Topic: Eden Leaking : Falling Eden [M seeks F quality writer for Bioshock RP]

[Barding]

"The possibilities are endless, though some things stay the same. Constants and variables. Times and places. But in the end there is always a man. There is always a city. And there is always a lighthouse. The question to ask yourself is this: are you going up or down?"

This is one of my oldest ideas for a story. We go back years, this idea and I. It holds a particular half-sacred place in my heart that has always proved difficult to fill. But with the recent release of Bioshock Infinite, the old craving has reared its head again, albeit with a new face. The long and the short of it is what always has been: I want to write a story set in one of Bioshock's worlds, whether that ends up being Comstock's Columbia or Ryan's Rapture.

First though, I want to get things straight. I am looking for a co-writer. I am looking for quality. Here's what I want.

My O/Os page talks pretty extensively about what I enjoy in a co-writer. But here are the basics, set down for your convenience... Above all, I'm looking for quality writing. I don't care about what tense you prefer to use, or whether you prefer to write in the first or third person. I can bend and break to accomodate those sort of preferences. But what I will not budge on is the quality of the writing. This does not mean 'good grammar'. It's more and less than that. It means an expressive level of detail and a respect for pacing in your prose. It means goodies like imagery, knowing how to make punctuation and syntax work for you and your character, not the reverse. It means a sense of style appropriate to the story's tone, and to your character. And that's all there is to it. I want literature. Do not confuse post-length with post-quality. I'd prefer multi-paragraph posts in situations where detail is paramount, but when the action requires interaction, and just needs to keep on rolling then shorter ones might even work best. That's another thing I'd love to see in an ideal co-writer: initiative, confidence. The ability and conviction to throw me an occasional curve-ball, pitch me your ideas. Inspire me. I'd like someone capable of playing female characters. I don't care much about your real life gender, wherever it falls on the spectrum. More important is your ability to play interesting, balanced, characters. Characters every bit as psychologically complex and well-realized as any real person worth a damn. While I'm not as insistent on this as I am on the previous two things...It'd also be nice if you were a relatively prompt poster. Don't panic. I don't mean tennis-serve-fast. A good solid post every day or three would, however, be ideal. Of course, I understand that we all have lives, and I promise to respect that yours may affect your posting speed. That's totally fine. And for all you slower posters out there: sometimes a post's so good it's worth the wait! Creativity. Imagination. A dash of enthusiasm maybe? Those wouldn't go amiss. Nor would knowledge of the setting and of relevant history. I'm not talking an extensive and encyclopedic level of Bioshock-related wisdom, but rather just enough familiarity to make you comfortable. The same goes for historical knowledge, when it comes to the 20th Century. Of course, encyclopedic wisdom's no bad thing, but it's not necessary. Not even close. More important is an eagerness to learn, a willingness to research, and perhaps a little bit of confidence in yourself, your ideas, all of that. If you were wondering, I mostly want to interpret the setting anyway, rather than directly replicate it. And it's open to that. There are blanks to be filled in.  So make of that what you will, and we'll do the same for this setting. Thank you for reading this list. I hope I didn't come across too harsh. But I'm hoping that the kinda writer I'm looking for will not balk at this. They'll agree that they're looking for the same thing. Every entry on this list, I also try to bring out in myself. I'm no hypocrite (I hope). So you give me your best, and I'll give you mine. If you choose to write with me. Thanks again.

If you feel like you meet those criteria, please read on! The story I want to write is one of survival. Whatever the city, whatever the forces responsible, what began as a paradise has become a hell. A heaven built after the image of one man's dream, whether amongst the clouds or beneath the waves, has become a hell at the hands of humankind. Rapture was built as the world's one true utopia of free enterprise and free will, beneath the waves and the world. Its citizenry comprised the great who no longer wished to be constrained by the small. And so it was a city of revolutionary science, innovation, enterprise, art and economics. With the discovery of ADAM by Dr. Bridget Tenenbaum, not even the human double-helix would determine a man or woman's choice and potential. Rapture was meant to be a city without prejudice, without poverty, without superstition or pettiness. A place where men and women would not be judged on their appearance, the way they choose to live or who they cannot help but love, but only by the sweat of their brow: their achievements. But even in a city founded on a dream, someone must be trodden on for others to ascend. Someone always has to mop the floors and clean up after the party's over. Those trodden to the bottom rose up, enraged, and civil war shook Rapture. From New Year's Day 1959, Rapture became a battleground and then a ruin: a corpse. And ADAM itself twisted the minds of many who survived, in turn twisting their minds. They roam the bones of this once-great city now, crawling in its veins, up and down its spine, searching for more of what drove them mad: the ADAM their bodies require. Columbia began not as a dream but as proof that dreams can come true. Conceived, built and funded by the US Government, Columbia was meant to serve as a moving World's Fair, travelling to far off lands and demonstrating the success of 'the American experiment'. But with the growing influence of Zachary Comstock, Columbia soon stood not for American ideals but for its own: for Comstock's. The man set himself up as a prophet, only to be worshipped like a god, firing upon Chinese civilians in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, seceding from the Union of States, preaching Columbian exceptionalism, White Christian supremacy, and the ills of the Sodom below. Columbia became a floating ark in the eyes of its populace, seperate and sacred, compared to the rest of sin-bound earthbound humankind. A haven for the white, the rich, and those willing to follow blindly, but already hellish for people of colour, the Irish, the Eastern-European and the poor, in 1912 Columbia buckled under these internal tensions. As with Rapture, civil war split Columbia into fragments of itself. The downtrodden united in blood and rage under the banner and the name of the Vox Populi, while Comstock's faithful, half-blind with loyalty, fought back as the Founders in the streets and on the skylines of their city. Chaos reigned, smoke poured and fire roared, and looters and fighters alike began to tear Columbia to shreds.

Plot Details & Ideas

As I said, the story I want to tell is a story of survival, and it will take place in one of these cities. (Or perhaps, if we get really ambitious and excitable, we could create our own Bioshock city. If you've finished Bioshock Infinite you'll know that the possibilities are pretty open.) In both cases, a cataclysm occurs, and suddenly the city is changed, mad with fighting, fury, looting, lawlessness and chaos. In both cases, our characters might have little to no idea what's going on. Though their motivations might be uncertain, disparate, distinct to begin with, and though they may love one another, hate one another, or be total strangers at first, those relationships will be tested. And they will be forced to work together towards a new goal: escaping this hell at all costs. The characters could be anyone. Almost anyone, at least. As I've said, I don't want canon characters, though finding voxphones and audio diaries left by them, or even being acquainted with them, working for them, being blown by tides set in motion by them - those are all options, and even things I'd love to see. The one thing I'm certain about is that they'll be a man and a woman, in one of these two Edens. And when the walls of their worlds fall down, they will each be the only thing the other can depend on, whether they like it or not. The rest is up to us to decide. Who they are and how they meet. Whether they're an artist and a scientist, striving in Rapture and brought together for an ill-advised night of passion on New Year's Eve 1958, and waking up to find their world a broken violent place. Or a member of the Vox, horrified at what he and his brothers have become, ridding himself of it all with his sister, his lover, or a stranger by his side. Let's figure it out. I'd love to hear your suggestions.

That's really all there is to it. Thank you for reading, and please, please, if you're interested, do respond. PM me. I'd love to hear from you. Ask questions, give suggestions, say what you liked and disliked. A great many things I said here can be changed and messed around with and I look forward to messing about with them, with you.