Askverse

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Synonyms:
See also: shared universe, Torchwood
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The Askverse is a shared Torchwood AU. It began after series 2, with the creation of Ask_CaptainJack, a LiveJournal Agony Aunt, as written by "Captain Jack". He interacted with anyone, never breaking character. Other fans were inspired to create sockpuppets for playing along with Askverse Jack, and it became an RPG, which ended with The Big Reveal just before series 3 aired.

Fans could keep track of the Askverse by watching Jack's friendslist. "Ianto Jones" also posted a weekly link newsletter.[1]

The Big Reveal

On 2009-07-02, some of the Askverse players revealed themselves:

These posts provide a more-or-less coherent history of how the Askverse came about.

PC Andy[10] elected to keep their identity secret, but created an askverse fanfic community.

Meta by the Players

Ianto:

The nature of this game was different to normal roleplays in two ways:

1. It didn't start out as a game.

2. Half the time we didn't know who we were talking to.

We played with each other mostly anonymously, and each new addition was voluntary and totally unvetted (if occasionally encouraged) by the rest of us. Eventually I knew who most of the other players were, and some of the other players knew who I or each other were, but we still flew pretty blind. And we had a hell of a ride.

The Ninth Doctor:

I learned very quickly not to keep any sort of solid expectations, because no one was driving this crack van, and it was so much better that way.

Martha Jones:

The first thing you have to realize about Ask!world -- the unique thing, the most incredible thing -- was that all the players were anonymous, even to each other. There was no application process, no vetting of prospective players; characters would just show up and the already existing characters would just have to go with it. We were lucky as all hell that we collected a group of extraordinarily talented players who trusted each other and had great senses of humor and generosity in working together with almost no planning or preparation. I come from nearly six years of writing snuff_dog for hp_dungeons, a Harry Potter RPG that is very well organized and well planned (we're talking CALENDARS, people. SPREADSHEETS!), and throwing myself into the freewheeling anonymous void of the Ask!world madhouse was both thrilling and terrifying.

It was BRILLIANT!

Askverse Canon

  • Martha Jones/John Hart.
  • T/Andy
  • John Hart is from Doeshane.
  • Everyone loves croissanwiches, Pimm's, and chocolate.
  • The Doctor danced with QEII on V-E Day.
  • Jack and Ianto are married.
  • Both Ianto and Gwen have tattoos.
  • The Master regenerates into River Song.

Jack/Ianto

  • Ianto is afraid of commitment, but Jack ultimately traps him in marriage while drunk.
  • Jack prefers to sleep naked and smushed up against someone, but Ianto keeps him at a distance by sleeping in a "blanket burrito."
  • They have a beagle named Max Theresa.

The Players

With the exception of the Master and the Doctor, who were written by the same, anonymous ghostwriter, each of the characters involved were run independently of each other, leaving them to come up with their own backstories and canon.

Captain Jack

  • Jack grew up on a Dune-like world, populated by sandworms.

The Ninth Doctor

  • The Doctor enjoyed being the Fifth Doctor, who in addition to his real canon adventures, had a run-in with Ianto Jones in the tourist office.

The Master

  • Amongst other things, he once gave the Doctor a scarf designed to strangle him to death.

John Hart

  • He took the role of Spike in Buffy because he needed the money.

Martha Jones

  • She used to amputate her Barbies as a child. Only some of them were her sister's.

Ianto Jones

  • His middle name is Bran, like the mythological hero.

Gwen Cooper

  • Always has chocolates in her handbag.

Rhys Williams

  • He does not enjoy Japan.

Andy Davison

  • He become a Companion of the Doctor.

T

T is different from many of the other characters, in that she has never been mentioned in real canon. Still, she had a very definite character, which includes:

  • Being somehow, strangely related to John Hart.
  • Enjoying 21st century fashion.


References

  1. ^ "dreamwidth backup".
  2. ^ copperbadge. archived
  3. ^ 51stcenturyfox. archived
  4. ^ spiderine. archived
  5. ^ oh_doask. archive.is
  6. ^ thaddeusfavour. archived
  7. ^ amand_r. archived
  8. ^ "archived". Archived from the original on 2017-04-17.
  9. ^ gypsylady. archived
  10. ^ "archived". Archived from the original on 2017-04-17.
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