I'm sure you can get some decent plots and methods of telling wild stories in the Farscape universe, or Stargate universe, or the universe of Syfy's Expanse, or any number of other existing fictional universes, but in terms of world building and even storytelling, I really like how OA is it's own thing. At this point i'll use those other universes to get inspiration for basic structure of plots or how to write characters but otherwise I like to build these stories from first principles in OA.
yeah- using a 21st century woman/man from some sort of historical simulation is a good go-to narrative trick for OA stories. I really liked how that worked out in 'Dirty Hands' because you are never sure whether their memories are re-created, completely fake, or somewhere in between because no matter what their physical body definitely isn't 3000+ years old given the tech available today. The conflict of almost certainly being a 'fake' creation can give your character plenty of conflict while still letting you introduce OA through a relatable lens. They still get to figure out what type of false reality is instilled in their memories and bodies and how that relates to the near-magical seeming worlds in OA.
is the protagonist a revived personality from the early 21st (or 19th, or 5th) century?
a complete fabrication in both body and mind build as a historical recreation from that period?
an existing body of a citizen who decided to do some hardcore historical reenacting and had a transapient wipe their memories?
some combination of the three?
what if some of the historical details in the protagonist's memory are wrong? How will they know?
etc...
yeah- using a 21st century woman/man from some sort of historical simulation is a good go-to narrative trick for OA stories. I really liked how that worked out in 'Dirty Hands' because you are never sure whether their memories are re-created, completely fake, or somewhere in between because no matter what their physical body definitely isn't 3000+ years old given the tech available today. The conflict of almost certainly being a 'fake' creation can give your character plenty of conflict while still letting you introduce OA through a relatable lens. They still get to figure out what type of false reality is instilled in their memories and bodies and how that relates to the near-magical seeming worlds in OA.
is the protagonist a revived personality from the early 21st (or 19th, or 5th) century?
a complete fabrication in both body and mind build as a historical recreation from that period?
an existing body of a citizen who decided to do some hardcore historical reenacting and had a transapient wipe their memories?
some combination of the three?
what if some of the historical details in the protagonist's memory are wrong? How will they know?
etc...