Trabia Garden

pict demanded to know all my ambitious fic ideas, which reminded me of something I've been thinking about doing for a while: archiving the fic ideas I've been scribbling down in my diaries.

Every year, I buy the same style of diary, which has a couple of blank pages at the back. I've been using these blank pages to note down fic concepts since 2013. Some of these get written! Many of them don't.

If I type up the unwritten concepts, maybe one of them will inspire me? (Or indeed inspire someone else? Feel free to let me know if you're interested in writing any of these!) At the very least, they'll no longer be languishing in old diaries I rarely look back at.

These are sorted in alphabetical order by fandom; the notes under any particular fandom may contain spoilers for the canon. Some ideas are extremely vague; some are very specific. Crossovers are filed haphazardly under whichever fandom feels right in the moment. The tags on this entry should give you an idea of which fandoms are represented, if you're wondering whether anything you know is in here!


( A huge pile of unwritten fanfiction ideas. )


I'm not sure this exercise has actually sparked any inspiration, but it's good to have all these ideas in one place. If any of these would particularly interest you, let me know!

I'm so glad Persona 5 Royal explained the logic behind negotiations. I no longer have to rely on a guide for all the answers! (One of the biggest issues with the Persona games is that they rely too heavily on trial and error. I don't think there's any other game series that sends me running to guides so often.)

Hey, Naoto got mentioned on the television! It's nice to have this reminder that we're still in the same universe as the other games. I wonder what Yosuke's doing right now.

I'm pleased to note they've changed Ryuji's portrait when he tells me, 'It's cute hearin' that from someone like you,' so now he looks happy rather than uncomfortable. Embrace how cute I am, Ryuji.

Delighted to announce the formation of my phantom thief organisation, Team Yosuke. I shouldn't be allowed to name things.

Ryuji took a photo of all of us at the buffet! That's an adorable Royal addition. I'm very pleased.

The new counsellor seems nice! I don't trust him.

Sort of want fanfiction where Ryuji opens up to the counsellor about his crush on the protagonist.

Ryuji's response to Maruki asking what he does in his free time: 'Uh, hang out with my buds, mostly - though I just started doin' that recently. Before that, I was just pissed all the time.' I'm so glad we could bring something positive into this angry teenager's life!

I laughed aloud at Ryuji responding to 'What do you want most out of life right now?' with 'Uh... I want somethin' to drink, I guess.'

Don't tell the student you're counselling that talking to him feels like talking to an old friend, Maruki.

I studied really hard and managed to get in the top ten in the first set of exams! TAKE THAT, EVERYONE WHO WROTE ME OFF AS A DELINQUENT. My favourite things I overheard when running around the school afterwards: 'It's kind of scary that a guy like that is also crazy smart,' 'Did he steal the test answers or something?' and 'He must have blackmailed them or something. How did he get those scores?'

I continue to have far too much to say about 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. This post mainly deals with Amiguchi's story, with reference to Minami's, but I allude to other characters' storylines in the fic idea I discuss at the end.


( Spoilers for 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. )


I keep feeling 13 Sentinels must run out of startling plot developments at some point, and yet somehow it never does.

I've just watched episode eight of Higurashi Gou, the 2020 Higurashi: When They Cry anime! Spoilers under the cut.


( Spoilers up to episode eight of Higurashi Gou. )


I'm really enjoying this series!

More of The Last of Us, Part II! Seattle, day three. Just been through the bookshop, on the way to the aquarium.


( The Last of Us, Part II: up to early day three in Seattle. )


There's a moment from the first series of Prison Break I remember very vividly. A riot has broken out in the prison, and Dr Tancredi has found herself trapped in the infirmary. There's a shot of her crouching, clutching a makeshift blade, and there's nothing human in her eyes; she looks like a cornered animal. It really struck me.

I haven't watched Prison Break in years, but I've found myself thinking of that moment a lot while playing this game.

I've now finished AI: The Somnium Files. I think it could fairly be described as 'an experience'. Below are notes I made at assorted points in this game.

For a second time, Date's eyeball got him to move to where she wanted him by going 'there's a porno magazine over there!', and he ran over at incredible speed and then went 'hey, where'd the porn go?'

Meanwhile, the best character, a twelve-year-old girl, beat up a bunch of thugs with her 'favourite metal pipe'.

In a later action sequence, actual porn magazines appeared! I blew up a porn magazine vending machine so the magazines would distract my enemies.

Date also took one of the magazines, naturally, but in the next shootout he had to throw it to act as a lure. He cried.

What I'm saying is that every action sequence in this game involves porn magazines in some capacity.

Ginger: Aiba must have to watch Date wank.
Riona: Maybe he's got a wanking eyepatch.

Possibly the most bewildering development in a very bewildering game: I WENT INTO SOMEONE'S DREAM AND SHE WAS DREAMING ABOUT LET'S PLAYING MINECRAFT AND I HAD TO PLAY MINECRAFT TO PROGRESS.

WHAT IS THIS GAME


( More spoilery notes on AI: The Somnium Files. )


Rei's girlfriend watched me play the entire game, from start to finish: all thirty hours of it. 'Thank you for coming with me on this journey,' I said to her afterwards. 'Thank you for being my left eye, without whom I would have no evidence that this ever happened at all.'

I've now finished episode three of Life Is Strange 2! Spoilers under the cut.


( Spoilers for Life Is Strange 2, episode three. )


Next episode's out in August! I get so excited about these releases and then spend the entirety of each episode going 'I'M SO TENSE, THIS IS UNBEARABLE.'

I've been replaying Final Fantasy XIII, and I love this game so much. One fun aspect of the RPG genre is that it often throws together a bunch of strangers and lets you watch as they get to know each other, and the inter-party dynamics in Final Fantasy XIII are particularly fun. It's not just 'yeah, we're all friends and allies on a shared mission!'; there are pseudo-parental relationships, there are characters who absolutely can't stand each other.

(More specifically, there are characters who absolutely can't stand Snow. Snow loves everyone! Everyone hates Snow. I genuinely love Snow, and I still find his battle quotes sort of grating.)

I love Snow going 'don't worry, I'll keep the kids in line' and Sazh going 'yeah, problem with that is you're one of them'. I love that poor Sazh is the world's most normal guy surrounded by alarmingly intense young people.

Sazh is so great. I really like that, while his reactions to things are funny, he's never just comic relief; he has a serious plotline and there's care put into his character.

Also, he sometimes says 'Attagirl' when Vanille defeats an enemy, and it's extremely cute.

Meanwhile, Lightning is running around trying to punch every god she encounters in the face.

I've said before that I see Fang and Vanille's relationship as mother-daughter. Having played Lightning Returns, however, I will freely admit that I was one hundred percent wrong and they are one hundred percent girlfriends.


More scattered notes on Buffy the Vampire Slayer! (A note on my entries about this show: I'm being fairly lax about spoiler-cutting on the assumption that most people who are interested in Buffy will probably have watched it already. If you're planning to watch it in the future and you want to avoid spoilers, though, let me know and I'll start being more cautious.)


'Innocence':

Angel kissing Spike on the forehead! There is definitely a lot of scope for Angel/Spike/Drusilla.

'Help us destroy the world.'
'I'm really more interested in the Slayer.'
'Well, she's in the world, so that'll work out.'

I can't believe Buffy fucked her boyfriend's soul out.

Buffy slamming Jenny to the desk by her throat was a really striking moment. (You may suspect that I originally wrote 'was sort of hot' and then went 'wait, no, I'm going to try to find a different way to say that', and I can neither confirm nor deny.)

Giles awkwardly realising Buffy and Angel had sex is great.

Willow/Oz is actually surprisingly cute. Definitely more enjoyable than Willow's crush on Xander.

That scene between Giles and Buffy in the car at the end, where he assures her that he supports and respects her, was rather lovely.


'Phases':

'This cheerleading trophy. It's like its eyes follow you wherever you go.' I'm so unhappy about this.

I love how excited Giles is by the prospect of learning about werewolves.

I suddenly find myself unexpectedly invested in Larry the bully's coming-out story. (Rei says that at the time the writers were considering having Xander turn out to be gay, and to be honest that might have made me like him more, given that the main thing that grates about him is his attitude to women.)

Buffy staked a freshly-turned vampire in a funeral home, and that must have been very uncomfortable when the workers discovered the body was gone.

Oz trying to shackle himself to keep himself from posing a danger! Bless him.


This juxtaposition of fandoms is sort of making me want fanfiction where Lightning and Buffy meet.

Christmas dinner with my family:

Eleanor's mother: Do you need stuffing, Riona?
Riona: That would be lovely, thank you.
Riona's parents: (both start sniggering)

Thanks, guys.

We had a cake after the meal, and the box had the most incredible instructions:

SERVING: Place cake on a flat surface. Heat a long-bladed knife under warm water. Slice in a vertical direction. Turn cake and slice again in a vertical direction to create wedge shaped portions. Clean knife blade between slices.

Thank goodness. Far too many cakes expect you to be able to eat them without clear directions. I keep trying to slice horizontally.


I've been consuming a fair few things over the Christmas period, so here's a scattered entry about assorted media!


- Into the Spider-Verse reignited my taste for 'thirty-eight-year-old dirtbag accidentally bonds with a kid' stories, so I rewatched About a Boy. I really loved this film in my teens. There was a long period where I owned exactly four films on DVD; three of them were High School Musical, and the other was About a Boy. (I think I now also own Mulan.) It still holds up, I think, although the voiceovers of the characters' thoughts feel a bit dated. I love how Will gradually, reluctantly becomes used to Marcus's presence in his life.

It's really made me want an AU of Into the Spider-Verse where Peter B is the Peter Parker of Miles's universe. Miles goes HELP, PLEASE TEACH ME TO USE THESE POWERS, SPIDER-MAN and Spider-Man goes 'you're on your own, kid' and Miles sneakily follows him to find out where he lives and goes 'hey, I'm here now, in your non-superhero life, please teach me' and Peter goes 'what the fuck'.


- I also rewatched Zootopia, released under the inferior name of Zootropolis in the UK. I don't think I ever posted about it on here, but it's such a cute, fun film, and the worldbuilding is so interesting, and also it made me ship the hell out of a fox and a rabbit, whoops. HE LOOKS AT HER SO FONDLY.

There is, let's be honest, a definite possibility that I'm a furry.


- I finished Gris today; it's a gorgeous little watercolour-style game about a grieving young woman learning to stand on her feet again. 'Literally and figuratively bringing colour back to the world' is something I've had a weakness for ever since Okami. I'd recommend it if you're interested in light platforming and painting-esque animation. (I'll admit I found it sort of hilarious that your options at the beginning were 'walk very slowly' or 'FALL TO YOUR KNEES IN AGONY', and there were two different 'fall to your knees in agony' buttons.)

One thing that really struck me was how good it was at teaching you its mechanics without ever outright telling you anything.


- Spyro the Dragon was my introduction to 3D gaming; my only previous experience of games was on the Master System II and the Game Boy. I went over to a primary-school classmate's house, and I watched her play this game, and I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. It was the first thing I bought when my brother got a PS2 for his tenth birthday.

For my Christmas present to myself, I bought the Spyro Reignited trilogy! And it's a fantastic remaster. It looks and feels the way I remember these games, even though there's no possible way the original games looked as good as they do in my mind. It really captures the spirit of Spyro.

I remembered the level design of the Spyro games being fantastic, and it still holds up. Honestly, in the twenty years since these games came out, I'm not sure I've ever played anything that's surpassed them in terms of level design. I love spotting gems in distant places and going 'okay, how can I get over there?'

Actually, even the first Spyro the Dragon is great, when I remembered it more as something you just had to get through before you could play the superior sequels.

I am constantly running into walls in this game, and Rei mocks me heartily for it. She's also ended up yelling some odd things at me during my endeavours to defeat plane-piloting enemies. 'Fuck the plane! Fuck the plane better! RIONA! You're not fucking!'

(Every time I encounter a small animal in the game, she goes, 'Awww! Kill it. Kill it, kill it, kill it.')

One complaint I do have: I never realised as a child, but there are no female dragons and it's really unsettling. I've encountered thirty-something dragons, all male. I keep chasing down egg thieves; where did the eggs come from? Is it essential for me to retrieve the eggs because the female dragons were somehow wiped out before the game began?

I've finished Red Dead Redemption II, or at least I've reached the epilogue. (The title card says Epilogue: Part I. This is going to be a multi-part epilogue?)

I sort of feel I've lived another life on top of my own, the good and the bad, the thrilling and the tedious. Red Dead Redemption II has its flaws, but it's a really striking experience, slow-paced and immersive and beautiful and bizarre. It's like nothing else I've played.

Arthur really seems to have a weakness for widows. Mary, Sadie, Charlotte, Mrs Downes, the widow of the debtor who's also named Arthur: I think he feels a connection with all of them, and he's definitely attracted to at least two of them. Maybe I should write a series of crossovers pairing Arthur up with some other fictional widows. Allison Cameron. Abby Griffin. Jackie Tyler.

Spoilers below the cut!


( Ending spoilers for Red Dead Redemption II. )


The best characterisation detail in the entire game: Arthur says, 'My dog Copper used to take baths with me when he was alive,' to the woman bathing him. (She has no idea what to say in response. 'Oh! Well, that's... something.')