What would Dark Multiverse but for Public Domain Fiction would be like in your mind?

I want to start an anthology that is inspired by Tales from the Dark Multiverse from DC Comic as well as Lostbelt from Fate/Grand Order but focuses on Public Domain Fiction such as Investigation of The Gods, Epic of Gilgamesh, Treasure Island, or even War of The Worlds.

I want to ask everyone her because I don't have idea for this dark multiverse like universe

Edited by ohmmy on Sep 28th 2022 at 9:22:45 PM

I’ve had some ideas for short stories like that in the past. There was going to be a Beowulf story where Grendel was a benevolent king who was usurped by Beowulf and the “Dragon” was a secret society looking to assassinate him. There was a King Arthur thing with Mordred as the good guy. And Robin Hood was going to be treated as a terrorist.

I guess if I would do something like what you’re suggesting, my first thought would be to limit stories to roughly the same setting (such as medieval England) and treat all these stories as being in continuity with each other. Like Arthur claimed the throne that the Beowulf dynasty had usurped while Mordred is maybe a descendant of Grendel and then Robin Hood is part of a more recent incarnation of the Dragon Society. Maybe throw in a St. George story in there. Maybe throw in some Norse/Germanic mythology backstory and have Sigurd pal around with Beowulf and then his sword ended up in an anvil in England where Arthur pulled it out.

Maybe make it an anthology with “the Dragon” as a sort of connective thread through these stories. Or maybe a Clash of the Titans thing with Odin as a divine chess master and each story would begin and end with a scene depicting Odin contesting with, I don’t know, the Dagda or something. They can be competing on whether the British would worship Norse or Celtic gods depending on which dynasty gets the throne.

Edited by WSM on Sep 28th 2022 at 6:00:59 AM

I'm also interested in the dark multiverse concept and think there are some distinctions from the typical au

• The most obvious being that it's a nightmare realm. A twisted parody of existing narratives that is both doomed and stagnant as the world would eventually die from the resulting nails. (A non DC example of this aspect besides Lostbelts would be in Arknights' Skadi the Corrupting Heart timeline)
• The other factor is character fusion, but that is due the story introducing the idea being a Batman focused one. The idea being that the setting and associated characters represent a specific one's fears, and are as such a collective Shadow Archetype to that character. Going back to AK Skadi's alter represents the fear of her losing control and becoming the monsters she hunts on a regular basis. Likewise the Batman army led by He who Laughs up to and including himself represent Bruce's worst fears and nightmares. The composite character aspect would be incidental in this case.

As such it would require some existing continuity to pull off. Making myths the best bet for this kind of thing. It also necessitates an understanding of the cast in question, their fears, and how these heroes and paragons would end up as world ending villains as a result of being that which they fear.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Sep 30th 2022 at 9:48:24 AM