![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dear Worldbuilder,
I'm requesting:
Le città invisibili | Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s); Berenice; Esmeralda; Isaura
WB: Religion (Invisible Cities)
WB: Inter-city Diplomacy (Invisible Cities)
WB: City culture (Invisible Cities)
I would love just to get more detail on the culture of any of the cities (nominated, unnominated or original): what it is like to live there, their customs, traditions, civic life, political set-up, social structure, arts, food etc.
Or, more generally, tell me what sort of interactions are there between cities? What is it like to go as a diplomat from one to another, or as a merchant? Which cities are allies, enemies, trading partners? Does one city have factions that disagree on what the relations should be with another city? Does one city have an embassy in another, and what is it like?
I have requested three specific cities, because I could think of things I especially wanted for them, but as you can see I also requested 'any' and 'original' - I will be extremely happy to get anything about any of the canonical cities, whether the other ones nominated that I didn't specifically request, or unnominated ones, or indeed anything about a brand new city of your creation.
Prompts if you want them for the three specific cities I requested:
Obviously, there is a lot that could be said in general about Isaura, reliant on its near-inaccessible water, and I find it's religion particularly interesting: the narrative doesn't commit itself to resolving the duality - whether both religions are true, or only one, or neither, and obviously there is a lot of ground to be explored in how they interact, who believes in each, what role the different worldviews have in the life of the city.
We don't get any description of religion in Berenice, but presumably it exists, both a corrupt state religion, and the religion (or possibly a philosophy) of the just. Perhaps more than one of each. What are they like? How do they interact - how do they conflict and where do they complement each other?
In general, I'm fascinated by the decadent riches and austerity of Berenice, and would love something about either aspect, or about how they interact, but I'm also very interested in the rather idyllic sounding daily life in Esmeralda, where a settled life may still allow for infinite minor variations - or indeed the more immediately restricted but also more adventurous lives of those who pass over the roofs or through the sewers.
Le città invisibili | Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s); Berenice; Esmeralda
WB: Architecture (Invisible Cities)
WB: City culture (Invisible Cities)
WB: Maps (Invisible Cities)
I would love any sort of city scene of any city - buildings; bridges; transport in general; markets of any sort; a typical street; a restaurant or food stall; a religous site, rite or procession; a view out from a window or in through a door; clothing, jewellery, hairstyles; a shop of any type. And of course maps are always welcome.
I have requested a couple of specific cities, where I could think of things I especially wanted for them, but as you can see I also requested 'any' and 'original' - I will be extremely happy to get anything about any of the canonical cities, whether the other ones nominated that I didn't specifically request, or unnominated ones, or indeed a brand new city of your creation. Prompts if you want them for the two specific cities I requested: a street view (or if you prefer, a swallow's/rat's eye view for Esmeralda), or an architectural diagram, or a detail of part of a building, or of the canals, or the bridges; the perfumed pools, the shadowy rooms, the luxurious bath houses or the simple traditional meals of Berenice, any sort of map of anywhere...
The Fisherman and the Jinni (1001 Nights) (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: History of the coloured fish (The Fisherman and the Jinni)
WB: Magical disapperance of a kingdom (The Fisherman and the Jinni)
Canon: Can be found online in various translations (e.g. here - the relevant part for this requests starts with the words 'They passed by the town, and came to the top of a mountain'). Different versions have slightly different details, but the main points are:
Obviously there are any number of fic possibilities here. For meta, you could write an extract from a history book, or perhaps from a magic book explaining how that sort of spell works. Or reports to some foreign ruler from his spies or diplomats about what the hell is going on (a new kingdom suddenly appears! Right where an old one vanished and no one seemed to notice!). Or a collection of snippets from different sources (books of different sorts, personal letters, official reports, folk tales, songs, etc) offering different points of view. (I'd be fascinated to have all my questions answered, but I'll happily settle for some things left a mystery, if that fits what you're writing better.)
Original Work - Pulp SF (fic or meta or art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: Planetary cultures (OW - Pulp SF)
Ah, the good old days when all the planets (and probably the moons, and possibly any decent sized asteroid) were perfectly habitable, without any particular problems with gravity or atmosphere or radiation. And I loved it. I loved the sense of wonder, of endless possibility, the sheer playfulness with which real world elements could be remixed into a kaleidoscope of foreign worlds, the never-ending possibilities for exploration and discovery. So, what sort of ships ply the Venusian seas? Are there cities of ice on frozen Neptune? What sort of trade once followed the canals of Mars? Are there strange forests on Saturn? Tell me something about some other world, about its ecology, its people, its scenery; about its nomads or its city-dwellers; its rich perfumes or strange foods; its religion or its arts...
Artwise, I was thinking particularly of architecture or landscape, with a sense of grandeur, or wonder, or playful invention. But I'm also very fond of ships, whether at sea or in port (or airships); also of marketplaces, or of city scenes in general (a view of a famous and important monument/building, or of the tiny lanes in a poorer quarter, or unusual building types, or the shopping district, or of people using whatever transport system there is, etc); also costumes (traditional folk costumes, formal wear, fashion - anything). You could also do illustrations from a book on zoology or botany. Or a map - you know the very old maps, with monsters filling in the uncharted areas? Except they'd be different monsters of course, and everything drawn in a different style - why should a Venusian map look like a medieval European map?
Omar Rayyan - Works (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: Underwater world (Omar Rayyan)
WB: Octopus-people culture (Omar Rayyan)
The fishes made wailing cries
At the wild weather
The Dream of King Don Rodrigo Anon, trans W.S Merwin
What is the poetry and literature like in this underwater world? The music? What are the cities like - the architecture, the markets, the homes? Or, focusing on the 'people' - they seem to be part octopus: perhaps the way they think and understand the world is as much like the way an octopus does as the way we do? And octopodes are downright weird. What would the world look like to something part octopus?
Examples of Rayyan's work.
Li Ho | Lǐ Hè | Lǐ Chángjí - Works (fic or art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: ghosts and demons (Li Ho - Works)
the blue raccoon weeps blood, and the cold fox dies
A Piece for Magic Strings Li Ho, trans A.C. Graham
I'm fascinated by the imagery of Li He's poems, and what I would really love is a story or art where that imagery is real, where Li Ho truly saw a world of ghosts and demons and almost unutterably strange things.
Please do not be put off this by thinking you aren't a scholar of the period, or even that you've never read any of his poems before! All I want is something making use of the wonderful imagery and metaphors of his poetry. And, to assist anyone who might be tempted by this prompt, I am linking a few helpful resources: some poems in translation, and, for anyone who wants added context, the introduction to Li Ho's section in Graham's Poems of the Late T'ang, and selections from the preface and the introduction to Frodsham's Collected Poems of Li He.
In General
Meta
I don't think you can go wrong here, actually. Travel guides, history books, spell books, academic works, folksongs, recipe books, letters, anything and everything. If you're wondering if I'll like your idea, the answer is yes, yes I will.
Fic
If you're writing fic and want ideas for the non-worldbuilding elements of your story, I like: established relationships, clever and competent characters, witty banter, slash (incl. femslash), political intrigue, moral ambiguity, apparently simple conversations with a great deal going on under the surface, angst if done with restraint, metaphor, clever use of literary allusions, relationships where each party thinks the other has all the power. Fierce loyalty (the tear the world apart for you variety, not the sit here passively putting up with anything variety), complicated love/hate relationships with lots of backstory, unflappable characters, arrogance if the party concerned has the requisite ability to back it up, committed partnerships between people who see the world at the same angle (even if they aren't always on the same side) ...
IF is always welcome (though for this exchange probably a great deal too much work to do on top of the worldbuilding).
Things I’d prefer you avoided: I’m not terribly keen on stories focused on pregnancy or children, humiliation, or stories told in the 2nd person (except for IF, or in-universe meta where it might be appropriate (eg a set of instructions)), and I do have something of an embarrassment squick. Oh all right, I also don't tend to like issuefic, but I'm not sure that's something people generally set out to write - one person's issuefic is another's searingly honest portrayal. Specific DNWs characters explicitly identifying themselves as asexual, aromantic or demisexual, or stories heavily focused on those subjects; trans* headcanons (and, just for this exchange, trans* characters); unrequested genderswaps. (This is my usual DNW lis but with particular reference to the Pulp SF prompt, I might stress that I really, really do not want issuefic for this exchange.)
Art
One reason I rarely ask for art is because I fear I don't know how to prompt well for it. But it seemed such a shame not to ask for it for this exchange, when there was so much art I'd love for it - I can only apologise, however, and ask your indulgence if my art requests are confusing or unhelpful.
Examples of things I like (this is probably poorly phrased! I've tried to indicate examples of what I mean, but they may not have made anything clearer.)
A sense of detail and precision (e.g. illustrations in late Victorian children's books; botanical sketches; complicated repeating patterns; Indian and Persian miniatures; bird-and-flower paintings, particularly of the gongbi school)
Conversely, also bold and simple (particularly if black and white, or black, white and one other colour, and more graceful, sinuous lines, rather than angular or blocky). Or suggestive, with some parts trailing off into misty imprecision (e.g. Song dynasty landscape painting), or merely an impression created by a few brushstrokes.
Colour schemes either fairly muted, or with rich jewel tones, but generally not neons, pastels or deliberately clashing colours.
Play of light and shadow.
I'm requesting:
- Le città invisibili | Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s); Berenice; Esmeralda; Isaura - Le città invisibili | Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s); Berenice; Esmeralda - The Fisherman and the Jinni (1001 Nights) (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s) - Original Work - Pulp SF (fic or meta or art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s) - Omar Rayyan - Works (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s) - Li Ho | Lǐ Hè | Lǐ Chángjí - Works (fic or art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
Le città invisibili | Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s); Berenice; Esmeralda; Isaura
WB: Religion (Invisible Cities)
WB: Inter-city Diplomacy (Invisible Cities)
WB: City culture (Invisible Cities)
I would love just to get more detail on the culture of any of the cities (nominated, unnominated or original): what it is like to live there, their customs, traditions, civic life, political set-up, social structure, arts, food etc.
Or, more generally, tell me what sort of interactions are there between cities? What is it like to go as a diplomat from one to another, or as a merchant? Which cities are allies, enemies, trading partners? Does one city have factions that disagree on what the relations should be with another city? Does one city have an embassy in another, and what is it like?
I have requested three specific cities, because I could think of things I especially wanted for them, but as you can see I also requested 'any' and 'original' - I will be extremely happy to get anything about any of the canonical cities, whether the other ones nominated that I didn't specifically request, or unnominated ones, or indeed anything about a brand new city of your creation.
Prompts if you want them for the three specific cities I requested:
Obviously, there is a lot that could be said in general about Isaura, reliant on its near-inaccessible water, and I find it's religion particularly interesting: the narrative doesn't commit itself to resolving the duality - whether both religions are true, or only one, or neither, and obviously there is a lot of ground to be explored in how they interact, who believes in each, what role the different worldviews have in the life of the city.
We don't get any description of religion in Berenice, but presumably it exists, both a corrupt state religion, and the religion (or possibly a philosophy) of the just. Perhaps more than one of each. What are they like? How do they interact - how do they conflict and where do they complement each other?
In general, I'm fascinated by the decadent riches and austerity of Berenice, and would love something about either aspect, or about how they interact, but I'm also very interested in the rather idyllic sounding daily life in Esmeralda, where a settled life may still allow for infinite minor variations - or indeed the more immediately restricted but also more adventurous lives of those who pass over the roofs or through the sewers.
Le città invisibili | Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino (art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s); Berenice; Esmeralda
WB: Architecture (Invisible Cities)
WB: City culture (Invisible Cities)
WB: Maps (Invisible Cities)
I would love any sort of city scene of any city - buildings; bridges; transport in general; markets of any sort; a typical street; a restaurant or food stall; a religous site, rite or procession; a view out from a window or in through a door; clothing, jewellery, hairstyles; a shop of any type. And of course maps are always welcome.
I have requested a couple of specific cities, where I could think of things I especially wanted for them, but as you can see I also requested 'any' and 'original' - I will be extremely happy to get anything about any of the canonical cities, whether the other ones nominated that I didn't specifically request, or unnominated ones, or indeed a brand new city of your creation. Prompts if you want them for the two specific cities I requested: a street view (or if you prefer, a swallow's/rat's eye view for Esmeralda), or an architectural diagram, or a detail of part of a building, or of the canals, or the bridges; the perfumed pools, the shadowy rooms, the luxurious bath houses or the simple traditional meals of Berenice, any sort of map of anywhere...
The Fisherman and the Jinni (1001 Nights) (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: History of the coloured fish (The Fisherman and the Jinni)
WB: Magical disapperance of a kingdom (The Fisherman and the Jinni)
Canon: Can be found online in various translations (e.g. here - the relevant part for this requests starts with the words 'They passed by the town, and came to the top of a mountain'). Different versions have slightly different details, but the main points are:
- A fisherman accidentally rescues a Jinn and convinces it to reward him; the Jinn takes him to a lake in a barren landscape and tells he may cast his net there once, and only once, a day. The lake is quite nearby, but no one has ever seen or heard of it before.
- Each cast, he catches four fish, very striking and lovely and of different colours: one white, one red, one blue and one yellow.
- He presents them to the local king, who gives them to a slave to fry. When the slave turns them over in the pan a beautiful woman appears, sticks a wand into the pan, and asks the fish if they have kept faith with her - the fish reply that they have. (Some versions have a slightly longer and more detailed dialogue.) She then strikes the pan, knocking the fish into the fire, and vanishes.
- The same thing happens a second time, watched by the vizier. The third time, watched by the king, much the same thing happens, except this time it is a tall negro with a green twig.
- The king learns that some time previously the king of another kingdom (the Black Isles), discovering that his wife was having an affair, secretly attacked her lover (a negro slave) and almost killed him. Some time later his wife discovered that he was the one who had carried out the attack, and cursed him to become half stone, also turning the kingdom into a lake and the citizens into fish.
Obviously there are any number of fic possibilities here. For meta, you could write an extract from a history book, or perhaps from a magic book explaining how that sort of spell works. Or reports to some foreign ruler from his spies or diplomats about what the hell is going on (a new kingdom suddenly appears! Right where an old one vanished and no one seemed to notice!). Or a collection of snippets from different sources (books of different sorts, personal letters, official reports, folk tales, songs, etc) offering different points of view. (I'd be fascinated to have all my questions answered, but I'll happily settle for some things left a mystery, if that fits what you're writing better.)
Original Work - Pulp SF (fic or meta or art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: Planetary cultures (OW - Pulp SF)
Ah, the good old days when all the planets (and probably the moons, and possibly any decent sized asteroid) were perfectly habitable, without any particular problems with gravity or atmosphere or radiation. And I loved it. I loved the sense of wonder, of endless possibility, the sheer playfulness with which real world elements could be remixed into a kaleidoscope of foreign worlds, the never-ending possibilities for exploration and discovery. So, what sort of ships ply the Venusian seas? Are there cities of ice on frozen Neptune? What sort of trade once followed the canals of Mars? Are there strange forests on Saturn? Tell me something about some other world, about its ecology, its people, its scenery; about its nomads or its city-dwellers; its rich perfumes or strange foods; its religion or its arts...
Artwise, I was thinking particularly of architecture or landscape, with a sense of grandeur, or wonder, or playful invention. But I'm also very fond of ships, whether at sea or in port (or airships); also of marketplaces, or of city scenes in general (a view of a famous and important monument/building, or of the tiny lanes in a poorer quarter, or unusual building types, or the shopping district, or of people using whatever transport system there is, etc); also costumes (traditional folk costumes, formal wear, fashion - anything). You could also do illustrations from a book on zoology or botany. Or a map - you know the very old maps, with monsters filling in the uncharted areas? Except they'd be different monsters of course, and everything drawn in a different style - why should a Venusian map look like a medieval European map?
Omar Rayyan - Works (fic or meta)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: Underwater world (Omar Rayyan)
WB: Octopus-people culture (Omar Rayyan)
The fishes made wailing cries
At the wild weather
The Dream of King Don Rodrigo Anon, trans W.S Merwin
What is the poetry and literature like in this underwater world? The music? What are the cities like - the architecture, the markets, the homes? Or, focusing on the 'people' - they seem to be part octopus: perhaps the way they think and understand the world is as much like the way an octopus does as the way we do? And octopodes are downright weird. What would the world look like to something part octopus?
Examples of Rayyan's work.
Li Ho | Lǐ Hè | Lǐ Chángjí - Works (fic or art)
Any or No Characters; Original Character(s)
WB: ghosts and demons (Li Ho - Works)
the blue raccoon weeps blood, and the cold fox dies
A Piece for Magic Strings Li Ho, trans A.C. Graham
I'm fascinated by the imagery of Li He's poems, and what I would really love is a story or art where that imagery is real, where Li Ho truly saw a world of ghosts and demons and almost unutterably strange things.
Please do not be put off this by thinking you aren't a scholar of the period, or even that you've never read any of his poems before! All I want is something making use of the wonderful imagery and metaphors of his poetry. And, to assist anyone who might be tempted by this prompt, I am linking a few helpful resources: some poems in translation, and, for anyone who wants added context, the introduction to Li Ho's section in Graham's Poems of the Late T'ang, and selections from the preface and the introduction to Frodsham's Collected Poems of Li He.
In General
Meta
I don't think you can go wrong here, actually. Travel guides, history books, spell books, academic works, folksongs, recipe books, letters, anything and everything. If you're wondering if I'll like your idea, the answer is yes, yes I will.
Fic
If you're writing fic and want ideas for the non-worldbuilding elements of your story, I like: established relationships, clever and competent characters, witty banter, slash (incl. femslash), political intrigue, moral ambiguity, apparently simple conversations with a great deal going on under the surface, angst if done with restraint, metaphor, clever use of literary allusions, relationships where each party thinks the other has all the power. Fierce loyalty (the tear the world apart for you variety, not the sit here passively putting up with anything variety), complicated love/hate relationships with lots of backstory, unflappable characters, arrogance if the party concerned has the requisite ability to back it up, committed partnerships between people who see the world at the same angle (even if they aren't always on the same side) ...
IF is always welcome (though for this exchange probably a great deal too much work to do on top of the worldbuilding).
Things I’d prefer you avoided: I’m not terribly keen on stories focused on pregnancy or children, humiliation, or stories told in the 2nd person (except for IF, or in-universe meta where it might be appropriate (eg a set of instructions)), and I do have something of an embarrassment squick. Oh all right, I also don't tend to like issuefic, but I'm not sure that's something people generally set out to write - one person's issuefic is another's searingly honest portrayal. Specific DNWs characters explicitly identifying themselves as asexual, aromantic or demisexual, or stories heavily focused on those subjects; trans* headcanons (and, just for this exchange, trans* characters); unrequested genderswaps. (This is my usual DNW lis but with particular reference to the Pulp SF prompt, I might stress that I really, really do not want issuefic for this exchange.)
Art
One reason I rarely ask for art is because I fear I don't know how to prompt well for it. But it seemed such a shame not to ask for it for this exchange, when there was so much art I'd love for it - I can only apologise, however, and ask your indulgence if my art requests are confusing or unhelpful.
Examples of things I like (this is probably poorly phrased! I've tried to indicate examples of what I mean, but they may not have made anything clearer.)
A sense of detail and precision (e.g. illustrations in late Victorian children's books; botanical sketches; complicated repeating patterns; Indian and Persian miniatures; bird-and-flower paintings, particularly of the gongbi school)
Conversely, also bold and simple (particularly if black and white, or black, white and one other colour, and more graceful, sinuous lines, rather than angular or blocky). Or suggestive, with some parts trailing off into misty imprecision (e.g. Song dynasty landscape painting), or merely an impression created by a few brushstrokes.
Colour schemes either fairly muted, or with rich jewel tones, but generally not neons, pastels or deliberately clashing colours.
Play of light and shadow.