But what is my fic *really* about?

[unrepentantAuthor]

As per a discussion from April 1st on the 'cord, here's the thread where you can explain what your fic is about, when you really get right down to it.

It's easier to show the concept than explain it:

Me, explaining my fanfic:

Q. What is Different Eyes about?

A. It's about social isolation, self-hatred, voluntarily altering your own identity, the ethics of creating new sapient beings, what constitutes a "person," trauma and abuse, inability to communicate, intense obsession with another person, having agency over your own life, nature vs nurture, conspiracy, learned systems of coercion and violence, dysphoria, genetic engineering, and learning to be a better person.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

A. Well, the premise is that a shady organisation masquerading as a tech conglomerate is using retroviral treatments to create living weapons for their ideological conflict with modern industrial civilisation, and the story is about those weapons and their struggles with identity, freedom, and place in the world.

Q. Okay, but what's it about?

A. Pokémon, but they're furries. 😬

Oof.

Go ahead and do the same for your fics. Remember, this highly facetious format goes [deep themes], [genericised synopsis], [absurd strawman].

 

[Chibi Pika]

Q: So what's The Legendarian Chronicles about?

A: LC is a story about the importance of pressing on in the face of futility, one which urges its characters to charge forward, look the universe in the eye, and say, “Prove that failure is inevitable.” It’s about how no matter how small and insignificant and powerless living beings are in the grand scheme of the universe, even the least important person in the world has the power to change others' lives. Everything, no matter how small, is connected, and the larger whole would literally not exist if not for the actions of those "insignificant" beings. Your actions are a fundamental part of the universe, one that can never truly be erased.

Q: Okay, but what's it really about?

A: Child soldiers confronting trauma and learning to draw strength from each other in desperate situations.

Q: Okay, but what is it about?

A: …...twelve-year-olds fighting Team Rocket.

 

[WildBoots]

Q: What’s Continental Divides about?
A: How movements fail because of in-fighting, how people with genuinely good intentions can do terrible things, why capitalism and corporate greed are bad, what climate change might look like in the Pokémon world, what it looks like to combat crime when police and criminals have Pokémon, learning to see eye-to-eye in spite of differences.

Q: Okay, but what’s it really about?
A: Well, Natalie is a brash young trainer using her badge quest as an excuse to look for her brother who went missing ten years ago. And Mark is a grumpy gym trainer with a hidden agenda and cat hair on his shirt, and —

Q: But what’s it about?
A: ...They hate each other right now, but later...
they’re gonna kiss, probably.

-


Q: What’s Spring about?
A: It’s an exploration of how we cope with loss, how it lingers. How it can demand we make sacrifices for people who aren’t even there — the dichotomy between duty and choice, and also between destiny and choice. The burdens we carry for ourselves and others.

Q: Okay, but what’s it really about?
A: When Chris commits to helping a girl he meets on his travels, their values are at odds, and he has to sort duty to her from duty to his late father from all his other constant low-grade stresses.

Q: But what’s it about?
A: ...Suicune’s special boy babysits time-traveling girl.

Listen. It’s based on a story my friends and I made up when we were, like, eight. I’m doing the best I can with it.

 

[Namohysip]

I've got two! One for HoC, of course, and another is another shameless plug for the upcoming Blacklight campaign.

Q: So what’s Hands of Creation about?
A: HoC is a story about how who you are as a person is weighted on what you start off with, what you’re given, what what happens after. How your identity can change depending on what you ignore, what you focus on, and ultimately, what you choose to act on. It’s about past mistakes and how hard people will press to erase them, and how powerful and permanent regrets can become if they fester.

Q: Okay but what’s it really about?
A: Optimistic Charmander is a cosmic plaything who just wants to help people. He tries to keep everything together but they don’t want to cooperate.

Q: Okay, but what is it about?
A: ......PMD except it’s a JRPG.


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And now for Blacklight...

Q: So what’s Blacklight about?
A: It’s about dealing with unfamiliar situations in a robust way while taking on impossible odds with allies by your side. It’s about being able to cautiously trust others for a common goal. How cooperation can take down any grand foe, even if that foe may be yourself. Confronting your inner darkness before others can take advantage of it instead.

Q: Okay but what’s it really about?

A: Buncha cosmic foreigners get together to save the world while trying to find the culprit behind it all.

Q: Okay, but what is it about?
A:

 

[DawningWinds]

Q. So what Tale of Legends about?
A. It's about taking sides. It's about being able to tell "fate", personafied as Legendary Pokémon, that it can't control you. It's about being able to rely on others when what you have won't take you far enough. It's about putting the past behind you and looking to the future.

Q. Okay but what is it really about?
A. Iona, a girl from Vaniville Town, who makes the decisions she feels benefit her the most, and is trailed by a Darkrai, who often puts her life in danger. Her rival, Kenya, from Aquacorde Town, pushing towards the League to earn enough money to fly to Hoenn, and trying to make the world a better place while she does so. Roman, a member of the Faererwell Organization, who's trying to right a wrong that, in reality, he never did.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?
A. Three kids and the XY protagonists that are now in their mid-twenties.

 

[Persephone]

Q. So what is Broken Things about?
Trauma, for one. Society's failed today's kids in a lot of ways and BT is about securing your own identity and safety in the modern hellscape. Also found family, broken people clinging to defense mechanisms that hurt them, and the long, tumultuous road to being okay.

Q. Okay but what is it really about?
Three kids from different backgrounds unite and try to help each other through/not kill each other due to past traumas.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?
There's a cute fox mascot, okay?

 

[NebulaDreams]

Q: So what's The Curious and the Shiny about?
A character study of two heavily traumatised Pokemon, one that tackles his depression head on, and another that supresses it until it bubbles over the surface, and the threat of an ever-changing world looming over them. By large, it's about nature vs. nurture, how good intentioned people can make bad mistakes, where the line is drawn between humans and animals, how the past ripples into the present, and what happens when someone in power refuses to change along with society.

More optimistically, it's about Pokemon that choose to take their lives into their own hands and the price they pay for being free agents of the world.

Q: Okay, but what's it really about?
One cowardly lion and one Fullmetal Lucario that start filming an independent documentary about their experiences in an educational facility.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?
Furries that want to be more than furries.

 

[canisaries]

i spent too long on this help

Q: So what's Hunter, Haunted about?

Hunter, Haunted is a psychological profile of a young man who has rejected the norms and morality of human society due to his perceived inability to abide by them. Instead, he has turned to an ancient god and his dangerous, extremist ideology, lured in by the promise of eternal life and omnipotence, unaware of how much he is being manipulated. This god instructs his followers to commit violent taboo acts such as homicide, torture and cannibalism to prove they are able to reject and overcome their learned or instinctive morals. However, when one such act goes awry for the protagonist in the form of the victim resurrecting as a ghost, his already unstable psyche is pushed to its extremes as the ghost seeks vengeance upon him and justice for the lives lost by his hand. The young man must also face the fact that, despite his best efforts, he seems unable to fully follow the command of his god to sever his emotional ties to a dear family member. Throughout the story, themes of mental illness, social isolation and culpability are explored --

Q: Okay, but what's it really about?

A young cultist discovers that the victim of his latest ritualistic sacrifice has returned as a ghost. He must race against time to silence this witness, but the tricks of the specter and his own crumbling sanity make this no easy feat.

Q: Okay, but what is it about?

gay boy struggles to act normal while chasing a ghost, bickering with an orphan child and being mauled by his fursona

 

[Dragonfree]

Q: So what's The Quest for the Legends about?

The Quest for the Legends is a story about how people are messy and complicated. There isn't a simplistic dichotomy of good and evil - though there are some real jerks - and things don't always work out the way you expect them to. Even legendary Pokémon, near-godly beings with cosmic significance, are just as messy and complicated as the rest, and may do cosmically significant things for flawed, personal, petty, ill-thought-out reasons, because they're simply people. It's people all the way down. The main characters must learn difficult lessons about compassion, friendship, responsibility, and having the courage to step up, reach out and act even when it's hard.

Q: Okay, but what's it really about?

A boy is recruited by a legendary Pokémon to help save the world from an impending world-ending disaster, while along the way having to deal with his Pokémon's emotional issues, his traveling companion's coldhearted methods, and the fallout of a murder.

Q: Okay, but what is it about?

kid goes on a Pokémon journey and catches all the legendaries

 

[Starlight Aurate]

Oooh this is so much fun!

Q. So what's Drowning about?
Drowning is a story about a young woman who recently finished college and wants to spend her life doing good--namely, helping restore the ocean she loves so much. She and her water Pokemon join Team Aqua, but after a run-in with Team Magma and deep conversations with an admin and a medic, her idealistic image of Team Aqua crumbles apart and she learns how ruthless, bloodthirsty and determined they are to accomplish their goals. Drowning shows loss of innocence, betrayal, backstabbing, breaking down idealistic mindsets, human flaws, what people will do for what really matters to them, and whether the ends really justify the means.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?
A Team Aqua grunt is injured, captured by Team Magma and convinced to turn against Team Aqua and ends up trying to stop them while working undercover. Meanwhile, a Team Magma medic decides to release people Team Magma captures and undo any damage they do.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?
Gangs are bad.

 

[SparklingEspeon]

Q. So what's Do Psychic-Type Pokemon Dream of Electric Sheep about?

DPTPDoES is a story about... well, karma, I suppose. It's about how everything you do eventually comes back to you in some way or another, and how one small action can change so much. It's about a world that has been consumed by hate, fear, arrogance, and greed, and a cautionary tale about how those traits can bring entire nations crumbling to their feet. And most importantly, it's about a small group of pokemon fighting in their own way for what they know is right, and how one person can inspire the world to change - even if they can't change it themselves.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

Espurr woke up in the middle of the woods without any memory of how she got there. Seeking sanctuary in a secluded village with only a gaggle of children and a hyperactive fennekin for company, it falls to her to get to the bottom of the strange events affecting the entire world... before the dark forces stalking her catch up.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?

I just wanted to write a PSMD adaptation with Espurr okay

 

[IFBench]

Q. So what's Eternal Shadows about?

Eternal Shadows is a story about spiraling downwards, and trying to climb back up. It's about how one bad descision can lead to another, then another, until you've dug yourself too deep to climb back out. It's about bottling up feelings until you can't take it anymore and it all overflows. It's about how good people can spiral downwards into a vengeful mess. It's about fading glimmers of hope that things can get better. It's about how, despite seemingly impossible odds, there's always a way out.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

A human wakes up as an Oshawott, still retaining all of his memories, only wanting to not be alone and to return home. After an encounter with a Chikorita and a Charmander, he makes a hasty decision to lie about his past. As he adventures with the two, and his teammates deal with their own problems, he continues to dig himself deeper, trapping himself in a web of lies.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?

Human pretends he'd been a furry his whole life.

 

[Navar]

This sounds fun. I'll give it a go.

Q. What is Liberators of Fate about?

A. A tale of brotherhood, their struggles to let go of the past while reaching to the future they hope to achieve, going trough trials as the world seems to be against them at all times. As both of them grow inside, they must learn to accept what happened and move forward.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

A. The Riolu keeps getting deeper and deeper into what someone made him become and the Zorua gets his innocence ripped away as the dangers they face become more and more violent

Q. Okay, but what's it about?

A. Edgy aura dog and prankster fox go on a road trip and beat up criminals. With occasional crying!

 

[Flyg0n]

Fun! Had my eye on this for awhile, figured I'd give it a go!

Q. So what's Legendary Adventures about?

Reaching for impossible dreams, even when people say it can't be done. Having all your beliefs shattered and reformed. The ways you learn to adapt and overcome, to believe in the unlikely. Learning to trust in more than yourself and knocking down your pride and arrogance when you realize you were wrong. The many ways your friends can drive you higher and further, but isolation and internalizing everything can lead to madness, don't rely only on yourself because if you fall no one will pick you up. Making a choice of how much faith you want to have in something, and how far you will go for that, and for those you care about. Where true strength comes from, and how it is achieved. How doing whats right isn't easy and doesn't guarantee safety. But in the end, you are the one who must choose how you want to live.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

A young trainer sets out on his journey believing he knows everything about the world of pokemon, and what it means to be strong. To be great. He wants to do everything his way, and catch a legendary. Easy, right? When his life doesn't go according to plan and he doesn't get a super dope OP powerful pokemon he wanted, but a Zubat, he begins to learn that life isn't all about what he wants. There's much more to strength and greatness.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?

Friendship is freaking magic yo, Zubat is cute

 

[windskull]

Q. So what's Places We Call Home about?

It's about making mistakes. Terrible mistakes. It's about confronting your past, and learning to acknowledge your trauma without letting it dictate how you act now. And on a related note, it's about acknowledging both your own feelings but others as well. It's about clashes of religion and morality, and about how one's experiences shape those values. But perhaps, most importantly of all, it's about finding a place to fit in. Perhaps, you could even say, a place you can call home.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

A sneasel running from his past makes a cruel decision in a moment of weakness, throwing a town into turmoil at the worst possible time. As pokemon with the power to control gods try to take the world for themselves, he, along with a pair of bidoof siblings and an overzealous kirila (as well as her reserved absol bodyguard), must put aside their differences and find a way to stop these pokemon, before it's too late.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?

Warrior Cat enters Redwall-like society and makes a delicious omlette and doesn't even offer to share it!

 

[DeliriousAbsol]

Q. So what's The End: Rekindled about?

Racism and division, looking beneath the surface to what lies beneath, learning not to judge someone by their cover. The importance of faith and living in a world where it seems to be fading (Christianity with Pokemon metaphors). Seeking the truth over worldly ideals. Dealing with discrimination and persecution. Making lasting friendships, overcoming hardships, and helping those in need.

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

The world of Estellis is ruled by a wicked hydreigon who wants to wipe out all types except dark and dragon. The pokemon have been split into three factions - Outcasts, Darkness and Heretics. Two Outcasts named Cleo and Spark stumble across something that sparks a little hope among the Outcasts. Hope that Hydreigon can be defeated and the pokemon can live in peace once more. So together, while forming a band of allies, they set out to find a means to defeat Hydreigon once and for all.

Q. Okay, but what's it about?

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon meets Redwall meets Narnia.

 

[cynsh]

Q. So what's Fighting Nature about?

Being unsatisfied with life and wanting to do more than what it's set you up for. A society that represses pokemon's most primal instincts, and whether this can ever be a good thing. Mystery plays a big role: it's clear that something very strange has happened in the city of Deepden for fighting to be illegal for so long, but it takes time for this to all unravel. Other themes that may or not appear further down the line which I don't want to spoil >_<

Q. Okay, but what's it really about?

Two longtime friends, a cautious, careful nickit and a brash, impulsive quilava, team up with a grumpy, rude yet inexplicably knowledgable lycanroc. Together they establish an underground club for pokemon to fight in secret, away from the eyes of police. The club quickly gathers momentum, but by the time they realise the full scale what they're fighting against, the stakes have become higher than ever before.

Q. Okay, but what's it about?

Fight Club but Zootopia but Pokemon

 

[K_S]

What's Transversal about?

The story starts near the end of the Manga's Heart Gold/Soul Silver arch, when Giovanni is entreating Celebi to heal him and the higher power decides to take it quite metaphorically instead of literally.

Part parallel universe road trip/trainer's journey, part cosmic horror story, both split in half, the narrative never quite touching. It starts with a request of healing gone wrong and descends into chaos from there. The cast consists of an angry Rocket Boss who is well beyond that stage of is life where he'd want to journey and his son who both is, and is not, too young to be dragged into this. Their respective teams are scattered over unfamiliar worlds and are there to be caught, or not, as whim decrees. All of them are bound by unfair punishments, as the irate Pokegods of time and paths slap together an epic journey for the humans to uptake... Save their grasp of "epic" reads more like "badly written video game" and when they're defied, humiliated, and then injured by the "common caught 'mon" of those "lesser trainers"... The Gods stop pretending that this is a "healing" and strip near everything from those who dared to fight back / run off.

This leaves Giovanni without his empire, wealth, and most of his age and physical prowess, and the only member on his team is a Weedle, and Silver is de-aged and mind wiped so he is regressed to his first days on the run from the Mask of Ice. At eight he's far too young to be left alone, missing Green, and has no clue as to why any of this happened or where he is. Then both are all but forced into a hero's journey by outside forces that won't stop tipping the deck against them until their orders are heeded.

Okay, so what is it really about?

Answering: what would happen if I drop a pair of de-aged, pokemon veterans from a world steeped in realism (to near grim dark levels), into the setting of a children's anime and all the logic holes that idea entails? Where the "higher powers" have rules and paths, all lessons meant to be taught, cued up with the expected end of the "villains" learning humility (and groveling) and if that happens and everyone sticks to their roles of some hard core stereotypical "heroes journey" all will be forgiven if the begging is done just right. It's a dark spin on a shanghaied redemption arch where I hope the readers will root for the "villains" instead of the established hero 'mon.

What is it really about?.

Hopeless self indulgence. Hoping the rails. Trying to fix fic Silver and Gio's reunion in the Manga. And playing with the the consequences of having the good guys be 'mon who aren't humane, or even particularly bright, set up judgment / try to run a world / save the world and what not.

 

[BossCar]

Q. So what is The Price of War about?
Main character lives a serious and gloomy life. He became aloof, bitter, distrustful, and lonely. Even his lover couldn’t find him. The journey to recovery is the plot.

Q. Okay but what is it really about?
A former famous trainer who acted like a secret agent and had fangirls. This OC might put himself down nowadays but he’s held his own against Red in the past.

Q. Okay, but what is it about?
I’m a history buff, okay?! The main OC has a huge crush on Rosa, and still gets nervous at times despite winning his crush’s heart four years ago.

 

[Muted_Programmer_404]

Q: So, what is Pokemon: Shifted Earth about?
Jackie Ferin - a man from Florida - hates Pokemon. Hates them, for what they did to Earth. Hates them, so much so, that he decides to found an anti-Pokemon group to protect these he holds dear.

Okay, but what is it really about?
It is a deconstruction of the concept of Pokemon becoming real. Pokemon are incredibly dangerous, and to say they will change Earth forever is an understatement.

Q: Okay, but what is it about?
It's a fic about denial, about fear - fear of the unknown, existential terror at what was once believed as fiction becoming real, about how for some, there is no hope, that they will still choose the path of destruction believing their views to be right.