After the chaos, upheaval and economic and ecologic crises of the latter half of the century, the world seems to take a breath.
Those who profited most from the chaos were the large corporations. While the world burned, they made a sizeable profit and now rival most governments in power and influence.
And now, that the dust has settled and civilization is (somewhat) saved, they can return to their own business-rivalries, feuds and powerplays, fought in board rooms, the web and the streets with lawyers, PR-campaigns, hackers and good old hired thugs.
In these conflicts, it's mostly those unfortunate at the bottom, that get crushed under the wheels of corporate ambition. Or turn to less law-abiding means, trying to profit off the chaos...
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For this thread, I'm looking for an original cyberpunk-setting, though shamelessly stealing taking some inspiration from franchises like Altered Carbon, Shadowrun or Cyberpunk 2077 is more than fine! Nonetheless I'd appreciate someone, who has some interest in a bit (or a lot) of worldbuilding and coming up with our own flavour of neon-lit dystopia.
In terms of plot, I do have some vague prompts/character-ideas listed below, but those are more suggestions and jumping-off points for some brainstorming. Either a small, intimate tale of survival in a gritty, cruel world or a grand tale about corporate politics, crime and betrayal would work just fine. Or maybe a combination thereof?
Some general expectations I'd have:
Patience: My posting schedule can be a bit erratic sometimes. Muses are fickle things and I (like most people, I assume) have a life beyond the screen. I try to aim for a post a week, but it could very well be slower than that. If you've a fixed requirement of a post every 72 hours, I'm afraid we're not a good match. In return, I'll of course offer the same courtesy!
Enthusiasm and Effort: Ideally, I'd like to come up with a story, that we both enjoy and can get excited about. While I do have a wild grab-bag of ideas floating around my brain, this is a collaborative thing, some someone who can contribute a bit to the plot beyond an occasional "Yeah, sounds good." would be nice.
Flexibility: Not a "must-have", but certainly a "nice-to-have". I'm pretty flexible in terms of the characters I play and very much enjoy stories, that involve multiple main(-ish) and side-characters, so people who can keep up with that and can throw in some different dynamics to the front of the line please.
Fun: Most importantly: This is a hobby and something we should both enjoy. Stress, OOC-drama and anything that makes writing feel like chore are things I'd rather avoid.
As for some general information about me as a writer:
I'm a sub-leaning switch, mostly playing female characters
I aim for a post-length of 500-1000+ words and about one post per week(more or less)
I'm kind of a visual person (as apparent by this over-designed thread) and tend to use photographic faceclaims. Fancy formatting is optional, but always welcome!
Since I'm a big fan of collaborative brainstorming, but know that getting that started can be a little tricky sometimes, here is a little questionnaire of sorts, to make that process a little easier. Feel free to take it as a guideline, when approaching me!
Character-Preferences: What kind of characters do you prefer to play, in terms of gender, sexual orientation and general type? How many? (Personally, I'm a big fan of ensemble-pieces with multiple main-characters, but I know that isn't everybodies cup of tea)
Pairing-Preferences: What kind of characters do you prefer to play opposite of? (I'm pretty flexible and like to step out of my usual comfort zone now and then, thought traditionally manly cis-men aren't quite my strong-side)
(Here's a little list of faceclaims I'm particularly fond if, in case you need some inspiration!)
Kinks and Limits: Limits are the most important, but feel free to tell me your particular favourites as well, especially where they align with my own!
Themes: What kind of themes/plot-points/dynamics would you like to include? And which ones would you like to avoid?
Corporate Politics:
Shady backroom-deals, board-meetings, ambitious executives, cold-blooded lawyers, stolen documents and hacked servers
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The decadent lives of the insanely rich, fancy parties, arranged marriages, sex, drugs and gold-plated pets
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Corporate Hackers, Mercenaries and Operatives, shady contractors using violence, when negotiations fail
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The day-to-day life of corporate wage-slaves, overworked and underfucked, workplace-romance, low-stakes intrigue or stumbling into drama above your paygrade
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The tough life on the streets, gangs, (cheap) drugs and organized crime-syndicates
[(Unknowing) Incest, Estranged Family Drama, Age Gap, Switch Characters, Sugar Daddy-Dynamics]
The dawn of hyper-immersive VR did obviously have an impact on the oldest profession of the world. While not quite the same as sex in the real, VR-prostitution has some advantages. The ability to live out your wildest fantasies, while staying absolutely anonymous has a certain appeal. Especially for the rich and famous, who have a reputation to use. And while still a tough job, meeting clients in VR is much safer, than selling your body on the streets.
MC, a young woman, didn't have an easy life. Growing up without a father in a cramped, run-down working-class apartment, she too ended up working in one of the better VR-brothels, spending long ours hooked into a simulation to fulfill the fantasies of faceless strangers.
YC is one of her regulars, and one of the better ones. An wealthy, powerful CEO with a stressful job and a reputation to lose, it's not surprising that he occasionally likes to hook into VR and discreetly vent some steam. But he's a decent guy, treating MC like a person a tipping generously.
The two are a good match. Their kinks and rather switch-y natures line up well and even on a personal level they vibe extremely well. That relationship takes a sudden turn though, when YC finds out (through some way) that his favourite VR-hooker is actually his daughter, the result of a past romance, he had to sacrifice for his career, which makes their relationship a lot more complicated to say the least...
Boardrooms and Bedrooms
[Arranged Marriages, Corporate Politics, Playboys and Partygirls, Rebellious Heirs and Heiresses
Like the nobility of old, the corporate elites of the neon-lit future have realized, that love and sex can be powerful tools in the field of politics. Setting up the heirs of rival corporations to facilitate a "Merger-by-Marriage", ruining the reputation of a rival by sneaking a recording device into his secret girlfriends apartment, conspiring with a neglected trophy-wife against her husband...
What tales play out in the extravagant world between boardroom-meetings, exclusive clubs, intrigue, infidelity and iron-clad marriage contracts?
Unwanted Secrets
[Cat-and-Mouse, Conspiracies, Exploitation, Gritty Street-Life]
In the cruel, high-tech future, the poor and downtrodden have to resort to all kinds of desperate measures to scrape out a living. Renting out the processing-power of your brain to crypto-mining corporations seems lika decent deal and is certainly advertised as such: "Make money while you sleep!" Only too late many realize, that being put under anesthesia, while your brain is hooked into a server-farm isn't quite the same as "sleep" and the side-effects of insomnia, hallucinations and psychotic breaks might not be worth the scraps one get paid in the end...
The protagonist (either MC or YC) encounters a rarer, stranger risk, though. While hooked into the machine, some nebulous hacker dropped some encrypted files straight into their memory...The unsettling impact that has on their day-to-day life aside, now they find themselves in the middle of a grand conspiracy and hunted by various groups who are willing to go to any lengths, to get their hands on those files.
Let Justice Be Done
[Revenge, Seven Samurai-esque, Gritty, but hopeful?]
Fletcher Industries is one of the biggest, most powerful corporations on the planet....And arguably one of the most morally bankrupt. Over the course of it's meteoric rise to the top, they left quite a few skeletons in closets and stepped on more than a few feet.
YC never particularly cared, given that he was sitting on the board. But then Fletcher needed a fall guy, when the Law got wise of some of their business-practices. And YC was gleefully thrown under the bus.
Years later, freshly released from prison, YC is driven by a single goal: To bring down Fletcher Industries. Maybe he went through a bit of a redemption arc and wants to put right some past wrongs, maybe he just wants revenge on the assholes who pinned their crimes on him. Either way, he gathers some allies, who have their own reasons to hate Fletcher.
A Lakota-girl, whose reservation was turned into a toxic wasteland by an industrial accident, caused by Fletcher Industries A former "cult"-member, whose militant, but not aggressive community was Waco'd for being in the way of the company's expansion The daughter of a journalist, whose father was murdered after digging into Fletcher's crimes.
(Just to name some suggestions)
Making it Personal
[Lovers-to-Enemies(-to Lovers?), Love-Hate-Relationship, Professional and Personal Conflict, Petty Grudges]
House of Memory Cards
[Political and Moral Corruption, Blackmail, Dirty Little Secrets, Intrigue]
Corporate Rehab
[Age-Gaps, Younger Characters (16+), Corruption, Coercion, Mentor-Student Relationships]
On paper, it seemed like such a philanthropic endeavour. Young delinquents could be given a chance to escape their troubled surroundings, get some experience and personal counseling to help them get back on track, becoming productive members of society. All paid for by a corporation in desperate need for some good PR.
In reality, the whole "Corporate-Sponsored Rehabilitation" is little more than a ploy to press troubled youths into indentured servitude, becoming expendable pawns for the corporations less legal and more shady endeavours. But it is still a better choice than prison. And on the rainy streets of [CITY], there's no lack of fresh candidates.
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