Worldbuilding Exchange Dear Author Letter

Dear Author,

To be honest, for most exchanges I just kind of copy/paste from my previous letters, but this is definitely a different beast. 

What I like to see from world-building:

• From the perspective of one or multiple characters - I prefer experiencing history through its interactions with character agency, emotion and experiences. That's fine if it necessarily limits the perspective, I just prefer a focal point to see the world through.
• Myths/folklore/rumors mixing with fact - along with the above, it's rare that a single character (barring, say, a historian) will know the accurate facts about everything around them. I like a bit of ambiguity, characters filling in the gaps in their knowledge with rumor, speculation and imagination. Especially when you get differing accounts of the same thing, characters with overlapping knowledge or conflicting views.
• Moral ambiguity - nothing entirely being good or evil, though I'd like to see colored judgement from different perspectives.
• Rebels and corruptors - not everyone follows the rules, not everyone accepts the truth as fact. Tell me about the factions that push back against societal norms, and the consequences they face.
• Plot & shipping - not required, and definitely up to your judgement. Happy with a day in the life type fics for most of these requests, but also happy with worldbuilding folded cleverly around a story of some kind.

A note on requested characters: Please don't feel limited to writing only the requested characters!! I added them to this letter for reference, but as you can see my optional ships section includes other characters. I only requested characters if I wish at least one of them to be included, so they are my absolute favorites :)

The Witcher (TV)

Characters: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher (TV)), Jaskier | Dandelion (The Witcher (TV)), Original Character(s) (The Witcher (TV)), Renfri | The Shrike (The Witcher (TV)), Triss Merigold (The Witcher (TV))

Optional ships: Geralt/Jaskier, Jaskier & Renfri, Yennefer/Renfri, Geralt & Wolf Witchers, Eskel/Triss

Interactions between different Witcher schools:

• How do Wolf Witchers feel about Cats? Manicores? Vipers?
• What happens when two Witchers from different schools take the same job?
• Do Witchers have a common bestiary, or does each school make their own? How do they handle the confusion when there is conflicting information on how to handle a monster? Do they have different names for the same monster?
• What is each school's "stereotype" and how is it slagged on by other Witchers? Are Wolves holier-than-thou glory hounds? Are Cats kill-stealing drunkards? Are Manticores ... still existing?
• Gwent tourneys for the glory of the School!

Private customs and inside jokes among Witchers:

• I'm thinking across all schools, but feel free to interject differences between schools/focus on Wolf Witchers. 
• Secret greetings, inside jokes
• Symbols carved on trails, outside inn posts etc. warning other Witchers: friendly folk here/no work, turn away/cheats & liars - beware!! (aka hobo hieroglyphs) 
• Was "Toss a Coin" a game-changer for Witchers? Have there been songs composed in their honor before? What do they think of this "Geralt of Rivia" who suddenly is the most famous Witcher of them all? Do the other Witchers now seek bards of their own/seek Jaskier in particular? 

School of the Cat:

• What cat-like characteristics do these Witchers possess?
• Cat Witchers are the only ones who allow women. Why? How does this gender dynamic change their training, if at all? Do female Witchers face special discrimination? Do the mutagens affect them differently than men? Would ADORE Witcher!Renfri or Witcher!Yennefer if you want to make an AU happen but OCs also loved!
• Aiden's history
• Caravan life! How do their base of operations work?
• Cats kill humans as well as monsters. Consequences for this? How does this impact their reputation? Does it gain them political favor? At what cost?

DNW: 

• Focus on rape/forced pregnancy/graphic sexual violence (particularly with regards to female characters)
• Medical torture in the Trials (references are fine, as is exploring the lasting trauma, I prefer the Trials themselves not to be the focus)
• Hopeless grimdark - dark is great, but ultimately these people are pretty scrappy and I want good things for them. Prefer a darkly humorous take if anything. 
• Torture porn
• Villanizing female characters/canon romantic interests
• Incest
• Sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc., if references are necessary to the plot that's fine, but I prefer the story didn't revolve around it (fantasy oppression is AOK to explore!!)
• Any sexual activity with characters under 18, or ANY adult/child relationships
• Mpreg/pregnancy
• Beastiality/monsterfucking (with non-humanoid monsters)
• Scat/vore/piss fetish
• Dominant male characters/submissive female characters

Hades (Video Game 2018)

Characters: Cerberus, Nyx, Hypnos, Thanatos

Optional ships: Zagreus/Thanatos, Zagreus/Dionysus, Zagreus/Hypnos, Zagreus/Achilles, Persephone/Nyx are my favorites, but honestly I ship everyone/everyone in this game so go wild

Chthonic gods prior to the arrival of Hades

• Organization (if any) of the underworld prior to Hades, how shades were taken care of, were they just allowed to wander wherever? Did the different levels exist, and if not, who built them?
• Zagreus mentioned that Asphodel didn't always used to be a lava field. When did it change and why? What was it like way back when?
• Nyx POV, ruminating on her relationship with Chaos and her sons
• Ramifications of sealing the Titans in the underworld

Life in the Court of Hades

• Thanatos, Hypnos and Charon upbringing ... who handled their duties prior to their birth? How did they learn their roles? I do love childhood friends Thanatos/Zagreus, perhaps interacting with young Meg and Hypnos? 
• Any fun greek myths through the eyes of the Chthonic gods/underworld denizens (what Sisyphus did to earn eternal punishment, for example ... does Thanatos still get teased for it?)
• What is the local economy like? What do shades even DO with the gems they (presumably) get paid with? Is there black market trading for items like nectar or other things that invoke memories of life? 
• Work in the administrative chambers seems endless, and down-time seems scarce. Do the underworld denizens have hobbies? Holidays? Minor-league sports teams?
• Cerberus POV/background/day-in-the-life because he is the Best Boy

DNW: 

• Focus on rape/forced pregnancy/graphic sexual violence (particularly with regards to female characters)
• Focus on Hades, Zeus, Poseidon or Theseus (just not my favorite characters)
• Shipping Artemis with male characters
• Torture porn
• Villanizing female characters/canon romantic interests
• Incest
• Sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc., if references are necessary to the plot that's fine, but I prefer the story didn't revolve around it (fantasy oppression is AOK to explore!!)
• Any sexual activity with characters under 18, or ANY adult/child relationships
• Mpreg/pregnancy
• Beastiality/monsterfucking (with non-humanoid monsters)
• Scat/vore/piss fetish
• Dominant male characters/submissive female characters

Dragon Age 

Characters: Zevran Arainai

Optional ships: Zevran/Alistair, Zevran/female Tabris (here for my OC, but that's super duper optional), Zevran/others

Antivan Crows:

• Initiation rites/exploring Zevran's rather interesting dream in the Broken Circle quest
• Schooling of new assassins
• Internal structure and politics
• Reputation/influence on the rest of Antiva ... Zevran mentioned that a successful Crow had many doors opened to them (luxury goods, lovers etc.). What does that mean in the day-to-day? What can they take and what can they keep? 
• Can a Crow ever truly retire?
• Intersection of elf oppression/Crow status ... it seems that they take both human and elf orphans. Are they treated the same? Is Antiva relatively progressive, or just as bad, if not worse than Ferelden in terms of discrimination?

DNW: 

• Focus on rape/forced pregnancy/graphic sexual violence (particularly with regards to female characters)
• I feel bad putting this as a DNW, but I've really only played Origins ... if possible, no spoilers for the expansions/other games? 
• Villanizing female characters/canon romantic interests
• Incest
• Sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc., if references are necessary to the plot that's fine, but I prefer the story didn't revolve around it (fantasy oppression is AOK to explore!!)
• Any sexual activity with characters under 18, or ANY adult/child relationships
• Mpreg/pregnancy
• Beastiality/monsterfucking (with non-humanoid monsters)
• Scat/vore/piss fetish
• Dominant male characters/submissive female characters

Notes on original work categories: 

This section I'd like to leave a little open-ended! The following prompts simply suggest characters that I would find interesting send them through the world. For original work ships (should you choose to write them), I have no preference between slash, het, femmeslash etc. as I adore them all equally!

ALL original work categories may be written as AUs with the Witcher 'verse characters/concept. I would in fact ADORE this!!


Original Work - Eldritch Fantasy

I've adored Eldritch fantasy ever since I read Beserk ... not even going to add DNWs for this one so feel free to go as dark as you'd like. 

 

• A religious zealot Templar knight searching for a holy relic promised to obliterate the Old Gods
• A hapless hedge witch/falsely accused young girl on the run from witch hunters, inadvertently seeks shelter with an Eldritch cult
• An adventurer who stumbles upon the shambles of an ancient Elven/Dwarven/other society who walled themselves off to stave off corruption from the Old Gods
• A grizzled monster hunter limping from one township to the next, always wondering which day will be their last

Original Work - Space Western

• A sheltered academic (either fresh out of finishing school or a spinster) who suddenly finds themselves penniless and decides to seek their fortunes off-world
• A gruff bounty hunter with a heart of gold who suddenly finds themselves escorting a naivee mail-order spouse through the most dangerous part of space
• The madam of a brothel on a popular trading planet, famed for its exotic alien sex workers
• A person on earth who decides to escape their dark past (sex work? wanted for crimes? an insurrectionist?) by signing on for an ad to become a mail-order spouse

DNW: 

• I don't know how to phrase this as a DNW but even though I'm fine with exploring discrimination against sex work in-universe, I would not like the tone of the fic to be condemning, discriminatory or patronizing about sex work in general
• Explicit rape/forced pregnancy/graphic sexual violence (particularly with regards to female characters)
• Incest
• Sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc., this is a "soft" DNW depending on the context ... I would just ask the fic tread thoughtfully in this area. 
• Any sexual activity with characters under 18, or ANY adult/child relationships
• Smut with non-humanoid aliens (references are fine!)
• Mpreg/pregnancy
• Scat/vore/piss fetish
• Hopeless grimdark ending
• Dominant male characters/submissive female characters

Original Work - Urban Fantasy

• A person in desperate need of a pregnancy test in the middle of the night trying to navigate the conversation with the cashier at the Fae-run corner store in a way that doesn't inadvertently give up their first-born child
• A talking street cat who knows that they are be-spelled but is not sure what their original form was, going on a quest to get the curse lifted
• A near-sighted old lady who goes to the park every day to feed breadcrumbs to pigeons discovers that she has inadvertently been making offerings to some more fantastical vermin
• A day in the life of a non-human navigating a human city and its accommodations/lack thereof for fantasy races (or visa versa!) 

DNW: 

• Explicit rape/forced pregnancy/graphic sexual violence (particularly with regards to female characters)
• Incest
• Sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc., references are fine, exploration of fantasy oppression absolutely encouraged
• Any sexual activity with characters under 18, or ANY adult/child relationships
• Smut with non-humanoid fantasy creatures (references are fine!)
• Mpreg/pregnancy
• Scat/vore/piss fetish
• Hopeless grimdark ending
• Dominant male characters/submissive female characters

Original Work - Fantasy

• A Trickster God who seeds the world with wish-granting items that twist the wishes of their users
• New apprentice to a magical artisan guild who realizes that the crafts they are making gain their properties by trapping sentient Fae inside
• A beleaguered Fae who can only talk in riddles trying to confess their love to a human
• A harpy interacting with a human/elf mage, extremely perplexed at their entirely alien structure of magic
• A merperson from an imperialistic caste-based society interacting with an elf from a tribalistic community-based society

DNW: 

• Explicit rape/forced pregnancy/graphic sexual violence (particularly with regards to female characters)
• Incest
• Sexism/racism/homophobia/transphobia etc., references are fine, exploration of fantasy oppression absolutely encouraged
• Any sexual activity with characters under 18, or ANY adult/child relationships
• Smut with non-humanoid fantasy creatures (references are fine!)
• Mpreg/pregnancy
• Scat/vore/piss fetish
• Hopeless grimdark ending
• Dominant male characters/submissive female characters