Shippiness is okay, and background pairings, whether F/F, F/M, M/M, are all excellent options. OT3 is one of my favorite solutions to love triangles.
Above all, have fun! Thank you for writing something that explores one of these fandoms.