It's Enough.

[rionaleonhart]

Over the past few years, I've noticed a pattern where I go into a spiral of writer's insecurity after posting certain types of fic. These are usually little ficlets, or fics made up of thematically connected scenes.

Basically, the fics that set off my insecurity are fics that don't have a story; they're little pieces of character introspection or interaction that don't really go anywhere. I worry that I'm wasting people's time with them.

This is extremely silly for a number of reasons, among which are:

- I don't judge other people for writing similar things at all! Why would I? If it's something I'm not interested in, I don't have to read it; if it's something I am interested in, I'll be delighted that it exists.
- Fics made up of thematically connected scenes are extremely common! The '5+1 Things' format is an entire fanfiction genre devoted to it, and there are 32,000 works with that tag on AO3.
- My fanfiction is not taking up vast tracts of space on the Internet that could otherwise be used for more 'worthwhile' writing. AO3 isn't going to run out of space to host someone's novel-length masterpiece because I posted something frivolous.

Anyway, in an effort to be less silly about this, I thought I'd attempt some low-pressure frivolous writing. Therefore: am I actually going to post a fic request meme? I haven't done this in over a decade!

Tell me a fic concept you'd like to see me write, and I'll attempt to write a few lines of it.

If you're not sure which fandoms I'm familiar with, the fandom list on my AO3 account is probably a good place to start. If you have multiple ideas, feel free to make multiple requests and I'll pick which one(s) to write.

There are a handful of things I'd personally prefer not to write, e.g. suicide, sexual content involving characters under fifteen, Teddie from Persona 4. If you're not sure where my boundaries lie, though, you're welcome to suggest your idea anyway; I can always just opt not to write it.

Also, if someone else in the comments posts a concept that appeals to you, feel free to write it yourself!

Comments

[bequeer_docrime]

This is something enormously old-school that I remember loving you doing on LJ, so if you're like, "I have aged out of that, thanks," I wouldn't judge you.

But I'm going to need you to write some kind of Pokemon crossover with a fandom of your choice, so that you're ~allowed to think about what kind of Pokemon certain characters would favor. That's it. It doesn't even have to be a plotty thing. You are entitled to just be like, "Here is a list of characters from Lost with their favorite Pokemon, and I will not be offering any justification" and that would be absolutely fine.

(All of this is coming from the same sort of neurotic place where I feel like I can't do that, it's too silly and people will judge me! even though of course they won't, the internet is sillier than I could ever dream of being and people very much enjoy that!. Also I've gotten into some Pokemon games in the past few years and now know what some of them are!)

[rionaleonhart]

I can promise I haven't aged out of this! Right now, I'm sitting in my bedroom, which contains nine Pokémon soft toys, two Pokémon cross-stitches and a pair of Bulbasaur slippers. I'm delighted by this prompt (and by the fact that you've got into Pokémon games!) and I'll give it some thought!

[magistrate]

What's your top 10 best Pokémon to make into slippers? Obviously some of them have horrendous form factors for footwear. But Bulbasaur seems squat and wide enough to serve very well.

[rionaleonhart]

My first thought was Diglett popping out of the top of the slipper:


It's so cute that I can't think of anything else. All ten of my answers are Diglett.

[magistrate]

A Diglett for each digit?

[rionaleonhart]

“Walt’s been categorising all the Pokémon we’ve found,” Jack says. The kid really wanted to contribute somehow, and it seemed like a reasonable task to assign to a ten-year-old. Plus it feels like even Sawyer might hesitate to yank the Pokéballs away from him and claim them as his own. “You want me to ask if yours have turned up?”

Locke shakes his head. “I didn’t have any Pokémon with me.”

Jack raises his eyebrows. “No?”

“This is an opportunity for all of us,” Locke says. “A chance to rely on ourselves, not just on Pokémon. If some of the passengers haven’t found their Pokémon yet, they get to find out if they can really survive alone.”

“Okay,” Jack says. “Honestly, I’m not sure everyone’s going to be thrilled about that.”

-
“You found your Flareon?” Jack asks.

“In a lake,” Kate says, stroking its fur. “There were a few other Pokéballs from the plane there. I’ve given them to Walt.”

“It’s beautiful.” He sits next to her. “How did you decide what to evolve your Eevee into?”

There are a lot of different choices. It probably seems an impossible decision to Jack; he hasn’t even evolved his Houndour. It’s just never been the right time, he said, when she asked about it.

But there was only one choice for her.

“It was my stepdad’s Eevee,” she says. She tries not to stumble or hesitate on stepdad, just about manages it. “It wasn’t really my decision.”

She couldn’t have taken the Eevee out of the house before she blew it up; it would have looked suspicious. So she’d bought a Fire Stone in disguise, with cash, and she’d evolved the Eevee into something that would be able to take the flames.

She wasn’t expecting it to follow her. But it’s stuck with her, a constant reminder that she killed its owner.

-
“So what are we digging for?” Boone asks.

“Shh,” Locke murmurs. “We’re nearly there.”

His hands hit something solid, and he clears the soil away from it. And there it is.

“What’s that?” Boone asks.

Locke sits back, hands on his knees. “That’s the shell.”

“The shell?” Boone asks, and then, “Wait, are you telling me this island is a Torterra?”

Locke knew it; he could feel it from the start. This island is a living thing.

And, if it’s alive, that means he can communicate with it.

[bequeer_docrime]

This is so good. From what I remember of Lost (I watched the first few seasons as they aired, because I am an ancient being from the distant past) and what I've gathered from your posts on it, everything about this is just perfect? And I love that the island is alive. Of course in a Pokeuniverse, the island in Lost would be a surprise Torterra. Absolutely brilliant.

[facethestrange]

"She couldn’t have taken the Eevee out of the house before she blew it up; it would have looked suspicious. So she’d bought a Fire Stone in disguise, with cash, and she’d evolved the Eevee into something that would be able to take the flames."

"Locke knew it; he could feel it from the start. This island is a living thing.

And, if it’s alive, that means he can communicate with it."

I don't know Pokemon (beyond fandom osmosis), but damn, I LOVE both of these concepts! ♡ The first one is weirdly wholesomely disturbing, and the second one is basically canon. :P