Corollary question to "Iconic Stories" question

[aldersprig]

(Iconic stories: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/971913.html )

If I were going to write a story (~1000-2000 words) in your favorite setting(s) as an introduction to the setting, what would it include?

Comments

[anke]

What I like most about Dragons Next Door is different people/species being friends, or at least neighbours who get along well enough.

[inventrix]

Okay! So. This varies wildly from setting to setting because it's very dependent on the setting itself. The Winter fic of Stranded I mentioned before is a good example. It presents the core concept of the magic in the setting - strands, and manipulating them - which is the thing that makes the setting unique. It demonstrates the different angles/flavors/implementations of it - tanglers, etc. And it works them all into one coherent and relevant package, without requiring any outside knowledge of the characters or the setting.

For each setting, then, you need to pick out a) the element that makes the setting unique, b) different key aspects/angles of that element, c) a story plot that functionally uses all of the things you come up with for b and relies on no reader knowledge.

So on to more specifics, which are largely my opinion.

For Aunt Family, you need something with the concept of the Aunts, the Grannies, and the magic. The use of the magic, the way it works, the reason the Aunts have it.

For Dragons Next Door, you need the social proximity and interfacing of multiple fantasy species, and their different cultures, and how they might be mediated.

For Unicorn/Factory, you need the unicorns, the factory, and the magical rape babies.

For Tir na Cali, you need the slavery, the American/Cali dynamic, the nobility, and the magic.

I cannot think of anything else at the moment, but I might get back to you.