Worldbuilding Exchange 2019

[desertscribe]

This letter is still something of a WIP, sorry.


AO3 Name: DesertScribe

Do Not Wants: incest (mentions of Jack/Diane for Blood Drive or Dmitri/Antanasia for Van Helsing are fine, but I don't want it to be a major focus of the work), rape/non-con, scat/watersports, graphic underage sex, omegaverse, modern/mundane AUs, spanking, cancer


Some of My Likes:

- happy endings
- bittersweet endings
- unavoidably tragic endings
- stories that give a good view of a character's thought process
- women who aren't afraid to ask for what they want in bed
- lovers who have fulfilling sexlives without sex being the sole basis for their relationship
- foreplay
- sex which occurs as a natural progression of the plot
- fading to black if the sex would disrupt the flow of the rest of the story
- cuddling, either between lovers or platonically between close friends
- found families
- quiet domestic scenes
- wild action scenes
- humor
- horror
- scheming villains
- scheming heroes
- creative problem solving
- partnerships of equals (or at least something close)
- characters being at least as competent as they were in canon
- character growth
- people learning from their mistakes (and then sometimes going on to make completely different mistakes)
- people playing to their strengths and acknowledging their weaknesses (at least to themselves, unless that level of self-awareness would be OOC)
- people attempting to communicate with each other even if they don't always succeed
- verbal sparring/banter
- earned respect, with or without earned friendship
- rivals-to-friends story arcs
- a sense of place
- situations where what a person doesn't say is just as important as what they do say
- backstory
- missing scenes from canon
- post-canon adventures
- casefic
- slice of life stories
- time travel
- monsters that aren't as bad as they seem
- monsters that are even worse than they seem
- genre-savvy characters
- genre-bending weirdness
- occasional moral ambiguity
- subverted tropes or clichés
- tropes or clichés played straight but lampshaded
- cracktastic premises played straight
- fictional characters interacting with historical figures
- characters dealing with the consequences of having been in situations which brought out aspects of their personalities, either positive or negative, which they had not previously realized they had
- storytelling and/or stories as either a theme or a plot point
- characters comparing scars, either literally or metaphorically
- vacations gone awry
- accidental animal acquisition
- enemies forced to join forces with each other against a common foe
- road trips
- fake relationships that don't become real relationships
- canon-divergent AUs


My Requests:

Night at the Museum (Movies)

Formats: Fanfiction
Characters:
Ahkmenrah (Night at the Museum)
Tilly (Night at the Museum)
Shepseheret (Night at the Museum)
Merenkahre (Night at the Museum)
Original Character(s) (Night at the Museum)
Larry Daley (Night at the Museum)
Any or No Characters (Night at the Museum)

Other Magic: A single magic tablet created by praying to one god in a polytheistic pantheon can't possibly be the only magic in the world of the NatM movies, can it? What other magic is out there? What are the power sources for those other magics, and what can they do? What happens when different kinds of magic interact with each other, especially magic with broad areas of influence like the Tablet? Does it depend on how well the different gods or whatever get along with each other? Does some other factor determine how the interaction works? Is it random?

the Tablet's Powers: Why are the effects of an artifact powered by a moon god tied to the setting and rising of the sun instead of anything connected to the moon's cycle? What else, if anything, can the Tablet do besides what we saw in the movies, and what are its limitations? Why do the things that it animates turn to dust if they are outdoors when the sun rises? What does that mean for the lion statues in London and any other outdoor artwork it brings to life? Are there ways to adjust the magic's settings, so to speak, beyond turning it on and off? If so, what changes can be made?

I would love to see fanfiction featuring any canon character or characters, no matter how obscure, or originals, in any combination.

---

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.

Formats: Fanfiction or In-Universe Meta
Characters:
Comet (Brisco County Jr.)
John Bly (Brisco County Jr.)
Brisco County Sr. (Brisco County Jr.)
Original Character(s) (Brisco County Jr.)
Any or No Characters (Brisco County Jr.)
Dixie Cousins (Brisco County Jr.)
Brisco County Jr. (Brisco County Jr.)

Animal Intelligence: How unique is Comet in terms of intelligence and ability to communicate within the world of the show? Are lots of different animals on near even footing with humans? Is it just horses? Is it just Comet? If Comet really is the only one, how did he become the wonder horse we know? If he isn't the only one, do most intelligent animals keep their abilities hidden, with Comet being the only one being open about what he can do? Or are there other intelligent animals openly interacting with humans but the series did not have the time or budget to show any of them? How does any of this impact human society?

Repercussions of Changing the Timeline:

the Dime Novels:

the Orbs: What can they do beyond what we saw in the series? What have people used them for at any given point in history? Why did their makers think it was a good idea to send them into the past when they have such destructive capabilities? How do the orbs choose which people they grant powers to and which they immediately destroy? Are they conscious? Are there any long term consequences of repeated orb usage for the people who don't get killed? Can any species other than humans use the orbs?

I would love to see fanfiction featuring any canon character or characters, no matter how obscure, or originals, in any combination. For in-universe meta, I'd love newspaper articles, or dime novel excerpts, or research notes, or anything else you can think of.

---

Blood Drive (TV)

Formats: Fanfiction or In-Universe Meta
Characters:
Karma d'Argento (Blood Drive TV)
Julian Slink (Blood Drive TV)
Grace d'Argento (Blood Drive TV)
Arthur Bailey (Blood Drive TV)
Aki 8.5X11 (Blood Drive TV)
Original Character(s) (Blood Drive TV)
Any or No Characters (Blood Drive TV)

Blood Rock Island: How long has Heart been running the place? Is it just a place to throw inconvenient people and forget about them, or does it serve another purpose? What kind of dangerous flora, fauna, and other weirdness calls the island home? Are there man-made facilities on the island or do the inmates roam the wilderness? What kind of population does it have? Are there guards and/or support staff, human, robot, or otherwise? What are the inmates like? Are they victims who got in Heart's way like Arthur, or genuinely dangerous criminals, or a mixture?

Scar-based Technology: What other technological weirdness was Heart capable of that we didn't get to see? What can or can't be done with morally questionable fuel alternatives, unnatural gasses, and unidentifiable glowing goo? How do you go from those basic building blocks to things like blood engines, blood gates, clones, robots, Heart Tower, and whatever else? Does all Scar-based tech need blood and/or souls to power it? Is it really technology at all, or is it some kind of magic dressed up as technology? Is Heart really the only company making things out of stuff found in the Scar, or are there others?

the Aki Units: How are the Aki units connected to the original human Aki? Did Heart just decide to copy a dead human they found while exploring the Scar, or was something stranger and/or more sinister going on? Do all of the Aki units not get along with each other, or is Aki 8.5X11 the only one to think the others are "kinda bitches"? If none of them get along, how does that impact their functioning in the workplace when there are so many of them? Is Aki 8.5X11 the only Aki unit to ever unlock her humanity and fall in love, or have other Aki units done the same thing over the years? If so, what happened to them? What percentage are used as their originally intended role of sex toy versus the other roles we saw them performing? Are the Aki units really nothing but slave labor, or can they rise to high positions of authority within the company? In what ways are they better or worse than humans in terms of accomplishing any of the tasks they might be assigned?

the Scar: How do people get across it? What happened to the people who fell and/or climbed into it and never came out? How did it do what it did to Sheriff Leon? What has it done to other people? What else is leaking out of it besides hallucinogenic gas? What is lurking inside that we haven't seen yet? What are the Scar's powers? How far does its influence stretch beyond its immediate vicinity? Is it still growing and changing? Is it alive and/or conscious as implied by Pearl in episode nine when she says that the Scar likes things done a certain way? If so, what does it want?

the Slink Clones: How does Slink's consciousness get transferred between the different bodies? Can more than one clone be conscious/active at a time, and if so, would they function as individuals or some kind of hivemind? How human/inhuman are they beyond what was shown in the series? What was the original purpose of the project? Why three thousand clones? Why did anyone at Heart think any of this was a good idea? What, if any, connection was there between the Slink clones and the guy who looked like Slink in the 1957 photo Grace found?

I would love to see fanfiction featuring any canon character or characters, no matter how obscure, or originals, in any combination. For in-universe meta, I would love to see newspaper articles, or research notes, or Heart Enterprises memos, or arguing email chains, or employee handbooks, or tech commercials, or whatever else you can think of.

---

Van Helsing (TV 2016)

Formats: Fanfiction or In-Universe Meta
Characters:
Vanessa Van Helsing (Van Helsing TV)
Original Character(s) (Van Helsing TV)
Julius Romanski (Van Helsing TV)
Ivory (Van Helsing TV)
Dr. Harrison (Van Helsing TV)
Doc | Sarah Carol (Van Helsing TV)
Any or No Characters (Van Helsing TV)

Blak Tek: What is up with this creepy evil corporation which seems like it hasn't even let the vampire apocalypse chance how it operates? How did they get started? How has the company weathered the collapse of civilization so well? Are there any organized human groups out there working to oppose them? How much power do they have over the Denver Safe Zone in terms of controling people's lives, and what are they doing in Loveland? What's their endgame? Are they really looking to develop a working vampire repellent, or is that just part of some larger, more nefarious goal? Was Dr. Harrison the only employee of theirs to go full mad scientist and start creating inadvisable stuff like super vampires for the fun of it, or is that kind of bahavior encouraged under company policy? What other methods might they try to get Doc to cooperate with them now that Jolene has escaped from their clutches?

Differences Between The Various Types Of Vampires: The show keeps throwing new kinds of vampires at the storyline and then not really exploring them much, so I would love to see something digging into that. What is the difference between an Elite and a regular Feeder? How Feral can a vampire go before they can't be brought back? How old does a vampire need to be before qualifying as an Ancient and does it come with any benefits beyone apparently having greater strength? What exactly is an Elder since it doesn't seem to have anything to do with age? What was up with those psychic vampires at Renfield House? Were the Bah's goeng-si their own type of vampire or what? Why was the sewer beast apparently immune to the effects of biting Vanessa? For that matter, what would happen to a daywalker if a Van Helsing bit one? I'd also love something that explored vampire cognition and how that relates to their non-use of complex weapons and machinery.

Reversion:

Vampire Society Before The Rising:

What's Been Happening In Other Parts Of The World Since The Rising:

I would love to see fanfiction featuring any canon character or characters, no matter how obscure, or originals, in any combination. For in-universe meta, I would love to see newspaper articles, or excerpts from that book of vampire info passed down through the Van Helsing family, or research notes, or Blak Tek memos, or arguing email chains, or employee handbooks, or whatever else you can think of.