I like an educational aspect, and not just because it's so deeply ingrained into the Carmen Sandiego brand. How it manifests into the work varies between the creator, the story, and the target audience. For me, writing is a chance to escape from the mundane routine of real life and learn about things that interest me in a way that I find entertaining (and, occasionally, can entertain others). Example: my character here is an art historian, married to an archaeologist. My formal education in those fields consists of exactly one introductory class in Mesoamerican art history that I took to fulfill a liberal studies requirement in college. But you know what? It was super cool, and I've always wanted to learn more. I've been working on an origin story for Claire, set when she meets her husband and shortly before she joins VILE, and one of the chapters is basically a history lesson on the fall of the Aztec empire. I spent a wonderful afternoon surrounded by books and maps at the library while writing it. I'm not as on-the-nose with my educational components as the games or TV shows, but I like to work in something, and I'll find a way to make it relevant.