Trabia Garden

Old Fanfiction Book Club is an occasional project in which I revisit and annotate my embarrassing early fanfiction. As my recent Final Fantasy VIII fic Wake Up was a rewrite of I Need You, one of the oldest and most embarrassing things I’ve ever written, it seems an appropriate time to annotate I Need You!

I originally posted I Need You in May 2002, at the age of thirteen. It was a tiny one-shot, but it’s significant because it’s the first fic I’d ever completed; my only previous effort at fanfiction was Rachel’s Pokémon Journey, a meandering Pokémon fic I never finished (and the subject of a previous Old Fanfiction Book Club series). I Need You was also my first effort at writing romance; it was a Squall/Zell fic, because I’d played Final Fantasy VIII and come away going ‘oh, I understand this shipping thing now!’

I Need You was terrible. My grasp of characterisation was questionable; my grasp of human behaviour was nonexistent. Let’s dive in and learn how thirteen-year-old Riona thought romance worked.


( I Need You, with annotations. )


I poke fun at my younger self’s writing skills in these posts, because, well, I was not a great writer. But I’m glad I didn’t let my inexperience keep me from writing, because the only way to gain that experience is to write. I owe a lot to that kid for all the effort she put in, and I hope she’ll forgive me for laughing a little at her now.

Something that recently struck me: if my thirteen-year-old self somehow discovered my present-day blog and fanfiction and website, she would think I’m the coolest person in the world. She would absolutely subscribe to me and read everything I wrote and want to be my friend. I’m glad to know I’ve made her proud.

MADE IT. It's time for the final instalment of Rachel's Pokémon Journey in Old Fanfiction Book Club! Time to get no closure whatsoever, because I never finished the fic (although, to be fair, I doubt we'd have much closure if I'd finished it, giving how many plot threads I've already left dangling).


Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: Leena's paralysed, but who cares? More importantly, Rachel caught a new Pokémon!

Original author's note on chapter twenty: You may notice that in the three chapters (inc. this one) where I’ve stated ‘Paralyz Heal’, I have spelt it differently EVERY time. Not only that, but I skipped from chapter 18 straight to 20. Not only THAT, but I’ve gone back to using plain speech marks for the Pokémon. My excuse? Um... *runs away*

Hey, past self, I'm the one who's here to make fun of you! You're going to put me out of a job!

I've corrected the skip from 18 to 20 for this book club; the chapter that was originally listed as chapter twenty is the preceding chapter, chapter nineteen.

These two final chapters were both written in early 2003, at the age of fourteen.


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Twenty, with annotations. )


Original author's note on chapter twenty-one: Quite a short chapter today, I’m afraid...


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Twenty-One, with annotations. )


And that's all that exists of Rachel's Pokémon Journey, my first real effort at fanfiction!

The writing is clumsy. The attempts at plot are incoherent nonsense, abandoned as soon as they're introduced. I clearly had no idea how human beings interacted, and I stole concepts from everything I could get my hands on.

But, looking back at this fic, I do have a certain fondness for it. I was just a kid having fun, trying out this 'writing' thing and starting to learn how it worked. I loved the Pokémon world, and this was a way I could spend some time there, on an adventure with my friends and my brothers (and, you know, an evil Pikachu that hated me for no reason).

Plus, if I'd never been brave enough to start writing in spite of my inexperience, I'd have missed out on all the joy writing has given me over the last twenty years.

In November 2019, nineteen years after twelve-year-old Riona started writing Rachel's Pokémon Journey, adult Riona visited a pop-up Pokémon Center in London. I bought a soft toy Vulpix and named her Secret. She's sitting on my desk as I write this.

If any of you want to dig up your early writing and annotate it yourselves, I'd love to see it! I've had a lot of fun with this project, even if it's been a bit of an embarrassing experience sometimes; I hope you've enjoyed it too.

You may or may not remember Old Fanfiction Book Club! Back in early 2019, I started rereading and annotating Rachel's Pokémon Journey, the first fic I ever posted, written between the ages of twelve and fourteen. It was never completed, but it got up to twenty-one chapters. However, I only annotated up to chapter fifteen.

This is because we're about to hit the point where thirteen-year-old me cheerfully mishandles a serious topic that adult me has very strong feelings about, and I'm not sure whether I'll be able to annotate without getting too personal.

Still, I've just reread zarla's Howl of a Growlithe, the fic that originally inspired twelve-year-old Riona to start writing this twenty years ago, and it's put me in a nostalgic mood. I've found myself thinking fondly back to Old Fanfiction Book Club. I had fun annotating this! I'm going to try to start it up again.

Just... be aware that this section of the fic is going to attempt to tackle a sensitive subject, and it's going to do it badly.

Fuller details, if anyone wants them in advance (highlight to read, just in case anyone's concerned about spoilers for Rachel's Pokémon Journey): there's an apparent suicide that later turns out to be murder.


Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: Rachel defeats Brock and meets a mysterious girl named Leena, who gives her a Dratini that apparently demanded to be brought to Rachel specifically. How this Dratini knows who Rachel is, or why it wanted her to own it, is never explained.

Original author's note on chapter sixteen: Yes, the reviewer chars are coming... starting in this chapter, actually. And the storyline is gonna get darker. Much darker.

I wrote the first fifteen chapters before I started posting them to fanfiction.net, so this is the first chapter I posted as soon as I wrote it, meaning I can pinpoint when it was written! Both of these chapters were written and posted in May 2002, so it's been some time since October 2000, when I first started writing this fic. I'm thirteen and cool now and that means I'm going to make things dark >:(


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Sixteen, with annotations. )


Original author's note for chapter seventeen: *grins* Another chapter for you people!


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Seventeen, with annotations. )


In the next instalment of Old Fanfiction Book Club: drama! emotions! Sparky's tragic backstory! suddenly I remember this is a Pokémon story and make someone catch a Pokémon!

Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: after eight chapters of absolutely no plot, Rachel suddenly develops a psychic connection with a Team Rocket member who can travel between universes, a concept that is dropped as quickly as it appears.

The original author's note for chapter eleven: WARNING: From this chapter onwards, viewpoints will be changing. I advise you read whose viewpoint it is to avoid becoming confused. This chapter introduces a completely random person called Monica -_-'


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Eleven, with annotations. )


The original author's note for chapter twelve: ACK! Sorry for not updating yesterday!

I was gonna switch back to Rachel and leave the cliffhanger hanging there, but then I figured I’d get lynched.


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Twelve, with annotations. )


In the next instalment of Old Fanfiction Book Club: I attempt to go back to writing about a normal Pokémon journey, which is a bit disconcerting after all this ridiculous plot.

Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: Rachel and Danielle met my brothers two guys who are definitely not my brothers. It's not Joseph; it's Jedidia. And it's not Fred; it's Fred.

My original author's note on chapter seven: 'Nother chapter fer my loyal fans. I love you guys so much ^_^

Did I... did I have 'loyal fans'? At this point I'm pretty sure I'd received five reviews, and only one person had reviewed twice. (One person had just said 'DIE SPARKY! *whips out rubber bands and starts shootign them at the Pikachu*)

Also, I see you using 'fer' instead of 'for', twelve-year-old Riona, and I one hundred percent know you stole that from zarla.


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Seven, with annotations. )


My author's note on chapter eight is the worst of the entire fic.

Okay, okay, I admit it, I admit it. I've actually prewritten loads of chapters, up to chapter 15. I'm uploading at a rate of one or two chapters about once a day, but only if I get reviews. The reason I'm not uploading them all at once is because (wait for it) I take aaaaaaages to write a chapter (eternal writer's block) and so you would all just give up on my story. However, I've got SERIOUS writer's block now, so I'm giving out a plea to all you people to e-mail me characters which you would like to join my story. They don't have to be in Rachel's group either - they can be TR members, anthros, runaway Officer Jennies, Pokémon, rivals for other people in the group apart from Rachel and Danielle, you name it. So here's the form. E-mail it to mewofdarkness@hotmail.com

THAT'S RIGHT: I ASKED READERS TO SUBMIT THEIR OWN CHARACTERS. This fic contains just about every possible fanfiction sin.

The e-mail address is no longer valid, but I'm including it because LOOK AT THAT RIDICULOUS E-MAIL ADDRESS.

Name:
Age:
Who/What are you? (e.g. Pokémon (state species) TR member, Rachel's group):
Gender:
Personality:
History (optional):
Other Details (optional):

Your Pokémon (if any):
Species:
Nickname (optional):
Gender:
Level:
Personality:
History (optional)
Other Details (optional)

I love that I apparently needed to know the level. All the mentions of level in this fic are so awkward.

(include a separate form for each Pokémon and state any Pokémon you would like to catch further on, no legendaries!)

If you are in Rachel's group, include in your Pokémon form whether the Pokémon is in the PASS, Sparky's friend, or neutral.

And please remember that your character won't be appearing until chapter 16 or beyond - don't complain!

AND SO, finally, CHAPTER EIGHT!


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Eight, with annotations. )


In the next instalment of Old Fanfiction Book Club: plot at last! The long-awaited plot! Thank goodness; it's taken us far too long to reach - wait, what - wait, Riona, that's too much plot, what are you doi—

Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: Riona Rachel and Danielle were assigned their starter Pokémon and rivals without any personal input, because apparently twelve-year-old Riona was determined to remove any element of choice from the Pokémon universe. I've always been terrible at making decisions, so perhaps my escapist fantasy was a world where I wouldn't have to make any.


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Three, with annotations. )


My original author's note on the fourth chapter was '((I'll only add more chapters if people review! There's no point if people won't read it!))'. I'm pretty sure I posted chapters one to four to fanfiction.net simultaneously, so it was slightly ridiculous for me to become impatient. HOW DARE YOU NOT REVIEW MY FIC THE SECOND I POST IT.


( Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Chapter Four, with annotations. )


In the next instalment of Old Fanfiction Book Club, Rachel and Danielle meet two characters who definitely aren't supposed to be my brothers, I swear, and Rachel actually succeeds in catching a Pokémon for once.