Dear Worldbuilder Letter 2025
Feb. 15th, 2025 10:02 amI have had a blast with this exchange for the past three years and am looking forward to participating again.
Treats and unusual formats are more than welcome and much appreciated!!
Below are some general likes and DNWs, then my fandom-specific prompts.
Likes:
- Character Dynamics
- Healthy communication + relationships (sexual/romantic/otherwise)
- Non-sexual intimacy
- Found family
- Supportive siblings
- Resilience and breaking-points of friendship, broken/faded friendships being rekindled/repaired
- Mentor and student where the mentor has a lot to learn from the student as well
- Relationships where the participants are on opposite sides (politically/militarily/philosophically/feuding families, etc.)
- Aggressively competent characters solving hard problems (by planning ahead or thinking on their feet)
- Case Fic
- Political Thriller
- Spin-offs (Focus on minor characters, prequels/sequels with novel characters)
- In-Universe Legends/Media
- In-Universe Diagrams/Educational Material/Guides
- Epistolary
- Frame narratives
- Limited/Coordinate Color Palette
- Black and White (w/ Pops of Accent Color)
- Art Nouveau
- Stained Glass
- Intricate Architectural Details / M.C. Escher-esque trippy geometry
- Characters with diverse body shapes and sizes
- Historical or Historically-Inspired Costumes
- Fun Details snuck into background text / Extra-interactions
DNWs:
- Bestiality / Explicit sex involving non-anthropoids
- Rape / Non-con
- Dub-con, especially involving magical manipulation, is accepted
- Rape/Non-con portrayed by consenting adults in the context of acting/role-play, is also accepted
- Rape mentioned as part of canon backstory (e.g. The Quadrene perspective on the conception of the Bastard) is also accepted
- Hurt No-Comfort
Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold
Formats: Fanfiction, In-Universe Meta
Worldbuilding:
The Roknari and the Quadrene Faith:
I would love a Roknari-sympathetic / Roknari centered narrative that explores their understanding of the Holy Family. Why do they use fish instead of sacred animals? How are their views on the gods different from and similar to the Quintarians? How are these views reflected in their societal values and society as a whole? Something epistolary between a Roknari scholar and a Quintarian scholar could be really fun!
The Bastard's Death Demon:
Is the Bastard's Death Demon a demon in the same sense that Desdemona is? How is it similar to and different from the chaos elementals that escape into the world from the Bastard's Hell? Why is it different? What is its origin? Don't necessarily need all these questions definitively answered, would also love to see scholars and theologians raising and debating these questions!
Women in the Son's Order:
Scholomance - Naomi Novik
Formats: Fanart, Fanfiction, In-Universe Meta
Magicians and the World Wars:
Magicians are portrayed as fairly insulated/separated from the wider politics of non-magical culture, but I'm curious how they were affected nonetheless. What did enclave politics look like throughout the early 20th century? Was magic used to dodge drafts? We know that new entrances were added to London Enclave to avoid the shelling; how did other enclaves adapt to the hazards of war? What new magical innovations appeared throughout this time? What were politics like in the early days inside the Scholomance? How did the older students' understanding of world politics affect alliances? How was news brought in by freshmen reacted to? Definitely not expecting all of these questions to be explored, just providing jumping-off points!
Magical Children of Families Without Magic, Pre Destruction of the Scholomance:
We barely see this explored in the books, but I would love to see the story of a student who comes into the Scholomance not knowing anything about magic and manages to survive (or at least survive longer than anyone expects). I was thinking this would be before Orion and El's time, but it's up to you! For in-universe meta, maybe the notes such a student would leave in their new-student handbook?
Construction and Architecture of the Scholomance:
Would absolutely love some art/in-universe meta dealing with this, like the diagrams about how the school works that are canonically posted around it. Would also love to see a story about its original design and construction. The details in the books are intriguing and I would love to see some more!
Liesel's Organizational Efforts Post Enclave War:
I think this would lend itself so well to epistolary fic, but I'm definitely not married to that if you have another idea! Basically, Liesel's ruthless competence is attractive and I would like to see more please! How does she keep El's secret, while simultaneously preparing for the inevitability of someone figuring it out? Who does she bring in to their team and what is the vetting process like?
Flow - (Film 2024)
Formats: Fanart, Fanfiction, In-Universe Meta
What happened to the humans? | Whale Biology | The secretarybird's departure | Animal societies and politics
Saw this over the holidays and loved it. Especially interested in the secretarybird but happy with anything to do with these prompts and in holding with the aesthetics of the film. I really liked how grounded most of it felt in a world that could be real. I would love a speculative take on the setting versus something overtly magical. I definitely interpreted the secretarybird's departure as an allegorical representation of death (the people I was watching with did not!) but I'm not married to that interpretation.