Fictional TV Show Meme
1. Ask and I'll assign you the basis of some show idea.
2. Create the characters you need, including the actors who'd play them. Photos optional but recommended.
3. Come up with a general synopsis of the premise.
Buddy cop drama in a fantasy world (from lanna_kitty
Drumroll, please...
Quis Custodiet
Blurb: A gruff, by the book warrior and a brash sorcerer forge an unlikely partnership on the mean streets of Riverford.
Synopsis: In the city of Riverford, the only thing more dangerous than being a corrupt cop is being an honest one. A free City-state caught between two warring empires, the surrounding terrain and fiercely independent populace make it a city not worth the risk for its expansionist neighbors. Riverford is a melting pot and neutral zone, a place where all races and creeds are welcomed but not necessarily safe. The criminals aren’t always the bad guys and the protectors can sometimes only be trusted to protect their own interests. When wizard-for-hire Janus Nettles decides to make a home for himself in this volatile hotspot, veteran City Watch member Wade Ironstaff finds herself first with an unwelcome partner and then with a much-needed friend and ally.
Organizations:
The City Council
The City Watch
The Soldiers’ Guild
The Healers’ Guild
The Priesthood (composed of numerous Orders)
The Scholars’ Guild
The Weaponsmiths’ Guild
The Trade Guild
The Black Hand (thieves’ guild)
The Red Hand (assassin’s guild/arms dealers - under Aegis of the Black Hand)
Characters
Captain Wade Ironstaff (Olivia Williams)
City Watch, Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: a by-the-books former gladiator turned lawwoman, Wade’s not afraid to use her fists but her enemies tend to realize too late that her intelligence and passion are her best weapons.
Detailed: Born a free citizen of the Northern Empire, Wade was a debt-slave by the time she was seven, courtesy of her compulsive gambler of a father. When she was still fighting in Northern arenas to earn her right to continued existence, Gabe Sampson took an interest in her and helped her buy her freedom. It was not the first such deal he’d transacted, was in fact one of many that the former debt-slave facilitated. His “fee” was simple: save someone else down the road and they’d be even.
Wade’s never been maternal to anyone, but she truly does care about others and has it in her to be nurturing. Her past leaves her desperate to spare others the kind of pain she went through and, recognizing on some level that she can’t save everyone the way she was saved, she’s in the habit of falling back on laws and regulations. When she follows those, her failings seem less completely her own.
She was not pleased to find herself partnered with a man who had no regard for the rules, but Nettles proved himself to be a decent and honest man with a good heart, things in rare supply in Riverford and the surrounding areas. She sees something of herself in him, although she has never been able to quantify what that something is. Brash and frequently annoying or not, he’s a sweet kid with a good heart and a tenacious degree of loyalty.
~~~~~
Watchman Janus Nettles (Eric Etebari)
City Watch, Scholars’ Guild
Brief: an irreverent sorcerer whose brazen manner hides a dark secret, Nettles is a man with a past too painful to remember and too dangerous to forget.
Detailed: Before coming to Riverford, Nettles was one of the Eastern Empire’s elite Human Weapons, a scholar and soldier who was one of the less than 2% of the human population capable of channeling magic through his own body.
An unquestioning patriot, it was not lost on Nettles that what made him unique could make his people unstoppable on the field of battle. He threw his heart and soul into an effort to discover the secrets of magic, to bottle it for mass consumption. He discovered a concoction, distilled from the Life Energy of magic-users, that gave any drinker the temporary ability to shape and direct magic in their own right. It gave his people the upper hand but at a terrible price. He saw others like him farmed like animals, milked of their magic until they were sucked dry and rendered nothing more than withered husks, alive but without motivation or awareness.
When he tried to put a stop to this abomination, his own sister tried to kill him to buy herself leniency. Now an enemy of both Empires, Nettles fled to the one place where he might be allowed to start over.
Joining the Watch started as a way to keep himself fed and sheltered but his new partner accepted nothing less than excellence. Wade’s constant prebattle pep-talk of “let’s make this one count!” became more personal than professional, a promise that, just maybe, he could do something meaningful with his second chance. Nettles is more loyal to her than to the Watch, and there is nothing he wouldn’t do for her.
~~~~~
Serina Moon, Apothecary (Amanda Tapping)
Scholars’ Guild, Weaponsmiths’ Guild, Traders’ Guild
Brief: a lover of intellectually-oriented games, Serina is never so happy as when unraveling riddles. This makes her invaluable to the Watch and, occasionally, an asset to the Underground and assorted arms dealers looking for new tech to exploit.
Detailed: Serina is the kind of creature you hardly see outside of Riverford. Loyal to the Watch and fiercely devoted to old school-chum Wade, she’s openly in bed with both the Law and the Undergound and no one begrudges her that right. Her first loyalty is to Riverford and that’s all that matters. She has long been searching for the secret to “bottled magic” and has no idea that its inventor is her dearest friend’s new partner.
~~~~~
Gabe Sampson (Simon Baker)
Traders’ Guild, City Watch (covertly), the Black Hand
Brief: Gabe will never openly ally himself with the Watch. A “loyal” lieutenant to almost-outlaw Lady Sparrow Callous, he uses his connections within both the Eastern Empire and the Northern to feed valuable intelligence back to Wade and her people.
Detailed: Gabe was a man who made bad decisions in his youth. While never deliberately wasteful, he was often imprudent and lost his family fortune through a series of bad business investments. By twenty, he was a debt-slave and he thought his life was over. But his intelligence saved him and his new owner, seeing his potential, trained him in commerce, eventually giving Gabe his freedom and making him his most trusted representative. In gratitude, Gabe made his former master a fortune, all the while helping other slaves earn their own freedom.
This is how he met Wade, who he would eventually fall in love with and follow to Riverford. It’s unfair to assume that Gabe is the reason she became a Watchman but he was unquestioningly proud of her decision to undertake the dangerous but righteous profession. Missing the mental challenges and risk of a life of commerce, he eventually allowed himself to be “recruited” by the Lady Sparrow, turning a profit and making a difference.
~~~~~
Councilman Trent Stone (Sean Connery)
City Watch, Trade’s Guild
Brief: son of a powerful ruling House, Trent means well but is easily swayed, foolish rather than corrupt but more dangerous to the Watch because of it.
~~~~~
Councilwoman Alandra “Allie” Allison (Yancy Butler)
City Council, Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: dedicated to Riverford, Allie has been serving the citizenry in one capacity or other since she was a small child bringing water to the soldiers holding off outside invasions and eventually working her way up through the ranks to Councilwoman. Her dedication to the people sometimes brings her into conflict with a Watch that can step on individual rights, but her heart is always in the right place.
~~~~~
Watchman Kierra Callous (Virginia Hey)
City Watch
Brief: Kierra is a Wild Elf with a rebellious-streak and a racial pride that makes her wear war-paint even in times of peace. She protects the weak and endangered fiercely even if it means flouting authority. She has a casual sexual understanding with Serina but, in her heart, would like to find a male of her own species to settle down and breed a new generations of warriors with.
~~~~~
Watchman Samuel Stone (Bruce Willis)
City Watch, Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: the black sheep of the Stone House, Samuel would rather risk his life in the field to protect his fellow citizens than rule over them in safety.
~~~~~
Lady Sparrow Callous (Naoko Mori)
The Weaponsmiths’ Guild, the Trade Guild, the Scholars’ Guild
Brief: the Lady Sparrow is the half-sister of Kierra, an arms dealer who plays both ends against the middle in the conflict Riverford finds itself caught in the middle of. She will ruthlessly destroy anyone who threatens her fellow-citizens, sometimes to the point of assisting the Watch in uncovering and punishing them.
~~~~~
Sasha “The Wrong Hand” Jay (Brit Morgan)
The Red Hand Guild, the Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: Wrong Hand Jay is the most trusted subordinate of Kent, Riverford’s leading Crime Boss. A lovely yet ruthless enforcer, she has an agenda of her own and a special interest in Janus Nettles.
~~~~~
Marshal Steele (Will Smith)
City Watch, the Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: a dwarf as hard as the metal he’s named for, Steele has a heart of gold and an uncompromising dedication to the causes of Truth and Justice, even when it brings him into conflict with the City Council.
~~~~~
Jade Elm, Priestess (Jessica Alba)
The Priesthood
Brief: the daughter of a dwarf and an elf, Jade is torn between two worlds. She uses her connections within both groups to help the people of Riverford but doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere.
~~~~~
AJ Covington, healer (Fremma Agyeman)
The Healers’ Guild, the Scholars’ Guild
Brief: AJ is half-elf and half-human, admired in equal parts for her exotic good looks and her affinity with nature and healing magic.
~~~~~
Trevor Slate (John Francis Daley)
Unaffiliated
Brief: a lowlife hood with a finger in every pot and an ear at every keyhole, Trevor can always be bought, making him as valuable to the Watch as to the Underground.
~~~~~
”Kent” (Tim Roth)
The Black Hand, the Red Hand, the Traders’ Guild(?), the City Council(?)
Brief: the elusive ringleader of Riverford’s criminal Underground, Kent is only ever spoken of in whispers and rumors of rumors. All that is known for sure is that he is rich, well-connected, and ruthless. People who see and recognize him don’t survive to tell the tale and some claim he’s actually a powerful member of the City Council.
Okay, so it took me about six years but I did get it done :) Now to fic it :D Let me know if you want me to give you a premise for a show
2. Create the characters you need, including the actors who'd play them. Photos optional but recommended.
3. Come up with a general synopsis of the premise.
Buddy cop drama in a fantasy world (from lanna_kitty
Drumroll, please...
Quis Custodiet
Blurb: A gruff, by the book warrior and a brash sorcerer forge an unlikely partnership on the mean streets of Riverford.
Synopsis: In the city of Riverford, the only thing more dangerous than being a corrupt cop is being an honest one. A free City-state caught between two warring empires, the surrounding terrain and fiercely independent populace make it a city not worth the risk for its expansionist neighbors. Riverford is a melting pot and neutral zone, a place where all races and creeds are welcomed but not necessarily safe. The criminals aren’t always the bad guys and the protectors can sometimes only be trusted to protect their own interests. When wizard-for-hire Janus Nettles decides to make a home for himself in this volatile hotspot, veteran City Watch member Wade Ironstaff finds herself first with an unwelcome partner and then with a much-needed friend and ally.
Organizations:
The City Council
The City Watch
The Soldiers’ Guild
The Healers’ Guild
The Priesthood (composed of numerous Orders)
The Scholars’ Guild
The Weaponsmiths’ Guild
The Trade Guild
The Black Hand (thieves’ guild)
The Red Hand (assassin’s guild/arms dealers - under Aegis of the Black Hand)
Characters
Captain Wade Ironstaff (Olivia Williams)
City Watch, Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: a by-the-books former gladiator turned lawwoman, Wade’s not afraid to use her fists but her enemies tend to realize too late that her intelligence and passion are her best weapons.
Detailed: Born a free citizen of the Northern Empire, Wade was a debt-slave by the time she was seven, courtesy of her compulsive gambler of a father. When she was still fighting in Northern arenas to earn her right to continued existence, Gabe Sampson took an interest in her and helped her buy her freedom. It was not the first such deal he’d transacted, was in fact one of many that the former debt-slave facilitated. His “fee” was simple: save someone else down the road and they’d be even.
Wade’s never been maternal to anyone, but she truly does care about others and has it in her to be nurturing. Her past leaves her desperate to spare others the kind of pain she went through and, recognizing on some level that she can’t save everyone the way she was saved, she’s in the habit of falling back on laws and regulations. When she follows those, her failings seem less completely her own.
She was not pleased to find herself partnered with a man who had no regard for the rules, but Nettles proved himself to be a decent and honest man with a good heart, things in rare supply in Riverford and the surrounding areas. She sees something of herself in him, although she has never been able to quantify what that something is. Brash and frequently annoying or not, he’s a sweet kid with a good heart and a tenacious degree of loyalty.
~~~~~
Watchman Janus Nettles (Eric Etebari)
City Watch, Scholars’ Guild
Brief: an irreverent sorcerer whose brazen manner hides a dark secret, Nettles is a man with a past too painful to remember and too dangerous to forget.
Detailed: Before coming to Riverford, Nettles was one of the Eastern Empire’s elite Human Weapons, a scholar and soldier who was one of the less than 2% of the human population capable of channeling magic through his own body.
An unquestioning patriot, it was not lost on Nettles that what made him unique could make his people unstoppable on the field of battle. He threw his heart and soul into an effort to discover the secrets of magic, to bottle it for mass consumption. He discovered a concoction, distilled from the Life Energy of magic-users, that gave any drinker the temporary ability to shape and direct magic in their own right. It gave his people the upper hand but at a terrible price. He saw others like him farmed like animals, milked of their magic until they were sucked dry and rendered nothing more than withered husks, alive but without motivation or awareness.
When he tried to put a stop to this abomination, his own sister tried to kill him to buy herself leniency. Now an enemy of both Empires, Nettles fled to the one place where he might be allowed to start over.
Joining the Watch started as a way to keep himself fed and sheltered but his new partner accepted nothing less than excellence. Wade’s constant prebattle pep-talk of “let’s make this one count!” became more personal than professional, a promise that, just maybe, he could do something meaningful with his second chance. Nettles is more loyal to her than to the Watch, and there is nothing he wouldn’t do for her.
~~~~~
Serina Moon, Apothecary (Amanda Tapping)
Scholars’ Guild, Weaponsmiths’ Guild, Traders’ Guild
Brief: a lover of intellectually-oriented games, Serina is never so happy as when unraveling riddles. This makes her invaluable to the Watch and, occasionally, an asset to the Underground and assorted arms dealers looking for new tech to exploit.
Detailed: Serina is the kind of creature you hardly see outside of Riverford. Loyal to the Watch and fiercely devoted to old school-chum Wade, she’s openly in bed with both the Law and the Undergound and no one begrudges her that right. Her first loyalty is to Riverford and that’s all that matters. She has long been searching for the secret to “bottled magic” and has no idea that its inventor is her dearest friend’s new partner.
~~~~~
Gabe Sampson (Simon Baker)
Traders’ Guild, City Watch (covertly), the Black Hand
Brief: Gabe will never openly ally himself with the Watch. A “loyal” lieutenant to almost-outlaw Lady Sparrow Callous, he uses his connections within both the Eastern Empire and the Northern to feed valuable intelligence back to Wade and her people.
Detailed: Gabe was a man who made bad decisions in his youth. While never deliberately wasteful, he was often imprudent and lost his family fortune through a series of bad business investments. By twenty, he was a debt-slave and he thought his life was over. But his intelligence saved him and his new owner, seeing his potential, trained him in commerce, eventually giving Gabe his freedom and making him his most trusted representative. In gratitude, Gabe made his former master a fortune, all the while helping other slaves earn their own freedom.
This is how he met Wade, who he would eventually fall in love with and follow to Riverford. It’s unfair to assume that Gabe is the reason she became a Watchman but he was unquestioningly proud of her decision to undertake the dangerous but righteous profession. Missing the mental challenges and risk of a life of commerce, he eventually allowed himself to be “recruited” by the Lady Sparrow, turning a profit and making a difference.
~~~~~
Councilman Trent Stone (Sean Connery)
City Watch, Trade’s Guild
Brief: son of a powerful ruling House, Trent means well but is easily swayed, foolish rather than corrupt but more dangerous to the Watch because of it.
~~~~~
Councilwoman Alandra “Allie” Allison (Yancy Butler)
City Council, Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: dedicated to Riverford, Allie has been serving the citizenry in one capacity or other since she was a small child bringing water to the soldiers holding off outside invasions and eventually working her way up through the ranks to Councilwoman. Her dedication to the people sometimes brings her into conflict with a Watch that can step on individual rights, but her heart is always in the right place.
~~~~~
Watchman Kierra Callous (Virginia Hey)
City Watch
Brief: Kierra is a Wild Elf with a rebellious-streak and a racial pride that makes her wear war-paint even in times of peace. She protects the weak and endangered fiercely even if it means flouting authority. She has a casual sexual understanding with Serina but, in her heart, would like to find a male of her own species to settle down and breed a new generations of warriors with.
~~~~~
Watchman Samuel Stone (Bruce Willis)
City Watch, Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: the black sheep of the Stone House, Samuel would rather risk his life in the field to protect his fellow citizens than rule over them in safety.
~~~~~
Lady Sparrow Callous (Naoko Mori)
The Weaponsmiths’ Guild, the Trade Guild, the Scholars’ Guild
Brief: the Lady Sparrow is the half-sister of Kierra, an arms dealer who plays both ends against the middle in the conflict Riverford finds itself caught in the middle of. She will ruthlessly destroy anyone who threatens her fellow-citizens, sometimes to the point of assisting the Watch in uncovering and punishing them.
~~~~~
Sasha “The Wrong Hand” Jay (Brit Morgan)
The Red Hand Guild, the Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: Wrong Hand Jay is the most trusted subordinate of Kent, Riverford’s leading Crime Boss. A lovely yet ruthless enforcer, she has an agenda of her own and a special interest in Janus Nettles.
~~~~~
Marshal Steele (Will Smith)
City Watch, the Soldiers’ Guild
Brief: a dwarf as hard as the metal he’s named for, Steele has a heart of gold and an uncompromising dedication to the causes of Truth and Justice, even when it brings him into conflict with the City Council.
~~~~~
Jade Elm, Priestess (Jessica Alba)
The Priesthood
Brief: the daughter of a dwarf and an elf, Jade is torn between two worlds. She uses her connections within both groups to help the people of Riverford but doesn’t feel like she belongs anywhere.
~~~~~
AJ Covington, healer (Fremma Agyeman)
The Healers’ Guild, the Scholars’ Guild
Brief: AJ is half-elf and half-human, admired in equal parts for her exotic good looks and her affinity with nature and healing magic.
~~~~~
Trevor Slate (John Francis Daley)
Unaffiliated
Brief: a lowlife hood with a finger in every pot and an ear at every keyhole, Trevor can always be bought, making him as valuable to the Watch as to the Underground.
~~~~~
”Kent” (Tim Roth)
The Black Hand, the Red Hand, the Traders’ Guild(?), the City Council(?)
Brief: the elusive ringleader of Riverford’s criminal Underground, Kent is only ever spoken of in whispers and rumors of rumors. All that is known for sure is that he is rich, well-connected, and ruthless. People who see and recognize him don’t survive to tell the tale and some claim he’s actually a powerful member of the City Council.
Okay, so it took me about six years but I did get it done :) Now to fic it :D Let me know if you want me to give you a premise for a show