I’ve mentioned it before, a lot actually, that I’m doing an Advent fic challenge for the month of December (because of course I am). I’m not to the halfway point yet, but I did notice something and I wanted to talk about it.
One of my biggest goals during this challenge was to focus on non-traditional pairings in the 9-1-1 fandom universe. I wanted to branch off and try something different, which is something I’m normally never comfortable with.
At this point of the month, I’ve posted ten fics. Two have gotten a good reception. The rest? Well, mostly ignored.
I knew this going into December. Writing a pairing that isn’t one of the canon pairings (or the one pairing that everyone wants to be canon) basically means that only fans of that pairing will touch it. It doesn’t matter how good the writing is, or how well the summary is written, or if the tags intrigue the readers. If it’s not one of like four pairings, it won’t get noticed.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a let down. I know that several of the fics I wrote this time weren’t the best, including one of the two that is getting a great reception. But I was hoping for more. And it’s sad.
I just wanted to do something different, something that would be more creative and would let me focus on characters I normally wouldn’t touch. And it’s not working.
I took a risk this December, and I’m not sure if it’s gonna pay off.
…
There is another reason, though. One that I didn’t want to consider, until I sat back and looked at the situation with the Discord.
There are several of us writing fics that aren’t getting noticed, which is opposite from how Whumptober went. Now, I know that part of it is oversaturation, as we wrote a lot of fic. But the other part…
We’ve been critical of several plot lines this season.
I’ve mentioned in my episode reviews for 9-1-1 season five that there have been several storyline choices this year that don’t really work, or are just plain awful. The biggest one, of course (excluding the final moments of 5×10) was when Chim punched Buck. Hell, Chim’s whole storyline this season, now that I think about it. I’ve been very vocal about how punching Buck was over the line, as well as Chim taking his daughter to chase after Maddie, after Maddie told him to not follow after her. (I’ll do a detailed post about this issue and the fallout later, as it’s something I can dedicate some actual time to.)
Several of my fics this December have either made mention to this storyline (and have my feelings towards it), or I’ve outright stated it in the author’s notes. I’m not going to lie and say that may have had an effect on the readers.
It’s something I didn’t consider until this evening, working on the fic for prompt 11, which I’m using as a sequel to my Paramedic!Buck story I wrote during November (I’ll talk more about that in the coming weeks, when I get into my Bingo card). I had written a line that basically made Chim not come out very nicely, and I don’t regret it. And now of course that line will affect the new story… and I’m okay with that. It may not be the popular choice, but it’s my choice.
Like I said, I’m somewhat disappointed with how some of my advent fics are being received. Maybe in the future, that might change.
Fingers crossed.
Until next time!
