I'm too old for worldbuilding, so I'm giving these ideas away

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

This was originally posted by mistake in Story Feedback. Here is where it belongs.

I’m 75. My health is okay now, but I don’t expect it to hold up over the next twenty-thirty years. With that in mind, I’m not going to start on an epic series that requires a detailed infodump, established over millions of words. I’d hate to leave a thirty-volume series hanging after, say, Volume Eleven. So, I offer freely, to any and all writers, everything that I put in this thread. If you want to take a crack at what's here, go ahead.

First, here’s a science fiction concept. Broadspec is a broad-spectrum immunization against chemical, biological, and radiological hazards in The Hab, a space-borne colony. The substance can be prepared starting at a person’s eighteenth birthday, because it requires not just their DNA but the expression/activation of genes as of that time, so this can be projected in the rest of the recipient’s natural life. The serum based on this genetic data is then injected into the recipient, one year later. The main practical aspect of this is that the recipient’s body can self-repair from damage by ionizing radiation, a hazard in outer parts of the colony. Broadspec also prevents anything transmitted sexually from causing an infection, and as needed would attack spores, bacteria, and unwanted viruses. It gives the recipient conscious control of fertility--and also cell growth at the micro level, so it can produce beneficial cancers.

There is one day each year (based on the Terran 365/6 days, even though Earth was left behind long ago) when all of a community’s nineteen year olds gather to debut sexually (officially). Many, of all genders, go through the motions but decline to bump uglies. As for those who choose to disport…that’s up to you.

 

[Rob_Royale]

This story would require only a much world building as you've described here. Start out -
Star Colony Beta, year 2567.
The first scene is in the medical bay of the station, as a young man gets his first set of immunizations. The doctor describes the effects of the shots and that's it.

Readers have seen enough sci-fi to understand the setting without a great deal of explanation. The rest of it, the people, the culture, that can all be explained as the story unfolds.

And really, there's no need for a saga. Readers aren't looking for that here. A few stands alone stories that interlock nicely would be received very well. Overlapping some characters, locations and events will give it a cohesive feel.

An anthology series with the familiar setting is the way to go on Lit.

 

[Husky_Embrace]

I'll just pile on what @Rob_Royale with cheese says. World building is important, but it should only be used dispersed within a story. It is likely you'll never explain everything that has been build in this world, and that is one of the hooks in a story. Things being established fir 90%, and lacking that last bit.

No one is interested in stories that start with a 50 page exposition. You can introduce concepts, and as the story progresses you the reader starts to understand it more. They are little pieces of rewards for a reader as well. As an example, you could start the story at the 19yo vaccination. You'll drop in a hint that there's more afoot here by promising the vaccine leads to an initiation. It is strange enough to capture people's attention. Who needs a vaccine for adulthood? Then in the conversations with others it slowly becomes clear what the vaccine means. At first it offers more protection and thus more free movement on the Hab. Then the plot deepens when the sexual references to the vaccine start to pile up.

World building is an art that needs to be interwoven in a story. It's a few threads that are important, but would fail is the threads are alone.

75 isn't that old, and I feel there's plenty of time. I would urge you to write it! And if you do stop midway, we'll all be wondering for years how it would have ended.

 

[sirhugs]

"75 isn't that old, and I feel there's plenty of time. I would urge you to write it! And if you do stop midway, we'll all be wondering for years how it would have ended."

Agree with the first part (though I'm only 67 almost 68). I do have a further suggestion - deputize a Lit friend with the task of finishing the worldbuilding if you falter. But not me. I have a 20% chance of surviving to 70. Trying to get all my stories done.

 

[000zing]

Talking of passing ideas on to others, I was contacted quite some time back by a contributor to Story Ideas and offered his 'portfolio' of stuff. We met for a coffee. He was in pretty poor health at the time and I suspect he may no longer be with us as his emails stopped coming and he stopped posting on here fairly abruptly.

I've been agonising ever since over what to do with his ideas and stories. He told me he'd never submitted anywhere. Off topic, I realise. Apologies to the OP.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

@Rob_Royale @Husky_Embrace @sirhugs

Thanks for weighing in. Yeah, I know about working in a story's setting in easily digestible chunks. My point (I thought) is that I don't expect to have the writing time to scatter the worldbuild hints in among story elements. I have other things going on in my life, and writing sex fiction is one of several hobbies that I pursue in my retirement. For me, a high concept is worth developing if it's accompanied by characters that interest me. So far, Broadspec hasn't led me to a specific vision of people, beyond that the main ones would be around 19yo.

I appreciate your confidence in me, if that's what it is. But I expect that my sex fiction, from here on, will be relatively short items.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

If you thought Broadspec is an easy worldbuild, you may think differently about FreeForeverLand. I’m trying to be concise, but you may find this to be TL;DR.

edited by moderator- if you want the long version, contact the poster I suppose.

So, even though I have characters, I have no confidence in being able to take this further. If this interests you, have at it.

 

[sirhugs]

If you thought Broadspec is an easy worldbuild, you may think differently about FreeForeverLand. I’m trying to be concise, but you may find this to be TL;DR.

Gareth Muir, a shadowy figure like Oz The Great And Powerful, is just another obnoxious rich guy when he takes on what seems to be a lost cause: cryptocurrency. In 2029, he makes Proof of Work and Proof of Stake genuinely trustworthy. He had acquired controlling interest in several old coins that were ghosts of their former selves. Deploying them through his own algorithm, in two years he can influence the governmental currencies of several large developed nations.

This, however, is not enough for him. He takes over various biotech companies, and throws out their business models to make them focus on one field: Sex.

Within five years, his conglomerate has cures for all sexually transmitted infections. This transforms him from really rich to beyond any conceivable measurement of wealth. Then he embarks on the creation of FreeForeverLand, a massive floating island that cruises the eastern Pacific. His crypto coins, a haven for investors who no longer trust government-backed currencies, underwrite construction and maintenance of Muir's 'country.'

FreeForeverLand moves back and forth across the equator, from 49 degrees north latitude to 33 degrees south. Despite Muir’s bristling pronouncements, about how his ‘country’ doesn’t need or care about “all those land-based losers,” the itinerary is intended to make FFL convenient, at certain times, to the Americas, from Vancouver in the north to La Paz in the south. Land-based losers are in fact welcome to visit FFL. There, they can do many things they can’t do in their (quoting Muir again) “sad, prudish, liberty-hating welfare states.” Consenting-adult sex is the main draw, although gambling and other vices are available.

This isn’t just a huge floating whorehouse. There are hundreds of separate individual houses of prostitution, catering to a wide variety of customer desires, but with the strict understanding that every service provider is a free citizen with the ability to grant or deny consent. S/he is backed in this by FFL’s police and judicial system, as well as the provider’s right to possess and use weapons. Muir calls himself a male chauvinist, but he’s even more doctrinaire about ensuring that service providers, the vast majority of whom are cis women, have all the rights he considers essential in his ‘country.’ This means that pimps and madams are on a short leash, and a complaint by a provider (of grifting, or bad treatment) can get the offenders locked up and deported.

Yes, ‘country’ always belongs in quotes. Only fourteen actual countries consider FFL autonomous, and Muir doesn’t want diplomatic relations anyway, only free trade, and border crossings on his terms.

FFL can’t possibly defend itself from a concerted attack. It can only make the cost so high that the attack can’t be justified. For one thing, thanks to its cryptos, the ‘country’ has finagled itself into the financial underpinnings of every significant real country. The bomb you drop on FFL might destroy your own economy.

As far as some pirate entity seeking to invade and loot the place, FFL can wipe it out before it can establish a beachhead (yes, FFL has beaches, four-meter-depths of sand covering extensions of the lower hull). There are thousands of drones all around the periphery. Muir has no compunction about killing everyone involved in such attempts.

And there’s more. Much more. In what I’ve written so far, Muir isn’t even a character, although he would become one later (like Oz) (and he’s Australian). The story I’ve worked on so far focuses on a cis-het F+M couple who perform live sex shows. I generally like them, but I’ve run up against a large And-Then-What issue, which has stalled the project for a couple years. On other possible situations, like biologists establishing coral reefs on the outer edge of the hull, I’ve made no headway.

So, even though I have characters, I have no confidence in being able to take this further. If this interests you, have at it.

this does not fit Story Ideas. Please see the guidelines and edit. It's a good post and , well, see my thread on editing with an axe. I hate to do it, that's why I'm giving you an opportunity.

 

[sirhugs]

@Rob_Royale @Husky_Embrace @sirhugs

Thanks for weighing in. Yeah, I know about working in a story's setting in easily digestible chunks. My point (I thought) is that I don't expect to have the writing time to scatter the worldbuild hints in among story elements. I have other things going on in my life, and writing sex fiction is one of several hobbies that I pursue in my retirement. For me, a high concept is worth developing if it's accompanied by characters that interest me. So far, Broadspec hasn't led me to a specific vision of people, beyond that the main ones would be around 19yo.

I appreciate your confidence in me, if that's what it is. But I expect that my sex fiction, from here on, will be relatively short items.

fair enough. World building has its place, but so do shorter formats.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

this does not fit Story Ideas. Please see the guidelines and edit. It's a good post and , well, see my thread on editing with an axe. I hate to do it, that's why I'm giving you an opportunity.

Thanks, but I'll leave it as is. If the Mod wants to delete it, so it goes.

 

[KindredFlame]

Broadspec is a custom, hyper-personalized genomic reprogramming serum administered in the deep-space colony, "The Hab," intended to grant biological dominance against constant threats like deep-space radiation, pathogens, and novel biological agents.

The treatment is a two-stage process: comprehensive genetic profiling is performed at age 18, followed by the final integrating injection one year later at age 19.

Broadspec's functions include:

Autogenous Nanorepair: Immediate self-correction protocols to "annihilate" cumulative radiation damage.
Absolute Immunity: Permanent, sterilizing immunity against all known diseases and hyper-vigilance against novel pathogenic threats.
Volitional Control: Granting recipients conscious mental command over two fundamental processes: an absolute on/off switch for fertility, and the ability to induce temporary, beneficial tumors (neoplasms) to aid healing or produce specialized biological agents on demand.
The serum's integration marks the recipient's initiation into adulthood, celebrated during the "Hymenoptera Gathering" ceremony.

 

[sirhugs]

Thanks, but I'll leave it as is. If the Mod wants to delete it, so it goes.

I am th mod. I prefer not to delete good contributions, but so it goes.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I don’t have the worldbuilding excuse on this one, it’s just a project on which I’m getting nowhere. “Nooner or Later” is about a married cis-het F+M couple with kids in school, and their attempts to use their lunch breaks to meet at their house for whoopee. This fun doesn’t have to be quiet and confined, like what they do late at night in their bedroom. As a result, the nooners draw the attention of the next-door neighbors, who are home-schooling their kids, and thus never have the house to themselves. Hijinks would ensue. (Yeah, I really like the title.)