Category: Wrap Ups

The Year of the Lego: My Top LEGO Sets Built in 2025 – Blogmas 2025

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

One of the things I have discovered in 2025 is that building LEGO keeps me from losing my ever-loving mind. I’m not even kidding, when I’m stressing out, I grab a LEGO set and start building and things just get calm.

Over the course of this year, I’ve built a major assortment of LEGO, from small little sets to decorate my desk to LEGO sets that are still unbelievable to me. Some are themed to major entertainment properties, some are from the Ideas line, some are beautiful botanicals… and of course there are some things that just are off the wall.

These are just some of my favorite sets I’ve built this year, in no real particular order (besides the last one, which is my out and out favorite).

Italy Postcard

Let’s start with one that no one was expecting this year. The Postcard series has been one that I have loved, as they are small but heavily detailed sets based on different major locations in the world. The newest entry to the collection, Italy, continues the trend of being beautiful. I’ve loved building this little series. I can’t wait to see if this series is going to continue again.

Disney Pixar Luxo Jr.

As soon as the classic Pixar Lamp was announced, I made it clear to my family I was getting it day one, full stop. It took a few weeks longer (thanks to having to wait for payday, whoops!) but it was worth it. The set is full of little references to Pixar properties, and the Lamp itself looks almost like it could work. I loved building this one.

Polaroid OneStep SX-70 Camera

I’ve grown up hearing all about Polaroid cameras. Apparently, my grandfather sold them for awhile, and loved them, passing that love to my mother, and her to me. Having a LEGO version has been amazing, to the point that it has a place of pride in my room. At least for now.

World Dioramas (Tropical Rainforest, Africa Savanna, Coral Reef, and Northern Lights)

A Gift With Purchase series, the World Dioramas that were released this year are some of the most creative sets I have ever seen. Each biome picked was interest, with the Northern Lights surprising me the most in how the sky is portrayed. I ended up getting half of this set on Mercari once I discovered it, because it was something I just had to have in my collection.

Creator 3-in-1 Retro Telephone, Record Player with Flowers, and Typewriter with Flowers

The Creator 3-in-1 sets are always some of my favorites, because you have three options to make. These three stand out for me because they are just ones that are fun and cute. The simplified designed based on real items are just well done and cute.

Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook

If memory serves me, three book nooks were released this year. The Lord of the Rings one felt uninspired, or rather incomplete. I’m not touching the Harry Potter one with a 33 1/2 pole. But the Sherlock Holmes one? With Baker Street and so many classic characters? Absolutely yes. It looks amazing, the build was amazing, and it remains one of my absolute favorites this year.

The Botanicals Collection: Happy Plants, Hibiscus, Japanese Red Maple Bonsai Tree, Mini Orchid, Lucky Bamboo

The Botanical Collection has a very wonderful place in my heart. Each set is wonderfully created with techniques that I rarely have seen before. One set uses pink frogs for leaves! They always come out as beautiful and a highlight of my collection. They are also the sets most likely to remain on the living room shelves, as my mom loves to look at them too!

Animal Crossing: Able Sisters Clothing Shot, Leif’s Caravan & Garden Shop, Blather’s Museum Collection, and Creative Houses

2025 continued the Animal Crossing series in LEGO for with a bunch of new sets and new characters added. (My dear Carmen still isn’t made her appearance, but I can only hope that will change in the future!) With each set, my island is getting closer to complete, though it’s not currently set up due to space issues. I particularly love Blather’s Museum, as I am so happy to have it!

Nintendo Gameboy and SEGA Genesis Controller

Two sets based off of gaming systems came out this year, and now I want everything. The SEGA Genesis Controller looks amazing on my shelf, and I am perfectly in love with the Gameboy, which was a birthday present to myself. It brought back a bunch of memories of borrowing one of my old Girl Scout friend’s Gameboy, because I went right off into the Game Boy Light era, missing the brick entirely. (Ha, brick, not intended, but so perfect.)

Minifigure Vending Machine

And finally, my favorite set by far in 2025. The Minifigure Vending Machine is probably one of the coolest sets ever created by LEGO, and the thought that went into it shows. It was a great build that didn’t feel overly repetitive, and the Minifigure representation was almost on point (I did get a little sick of the astronaut Minifigs, but that’s allowed). I’m so happy it is finally mine, finally built, and hopefully will be in full use next year for reading challenge things.

And there you have it, a bunch of my favorite sets of 2025. Of course, this doesn’t count the set I picked up before writing this (The LEGO Ideas Mineral Display), as well as any/all LEGO sets I’m getting for Christmas, but that’s allowed. There’s always next year’s list!

Until then, build on!

Whumptober 2022 Wrap-Up – Blogmas 2022

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

For my final challenge of the year, I decided to do things a little bit differently.

Since I was going to be working on Whumptober while also trying to fix up some other things, prep for Nanowrimo, and also work my stressful job, I decided to allow myself the ability to do something a bit different. I gave myself permission to write drabbles. If you don’t know what a drabble is, it is a piece of writing that is exactly 100 words. I ended up writing several double and triple drabbles (or 200/300 words) to some of the prompts, which was both a challenge and a test, and I think some of those fics ended up being some of my favorites.

As with my other challenge write ups, I’ll be following my Whumptober 2021 Wrap Up set up, to break down the event in a few different ways. I’ll be touching on some of my favorite fics, as well as the ones that did amazing.

Challenge Overview

Before we get into the major breakdown, let’s go over the full challenge.

Over the course of the challenge, I wrote 31 fics between October 2nd and December 5th, 2022.

My total word count for the event was 25,163 words, focused on 9-1-1, 9-1-1 Lone Star, The Old Guard, and The School of Good and Evil, with minor crossovers and mentions of CSI:NY and Criminal Minds.

As it’s been a bit over a month since the end of the challenge, I’ll be putting up the top three for each section below. However, since there are some that are more popular than others, I’ll be noting the ones that repeat and then including the next ones until I have three fics per section.

Most Popular by Hits

I’m not really sure what inspired “Overlooking the Head,” but I’m glad that I wrote it. In a way, it was a subtle way of telling the people who had been attacking me that I actually did like Chimney Han, I just didn’t like him in one specific storyline (shock of all shocks). This is something I’d been thinking about for a while, so I’m glad I got it down and posted.

“A Different Kind of Heat” is my ode to the differences of climates. I’m someone who really doesn’t do well in humidity, especially in Texas, where I was one of the people who nearly collapsed that year. I just don’t like the heat. Yes, TK would know better, but it worked for the story, so I’m happy about it.

I think I have a thing for dropping Buck down staircases, as seen in “Staircase Tumbling.” Why Buck? Because it’s Buck, and if the writers won’t give us what we want, it’s up to fic writers to do it for them. I really enjoyed coming up with this one, which was written while I was at my writer’s club at my library. I enjoyed it a little too much, haha.

Most Popular by Kudos

I already have talked about “Staircase Tumbling.”

I was alwasy going to write a sequel to “BuckBookTok” and thus “BuckLifeTok” was born. I very much enjoyed bringing this to life, especially since I got to once again play with the tsunami and what damage it left behind to LA and the 118. I have a final fic in this trilogy in the works, it should be posted soon.

“Family Crashes” was very much inspired by the frankly ridiculous amount of traffic I could see from my office window when I have to go into LA for my in office day. The Buckley parents appearing just kinda forced themselves into the show, even though I didn’t plan on them. It worked in my opinion.

“Avoiding a Family Fight” was written not because I didn’t like the Buckley parents, but instead to get my temper down about being forced to do things because “family”. I very much enjoyed bringing this fic to life, even if certain people didn’t understand or get my full intentions at the time.

Most Popular by Comments

I already have talked about “Staircase Tumbling,” “Family Crashes,” and “Avoiding a Family Fight”

I decided early on to include Lou Ransone at least twice during this challenge, with “Gun to Temple” being his first appearance during the month. I think I really enjoyed this one, to the point that I would love to keep going with this fic if I so chose. Maybe one day I’ll do something else along these lines. (No, Remy, no getting more ideas, you have too much to work on right now as is!)

“Long Shift Surprises” was born from one of my Buck and Audie fics getting nominated for a fanfiction awards thing, but because I had two fics nominated in the same category, I had to choose one or the other. Since I went with the other, I wrote another Audie fic to balance it out. Sleepy Buck and Audie for the win!

The thing about “Potentially Scarring Questions” is that it was born out of people asking invasive questions about others. That’s it, that’s the inspiration. For men, that’s always bothered me, so this came to be. I enjoyed bringing this one to light and I’m very happy with my results.

Most Popular by Bookmarks

I already have talked about “Staircase Tumbling,” “Family Crashes,” “Avoiding a Family Fight,” “Potentially Scarring Questions,” “Overlooking the Head,” “Gun to Temple,” and “BuckLikeTok.”

“Stuck” is another Lou Ransone fic, but it was also brought upon thanks to so many people deciding what was and wasn’t going to be in Seasons five and six (and being so wrong about it). I’m also very happy with how this one came out.

I came up with “An Atypical Effect to a Head Injury” simply because of how many times it seems like Buck has been hit on the head. No, seriously, that’s what did it. This got a lot of love for being so short and I’m happy with that. Plus, injured and surly Buck is always fun.

I’m not surprised that “Taken Away” has been bookmarked a good amount of times. It’s one of my incomplete fics that I really need to get back to by the end of the year (see yesterday’s post). I just have to find my notes first and I’ll be able to really knock it out…

Length

I already have talked about “BuckLikeTok,” “Family Crashes,” “Staircase Tumbling,” “Avoiding a Family Fight,” “Potentially Scarring Questions,” “Overlooking the Head,” “Gun to Temple,” and

Considering they are best paired together, I’ll be talking about them together. “Firestarter” and “Only Embers Left Behind” are both part of my “Immortal Genius” series, with Buck taking the forefront for five total fics. Here, Buck is dealing with an arsonist and ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time… but his immortality keeps him alive. For me, I wrote it to show that Buck was finally starting to accept his lot in life, leading into the finale of his arc. They aren’t the most popular, but I’m okay with that. I write what I love, damn it.

“Crutch Time” was just good clean fun. I hated being on crutches when I sprained my foot and I’m still salty about it, and that was in like 2008 (I can hold a grudge). It’s another Audie fic, one that I absolutely had a great time writing since it practically wrote itself.

My Favorites That Didn’t Get a Mention

I had a great deal of fun with working on “Almost Dead on My Feet,” only because it presented me with the challenge of remembering how to timeline. Something that I’ve struggled with this year. I enjoyed it a lot and I’m glad that it came out alright, even if it didn’t get a majorly great reception (my 9-1-1 Lone Star fics rarely do).

“An Unlikely Friendship” was the final Ransone fic of Whumptober, this time dealing with the aftermath of his attack in 5×02. I tried to make it clear that he and Buck were friends that might become more, though I’m not sure how much of that came through. I did like it, and I enjoyed the challenge I gave myself with it.

Wrap Up

While I wasn’t successful in completing Whumptober in October, I do think I am hapy with the quality of many of the fics that I posted. Several of them are fics that I very much enjoy and I’m happy to see that they have gotten love over the past few months.

If you want to read any of them, they are all up on my AO3 account! Just look for any that are part of the “Remy’s Whumptober 2022” series. They are all in prompt order.

Until next time!

Writer’s Month 2022 (Delayed) Wrap-up! – Blogmas 2022

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Well, my first attempt at Writer’s Month went… well… I at least completed the challenge. Two months late. It’s a whole thing. But I really did enjoy the different prompts, so I will probably give this one another try next year, when I can dedicate more time to it while not stressing myself out.

As with my other challenge write ups, I’ll be following my Whumptober Wrap Up set up, to break down the event in a few different ways. I’ll be touching on some of my favorite fics, as well as the ones that did amazing.

Challenge Overview

Before we get into the major breakdown, let’s go over the full challenge.

Over the course of the challenge, I wrote 31 fics between August 2nd and November 14th, 2022.

My total word count for the event was 29,703 words, focused on 9-1-1, 9-1-1 Lone Star, The Old Guard, and Fusionfall with brief mentions or crossovers with Hawaii Five-O, SWAT, and Teen Wolf.

As it’s been over a month since the end of the challenge, I’ll be putting up the top three for each section below. However, since there are some that are more popular than others, I’ll be noting the ones that repeat and then including the next ones until I have three fics per section.

Most Popular by Hits

By far one of my most popular fics this year thus far, Far Reaching Friends was born out of wanting to have some sort of crossover between 9-1-1 Season 5 and 9-1-1 Lone Star Season 3. I remember knocking this one out in no time at all and really loving bringing this to life. I actually wrote a sequel to during Whumptober 2022 and I think I want to play in this world one more time.

I ended up coming up with Late Night Knocks on a whim, but it also became a tribute to one of my favorite One Chicago characters, Jay Halstead, who was (horribly) written out this season. This is another idea that came up out of the blue that I enjoy and I’m happy to see that others have enjoyed it as well. I have one more planned for this mini series.

So, confession. I have an irrational fear of earthquakes. Home Shakes popped into my head while I was pacing my room trying to come up with something. I joking said that this fic’s secondary theme was “writer’s block due to annoyance.” This one ended up being a good quick little writing exercise that I enjoyed knocking out.

Most Popular by Kudos

I already have talked about “Far Reaching Friends” and “Late Night Knocks.”

The amount of times I rewrote Cards from the Heart is frankly embarrassing. I could not decide what to do, then I had an idea and backtracked, and finally I just ran with what I posted. It’s probably one of my favorites just because it’s cute, and that’s what matters.

And Now, To Tomorrow is the sequel to one of my favorite fics I’ve written this year, mostly because it’s the crossover I was never supposed to write, and yet I did. This sequel was difficult to write only because I knew what I wanted to say, but I wasn’t sure how to say it. But I’m happy with how it came out, and the third fic should be completed before the end of the year if all goes well.

Fat Lip came out of wanting to write about the catfish incident but in the current day, and give Hen a voice to the situation since she didn’t really get one during Season 1. I really enjoyed working on this one, especially sarcastic Buck coming out. Surprisingly I wasn’t in the best of places mentally when writing this, as well as suffering from food poisoning during the majority of that week.

Most Popular by Comments

I already have talked about “And Now, To Tomorrow.”

I got “in trouble” because of the joke behind Teaching Knots. Yes, it’s a BDSM joke, no, it’s completely clean, and yes, I had way too much fun with setting that bullshit up. I’m happy with it, even if I got some funny pseudo-pissed off messages.

Pain Day was born out of the thought that Buck’s injury might not have healed as perfectly as the show implied. So I decided to explore that. I’ll be totally honest, I was looking for a prompt that would fit this plot, instead of the other way around. This one worked well, and I love it.

Held Back (What a Detriment) holds the distinction of being the first fic I’ve ever posted with the wrong title (I misspelled detriment). I also marked this fic as incomplete, as I’m still not sure if I’m going to come back to it or not. I’m just not into writing about shifters, but I way decide to do so in the future. Only time will tell.

Most Popular by Bookmarks

I already have talked about “Pain Day,” “Far Reaching Friends,” “Home Shakes,” “Fat Lip,” “Cards from the Heart,” “And Now, To Tomorrow,” “Teaching Knots,” and “Held Back (What a Detriment).”

I unintentionally sat on Rainbow of Thanks for awhile. This was a fic that I had a barebones idea for, but I ended up enjoying what I ended up writing for it. Hell, I love any fic that makes Christopher special, because I love that kid.

I also got in trouble for Next in Line. ANd by “in trouble,” I mean I pissed off a lot of people because Buck didn’t get to go to Chicago. I had everything planned out, but no one believed me. (Late Night Knocks” is the sequel to this fic, and there is a third tentatively planned.)

My literal only speculation for Season 6. Worrying Away from Home was born simply to prove that I could write a speculation fic, even though I don’t like speculation fics. Also, it totally turned into an anti-Buckley parent’s fic because why the heck not. Worth it.

Length

I already have talked about “And Now, To Tomorrow,” “Late Night Knocks,” and “Far Reaching Friends.”

I spontaneously decided to write a Fusionfall fic, and Three Days On Fire is the result. I pulled it out of nowhere just because I could. I really enjoyed playing around in that world again, so much so that I want to do it again just because.

What is Silk Nights? I still don’t know. I just pulled it out of nowhere. I can’t explain it, nor will I. It’s… a thing. Just go with it.

King of the Lego Castle was written as a tribute to Lego’s 90th birthday. No, seriously, that’s the whole inspiration. But it was fun and I’m happy about it. That’s about all I have to say on the subject.

My Favorites That Didn’t Get a Mention (aka All the 9-1-1 Lone Star fics)

I came up with Music From a Former Life thanks to listening to Ronen Rubinstein’s music. It was a fun little fic that I really feel like deserved more love.

I still have a love for my Buck and Audie fics, and I wrote one from Audie’s POV. It’s Hard Being Popular ended up not being popular, but it was a fun little experiment. Can I help it? Audie is a sassy pup.

I don’t normally write future fics, but there was something about writing a fic from an adult Christopher Diaz’s point of view. The Story of Our Lives is a fun little fic that almost made the cut on several categories for this wrap up, missing by only one point here or there.

Did I really write a fic about TK and Paul going to where TK almsot froze to death? Yes, yes I did. And no, I don’t have a problem with that. It’s therapy. It’s called This is Where I (Nearly) Died and it didn’t get nearly enough love, damn it.

And finally, something that I’m mildly hoping for 9-1-1 Lone Star for Season Four is some Carlos!Whump, so I wrote some myself. Role reversals are fun sometimes. I called this pain Waiting for the Wake Up, and no, I have no regrets.

Wrap Up

I really enjoyed this challenge, only because the prompts are different’ then ones I’m used to. I’m happy that I have it a shot even if I didn’t get to complete it in August. It was worth the attempt. I may or may not take part in it next year, depending on life circumstances, but I have no real complaints. Heck, one of my favorite things is that they give a seven day grace period on posting! No one else does!

All in all, it was a good challenge and I’m happy to move onto other things.

If you want to read any of them, they are all up on my AO3 account! Just look for any that are part of the “Writer’s Month 2022” series. They are all in prompt order.

Until next time!

Febuwhump 2022 Wrap Up

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

February has come and gone, and with it was Febuwhump! This was my second time participating in Febuwhump, and I had a blast with it (even if I lost steam for a bit due to job search related shenanigans). I’m really happy with how everything came out. Please enjoy this quick little write up about the entire event!

As with my other challenge write ups, I’ll be following my Whumptober Wrap Up set up, to break down the event in a few different ways. I’ll be touching on some of my favorite fics, as well as the ones that did amazing.

Challenge Overview

Before we get into the major breakdown, let’s go over the full challenge.

Over the course of the challenge, I wrote 29 fics between February 1st and March 1st, 2022.

My total word count for the event was 35,376 words, focused on 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star, with brief crossovers with The Old Guard, Criminal Minds and CSI:NY.

As it’s been a bit over a month since the end of the challenge, I’ll be putting up the top three for each section below. However, since there are some that are more popular than others, I’ll be noting the ones that repeat and then including the next ones until I have three fics per section.

Most Popular by Hits

To my upmost surprise, “Hidden Bruises” has been a fic that consistently gets hits and kudos every day. I was having a very hard time with the prompt for this one, if I remember right. I’m glad that people enjoy it, as it’s my requisite “Buck pushed himself too much #2” fic. 

Though the theme of the entire challenge is “whump”, I really wanted to do some lighthearted fics as well. “Accident Prone” is one of them, taking place in a nebulous time after Lone Star 3×04. Just having Carlos both worry over and tease TK was a balm my heart needed.

“Stumbling Out” was a little fic that I came up with at the last moment, as I had just had some bad work-related news. I don’t really remember what was my inspiration behind this, but it worked. I think it got popular simply because it was pretty current to the season.

Most Popular by Kudos

I already have talked about “Hidden Bruises” and “Accident Prone.”

I personally love “His (Head’s) Own Worst Enemy.” It’s probably one of my favorite fics I wrote during February, and I got to make a crack at the lack of care Buck let’s himself get during 5×06. Writing characters that can’t outright describe where they are due to injury is something I love doing, and writing Buck with a head wound is always fun.

All I can really say about “Please Don’t Go” is this. It’s very personal to me, because it’s some of the same thoughts I had when my father died. It was a dark time for me, and wow did it come out on paper for this.

Something I planned early on for Febuwhump was to have a fic with a character in a fever. I decided to place “Fever Guardians” early in Season One, simply because I was doing my rewatch at the time, and wow Buck has had some character growth.

Most Popular by Comments

“How Long? (Check the Clock)” was an absolute blast to write. I’d wanted to do a 5+1 for a while, and this just made it possible. It also helped with me getting over my issues with Chimney this season, and wow am I happy with how this came out. This is one of the best fics I wrote in 2022.

“Kidnapped Away” was an indulgence fic. I’d been quietly planning to write a 9-1-1 Lone Star / CSINY fic for a while now. This is the the beginning to a much larger fic that I really want to work on this year, once I get out of my writing funk. It got a good reception.

“Separated at Birth” is based on a fan theory that popped up right after the character Lucy Donato was announced, and I absolutely ran with it. I’m still happy with it, though the second chapter isn’t as good as I wanted it to be, due to the fact that I ended up rushing it. But it’s a fun non-canon fic.

Most Popular by Bookmarks

I already have talked about “Hidden Bruises,” “His (Head’s) Worst Enemy,” “Accident Prone,” “How Long? (Check the Clock),” “Kidnapped Away” and “Fever Guardians.”

Something I’d already planned on doing during the first part of 2022 was write the second chapter to “Rude Wake Up Call”. Chapter 2, called “After” was one that slowly came into being and just happened to work for this challenge. I’m happy with how it came out, and that it has hopefully set up a satisfying conclusion. At some point, anyway.

There’s a lot about Buck’s past that we have only touched upon, and “Cold Shoulder to Thanks” was a story that just poked at one of those times. (Seriously, it’s one of my only peeves with Buck Begins, as it’s more of a Maddie origin story compared to a Buck origin story…). I always figured there were reasons that Buck never stayed anywhere long until joining the LAFD. Here’s a fun answer as to why.

I have no real idea why I made “Misunderstanding on an Epic Scale” as crazy as it ended up being. I did go to Target that day, and I did have an argument with someone in the book section (but it was about me still wearing my mask, which apparently was infringing on this guy’s rights or some other nonsense…). But my brain got weird and this popped out. Go brain?

Length

I already have talked about “How Long? (Check the Clock).”

“Gettin’ Taken for a Hike” is the sequel to one of my favorite fics from Whumptober. I had a lot of fun with this, mostly because I really really wanted to do a sequel to the first fic. It’s somewhat annoying that it didn’t get as much love as I feel like it deserves, but fine, people are lame.

“Learning Boundaries” ended up being the latest in my Criminal Minds/Old Guard/9-1-1 series. I always gave fun adding new stories to it. This one was actually attempt number two, as I ended up having to set aside my first attempt because I completely messed up the timeline. I really enjoyed touching on some of the highlights of Season 3, but adding an immortal twist.

I absolutely wanted to do at least one Bob Evans fic, and “Falling on the Highway” was one of them. I was in a pretty angsty mood when I wrote this, but it’s one of my favorites. I really took the time with every part (and made a fun reference to my county while I did it!). I also put a lot of love in it, and I’m glad that people have read it.

My Favorites That Didn’t Get a Mention

Though I flat out will say that this fic is a bit of a mess, I still loved working on “All the Scars We Cannot See.” And dammit, I’m in love with the title, and I will fight people because of it. It’s a good fic about the consequences of words. (And, fun fact, it was always the fourth fic on each of the categories for above, once the already mentioned fics were removed per category.)

I absolutely had to write a crack fic, and “It’s a Pasta Hostage Situation” is absolutely that. It’s just fun, and I had a good time working on it. Oh, and I got Thin Mints for writing this, so it was absolutely worth it.

One of my other favorite pairings is 4 Alarm Fire, and thus “Burning Hot and Cold” was born. The title is a pun, but wow did I like writing this one. It was supposed to be a text fic that I quickly lost interest in formatting as such, so instead it because a full fic and I think it worked out better like that.

My other Bob Evans fic was “Untriggered Breakdown.” There was a joke running around the Discord was on that everyone was writing breakdowns for Buck and Eddie. So, this was my contribution. I also didn’t plan to write Bob Evans, but I’m glad it kinda happened all on its own.

And finally? “Clowns in School” was the additional prompt, affectionately titled FebuClown. I absolutely had fun writing this, because I got to bitch about Pennywise the Clown. I don’t like clowns, I actively avoid them, and wow was this fic therapeutic. 

Wrap Up

Febuwhump was a good show of my writing skills, working with prompts that I normally wouldn’t touch, pairings that aren’t well known or well liked in the fandom. For the most part, everything was very well received and it was a real confidence boost when I needed it. I’m taking a bit of a break from writing right now, for a few reasons. If things work well in April, I’ll probably get back to writing in a few days. (Provided that Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga stops sucking my soul in.)

If you want to read any of them, they are all up on my AO3 account! Just look for any that are part of the “Remy’s Febuwhump 2022” series. They are all in prompt order.

Until next time!

Advent Wrap Up

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

August 2022 Edit

Hey everyone, before you read this post, I just want to give a quick disclaimer. I was a member of the 118 Discord up until May 2022, when I left due to a… difference of opinion on something that happened in the 9-1-1 fandom and how people might handle it, as well as seeing that the mods had become people I was no longer comfortable with supporting in any way. It’s my personal belief that the 118 Discord is have become a dangerous place and probably will never be a safe place in fandom again, unless you cast aside your ability to have an opinion and only follow their personal opinions and beliefs about this fandom. You can make your own opinions. I won’t be removing the references to that discord from this post, as that would be disingenuous (unlike their handling of many things in fandom), but I want it clear that I do not represent or support them in any way. These fics mentioned here were written before this all came to light. All reference to the discord have been removed from the fics, both tags and author notes. As a added point of clarity, this post has remain unedited beyond this note, a brief note at the end of the post, and the links to the stories. My comments written here do not reflect how I currently feel about the discord or any named members.

Thank you so much for your understanding.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am beyond behind getting these challenge wrap ups done (I have three total, this is the first). But there is a reason for that.

For context, “Advent” was a holiday-themed challenge hosted by the 118 Discord. I had a blast doing the entire event – to the point that I think I was one of only two people to finish it. I technically was a few days late, but it’s totally cool.

I’ll be following my Whumptober Wrap Up set up, to break down the event in a few different ways. I’ll be touching on some of my favorite fics, as well as the ones that did amazing.

Challenge Overview

Before we get into the major breakdown, let’s go over the full challenge.

Over the course of Advent, I wrote 25 fics between December 1st and December 31st.

My total word count for the event was 32,684 words, focused primarily on 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star, with one crossover with Digimon.

As it’s been three months since the end of the challenge, I’ll be putting up the top three for each section below. However, since there are five that are very popular, I’ll be noting the ones that repeat and then including the next ones until I have three fics per section.

Most Popular by Hits

“A Time to Celebrate” has consistently remained one of the most popular fics I’ve written. It’s a sequel to a fic I wrote for the 9-1-1 Bingo, so I won’t go into too much detail. What I will say is that I wrote this after the 5A finale, though I didn’t mention a few details that came up during that episode. I remember having a time with this fic, as I knew what I wanted to write, but I got lost in my plans and didn’t get to the expected end point. It’s on my list to continue one of these days.

“Buck the Dad Dog” was something I was working on before the Advent challenge, and it just happened to fit the prompt perfectly. I love the idea of Buck having a therapy dog, and Audie wrote herself. This one didn’t give me too much trouble… considering it wouldn’t end. But that’s okay, because it inspired me to write more in this ‘verse.

I can’t explain “The Mistletoe Incident”. I just can’t. It’s one of those fics I think I wrote quickly with no idea what my plan was when I got started. However, I did get a kick out of rereading it so that I could write up this little blurb. I know why it got a lot of views, anyway. Most Buddie fics do.

Most Popular by Kudos

I’ve already talked about “Buck the Dad Dog,” “A Time to Celebrate,” and “The Mistletoe Incident.”

“Surprise Santa Meetings” was one of my first “Chim screwed up and is still blaming Buck” fics. I actually forgot about it, which is hilarious, considering I’m constantly getting kudos for it. I also included my own personal headcanon for where Maddie is, though 5×12 is going to completely destroy it. Whoops. But it’s a good fic in my opinion.

When I started “A Letter to St. Nick.”, I never expected to be writing a fic touching on Buck’s life with his parents, comparing it to how he was helping raise Christopher with Eddie. It ended up being angsty, but I really liked it (and rereading it for the first time in over four months).

“The Results of Snap Decisions” was my attempt to feel better after the downer that was 5×10. (Wow, did I not know what the future held for us.) It’s a good little fic that I really wish the showrunners would have looked at, as it deals with what happens when you make a quick decision without taking into account all the factors. It’s one of the better fics I wrote during December.

Most Popular by Comments

I’ve already talked about “Buck the Dad Dog,” “A Time to Celebrate,” and “Surprise Santa Meetings.”

One of my goals during Advent was to write fics with pairings I normally wouldn’t. “Ornamental Traditions” was one of my first, featuring the pairing of May Grant and Ravi Panikkar, two characters that I think would have some great chemistry. I had a lot of fun with this one actually, which is always good, and the whole point of Advent.

“Audie’s First Christmas” was a continuation of “Buck the Dad Dog”, because I fell in love with having a dog character that was adorable and somewhat sassy. I also wanted to write an actual Christmas dinner with the rest of the characters, similar to 3×10. It’s just a fun, feel good piece, with a dog.

“Cookie Based Distractions” was my first attempt at writing one of the other rare pairs that I fell in love with in this fandom. Bob Evans is the pairing of Buck and Bobby, and it was a blast to give it a go, even if I did have to deal with an idiot trying to “mansplain” why it was wrong. I’ve done a couple more with this pairing (most notably during Febuwhump, post coming soon). And cookies! Cookies are a major feature.

Most Popular by Bookmarks

I’ve already talked about “Buck the Dad Dog,” “A Time to Celebrate,” “The Mistletoe Incident,” “The Results of Snap Decisions,” “Surprise Santa Meetings,” “A Letter to St. Nick,” and “Audie’s First Christmas.”

“Return to Big Bear” was one that I’d had in the back of my head long before Advent. I wanted to see how Buck would react if he had to go back to Big Bear, as the last time he was there was when he was saving Maddie (or, rather, just bringing Maddie home, since she saved herself). This was self-indulgence, but it worked, and I got to write a panic attack and everything.

So… “Stargazing for Christmas Dinner” was one where I saw the prompt and promptly swore. The prompt was “Christmas Dinner”, but I’d written three Christmas dinners by this point (and was well on my way to burnout). I wanted no part in doing another, so I decided to have a bit more fun with it, by featuring something that I really miss doing – stargazing. The problem with living in a highly populated area is that you don’t really get to see the stars…

“Christmas Eve Floods” was a little fic where I was totally burned out, but I really wanted to write sad!Buck. And thus, I flooded his apartment and didn’t edit the fic. It was a good little fic, but it never really got looked at surprisingly.

Length

I’ve already talked about “A Time to Celebrate,” “Buck the Dad Dog,” and “A Letter to St. Nick.” Seeing a pattern yet?

I really wanted to do a 4Alarm fic, so “Announced via Ugly Sweater” was born. I also have never understood why ugly sweaters are a thing, so that absolutely came through in the prose. But it was fun to write, since trying to really get four characters at the same time is somewhat difficult. But I really enjoyed it (and I wish others had as well).

“A History Defined by Christmas Crackers” was a fun one, since I actually managed to throw in a bit of the cooking lessons I was being taught. I’ve never really been able to get my hands onto real Christmas crackers, so most everything I used was from Google or Harry Potter fanfiction. But it was still a lot of fun.

With “Yule Log Apology Cakes,” I wanted to write a possible reason for Chimney to have been suck a dick to Buck, both in canon and in the previous fic to this one. I really liked how this one came out, and in a way helped me get over my issues with Chimney (or at least, began to).

My Favorites That Didn’t Get a Mention

I’m still kinda mad that this one has been mostly overlooked. “The Well Worn Path to Together” is a Tuck fic, that being the pairing of TK and Buck. It’s all soft and wonderful and I spent a good deal of time learning about Hanukkah for this one. I really enjoyed how well this came out, even if it is still the only (or maybe one of the few) fics that didn’t even get a single comment.

“Digi Christmas Morning” is the third of my 9-1-1/Digimon series that I’ve been doing. It’s the required Christmas fic, along with the required engagement fic. I liked this one because it was a great way to end Advent without being too heavy. And it’s Digimon, so nothing can go wrong there.

Wrap Up

Advent was a process. Like I said at the top, I was only one of two people to finish the full thing, which was fine because the point was to at least do one prompt. I took a few extra days to complete everything. But I will say this: while I’m happy with what I came up with, I was honestly really glad when it was over. I felt so drained by the end.

It also didn’t help that I went directly from that into finishing the bingo and then into Febuwhump… but those are posts for the next few days.

If you want to read any of them, they are all up on my AO3 account! Just look for any that were posted in December 2021. They are all in prompt order.

Until next time!

Happy Halloween! What Comes Next? – Blogtober 2021

~ Liz Harrison ~ 1 Comment

What a Halloween… of doing basically nothing.

No, seriously, I took most of the day to relax and catch up on some of the fanfic I missed this month. No strain, no stress. It was worth the relaxation.

But that leads us into November. And the month is already shaping up to be just busy.

For one thing, I’m going to be attempting Nanowrimo again this year, but I’m not going to be stressing about it. My goal is to use the month to finish the planned sequels/second chapters for some of my Whumptober stories, as well as the holiday gift fic for the exchange I’m doing through my discord (which I really need to plot out). And hopefully I can knock out a few of my bingo squares as well. I do plan on working on an rewrite of an old fanfic as more original fiction, for the writing group that I’m now apart of.

Will I hit 50k? Probably not. And I’m okay with that. I’m not stressing.

Another goal for November is to finally finish a few of the shows that I’ve been putting off. Not really naming them, simply because I know if I do, I’ll watch anything but. I’m trying to take the month to completely destress.

Now, onto what November will entail for this blog. I’m going down to posting twice a week, simply because I’m almost burned out. I’ll be posting my traditional review of each 9-1-1 episode on Tuesdays, and something else on Thursdays. There may be bonus posts (probably around my birthday), but I’m not pushing it. I’ll be back doing daily posting in December, when Blogmas rolls around. And boy, do I have plans for that.

I guess I should make it clear that if certain things I’m hoping for actually happen, most of these plans will change. I don’t want to go into specifics just yet (don’t want to jinx anything), but… there may be some good hope coming down a pipeline.

Alright, thanks for joining me on this crazy Blogtober journey! I’m gonna go sleep for a we- shit, the hostage episode is tomorrow. Okay, ten hours it is.

Until next time!

January Wrap Up

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Something that I want to make a staple this year is to wrap up every month. This could end up being a one time thing, but I think it’s worth it, at least a bit. The point is to give me a place to look back every month at my content, both on WordPress and elsewhere. I’ll mostly be summarizing, but it will be an asset to myself, or at least I hope. (Especially since I have finally given up on using a planner/journal. They’re fun to set up, but I just don’t have it in me to keep up with it for more than a month. I’ll show off my current way of keeping track of things later on in February.)

Blog Posts

This month, I focused on three things: Books, streaming, and The Old Guard. I have posted twelve times (not including this post). I’ve had 86 views from 23 unique visitors, with the average views per visitor being 3.74. This is down from December, which makes sense considering that December was focused on Blogmas, and posted 25 times. I’ve also had my posts liked 21 times. Book posts seem to be more popular.

Streaming

For my first month of streaming, I managed to stream eleven times. In total I streamed for just under 21 hours, with 17 unique viewers, and one new follower! I am halfway to affiliate, at least in requirements. I need to get 40 more followers (I streamed a bit in 2020 and somehow got to 9 followers), and I need to have an average of 3 viewers per stream. I streamed three games and one book stream, and I’ve changed my schedule twice, with the current schedule being the one I think I’m going to stick with for awhile. The games I streamed were Lili: Child of Geos (twice), Disneyland Adventures (7 times), and Lego Batman: The Video Game (once).

Instagram/Twitter Content

I’ve tried to make it a point to use my social median more productive ways. I can’t see my stats on Instagram, but I have noticed that my engagement goes up in the days following a mention of The Old Guard. On Twitter, I went down on my amount of tweets and impressions, but that’s honestly because I have slowed posting, as in December I tweeted at least one a day (for my TOG Cast movie month). Though, the last week it has gone up, mostly because of the news (and our reactions) about the TOG sequel!

Off Camera Gaming

Damn you Xbox, you’ve made me play you more than Playstation. I feel as though I have betrayed my true love. Ok, dramatics over. I played one game on PS4, Persian Nights 2: Moonlight Veil, which is a point and click type game from Artifex Mundi. On Xbox, I played four Artifex Mundi games (Noir Chronicles: City of Crime, Queen’s Quest 2: Stories of Forgotten Past, Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink, and Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan). I also played Adam’s Venture: Origins (TRASH), The Little Acre, Donut Country, Day of the Tentacle Remaster, The Gardens Between, and What Remains of Edith Finch (game of the month). I also played but did not complete Lego Batman.

Reading

I read five things this month. Three novels, a novella and a short story. I have DNF’ed one novel, Rebel Rose, because it just didn’t click with me. The other novels I read were City of Villains (review coming on Wednesday), and Lore (review forthcoming, and amazing). The novella was Across the Green Grass Fields, which I enjoyed. The short story was Juice Like Wounds, which was an absolute surprise.

Wrap Up and Goals for February

Well, doing this made me think, and also look at stats, which is something I need to get into the habit of doing. My goals for February are to increase the amount of times I post on Twitter and Instagram, and also increase the quality. I also want to keep a better schedule of posting and streaming, and trying to be consistent at that. I’m planning on taking part in Febuwhump, which is a fanfiction writing prompt “challenge”. I’m not making it a massive priority, but it’s something I want to do. Goals.

I’m curious to see what ends up coming in February! (I may or may not do this again, BTW.)

Until next time!

July Media Wrap Up

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Hello all! I planned for this to go up on Friday, but unfortunately I just wasn’t happy with the quality of this post until now. Hence, the delay. Hopefully in the coming months this will not become a common occurrence.

July was a weird month for me. I ended up watching a decent amount of shows and movies (ok, like two movies), and my reading was dominated by graphic novels. As for gaming, that was all over the place. Let’s get to the wrap up.

What I Watched

July brought back the amazement that is Sword Art Online Alicization: War of Underworld, the final cour (season) of the third SAO series. It has been a long time coming, as it was delayed from April, with episode 36 airing right before New Years, and episode 37 premiering July 11th. It was well worth the wait. Now we just need vegetable-Kirito to wake up and wreck havoc.

We also were graced with the return of Digimon Adventure:, the reboot to the long running Digimon franchise. I’m a bit behind still, but I’m loving how old characters are being reintroduced, and oh the development. It looks amazing, and I can’t wait to see it stick around for a while longer.

For all my nostalgia feels, one of my favorite series from my childhood (and the first one that I fought with a large company to keep on air for a little while longer). Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! returned to the universe on July 17th on Disney Plus. I may have cried. I watched it to completion in like a weekend. I have no issues with this.

On the movie front, this month started with Hamilton. I don’t think I need to articulate just how much I enjoyed this musical. I’m still singing along to several of the songs. I just cannot help it.

The other film I saw is one that I think I’ve watched about five times since last weekend. I finally watched The Old Guard, and I absolutely loved it. It’s an amazing adaptation, though I didn’t know it until I read the comics as well.

What I Read

I’ll keep a lot of this brief, for a couple reasons. There’s a lot, and I can group a bunch of it together.

On the manga front, I was the most successful. I managed to get through volumes 2-4 of Bloom into You by Nio Nakatani, which I’ve talked about in some of my Reading Rush wrap ups. I also read Sword Art Online Progressive volumes 1-2 by Reki Kawahara (the manga version). This was also good, and also from Reading Rush. Finally, there was Our Wonderful Days volume 1 by Kei Hamuro, which is kinda like Bloom into You, which makes it amazing.

For novels, the best one I read all month was This Coven Won’t Break by Isabel Sterling, which is lesbian witches in modern Salem. Yay! The other novels I read were right before or during the Reading Rush, and all were disappointing in their own right. Those were Girls Save the World in This One by Ash Parsons, Redemption Prep by Samuel Miller, and Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes

The final thing I read this month was in response to finally watching The Old Guard on Netflix. I read all the graphic novels for the series, The Old Guard #1-5 and The Old Guard: Force Multiplied by Greg Rucka. While I enjoyed them, and enjoyed the film, I think this is another case of me liking the film more. I did enjoy the graphic novels, no joke. I just liked the film a tad bit more.

What I Played

This month was a very Lego heavy month. I beat Lego Batman 3 (thankfully), started and 100%-ed Lego The Hobbit (UUUUGH), and started Lego Dimensions. Batman just took too long, and the Lantern Planets give me a headache. Hobbit is annoying for it’s nightmare of a red brick system, which makes me scream and cry when things drive me bonkers.

As for Dimensions… it just a humongous game. I have already beat the main 14 levels (Gary Oldman plays the villain, and he’s amazing!). I have 1 of the 28 “extra” levels taken care of, and four out of thirty Adventure Worlds completed. So… that’s about 20% of the game. No seriously, I have 200 gold bricks exactly… out of 1016. This will take me all of August to finish.

Besides Lego, I also played a couple of random, terrible vaporware PSN games that I don’t want to even give a name, except for The Unicorn Princess, because that belongs in the fiery pits of Hell. I swear. Kill this game with acid baths.

Summary

Basically, July was a month that is now over. I read a lot, watched something amazing, and played enough Lego. I’m actively trying to do more with August, which hopefully will be seen more soon. I’ll have more content going up on my Instagram soon, as well as here. Oh, and perhaps Twitch, if my computer decides to stop being annoying with streaming…

Until next time!