Tag: 9-1-1

The 118 Discord Bingo 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.

Thanks so much for your understanding.

My first attempt at doing a writing bingo, and it went… pretty well, actually.

Last year, when I got into the 9-1-1 fandom, and onto the 118 Discord, I signed up for the bingo they were hosting on a whim. I picked a 5×5 card, which included 25 prompts (including the free space) and figured that I’d have no trouble finishing it.

Yeah, I’ll never make that mistake again.

I ended up finishing 21 out of 25 fics, which I’m really proud of. Some were short, some were long, some I thought of while half asleep, while others took weeks for me to make work. It was a challenge in every sense of the word. But let’s dive into it.

For context, the Bingo started in April 2021 (I think). I got my card in June or July, and it officially finished January 31, 2022.

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 bingo, I wrote 21 fics between September 4th (when I remembered I’d signed up for this challenge) and January 31st.

My total word count for the event was 27,239 words, focused on 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star, with no crossovers with other fandoms.

As it’s been a few 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

By far my most popular Bingo fic, “Back in Class (to Protect Those I Love)” was something that I had been quietly working on for a while. I wanted to do a “5+1” style fic, and this was something I thought was plausible. This is also one of my favorite fics I wrote last year, hands down. There’s just something about it that makes me smile when I read through it. If there is just one bingo fic you want to flip through, make it this one. (I could gush about this fic for days if I wanted to, but I’m trying to keep this relatively short. You’re welcome! :P)

“Doze the Afternoon Away” was the first bingo square I filled. It’s also probably one of the softest and fluffiest. It’s just calm and quiet and I even wrote it from Hen’s point of view. I don’t have too much to say about it, except that it’s just a quick blink and you miss it type of fic. I like it.

“Trauma Takes Many Forms” was a look at post traumatic stress disorder and triggers, all in under a thousand words. Writing from Eddie’s point of view is always hard, but this… this ended up being one of the fastest prompt fills I did, if I remember right. It’s one I wrote to show that trauma can be remembered in a myriad of ways, and can affect someone’s normal life without even realizing it.

Most Popular by Kudos

I’ve already talked about ““Back in Class (to Protect Those I Love),” “Doze the Afternoon Away,” and “Trauma Takes Many Forms.”

“Paint Fight” was just pure fun. I love fics that are moments in time, where there isn’t any trauma or drama, just good happy fun. And this one… it’s just one of those that I reread when I need a pick me up.

Okay, there’s a story behind “Dancing Past and Future.” It all came about because the Discord watched MindGamers and Step Up: Revolution back to back. Suddenly I had a terrible idea, but it actually worked and I was so glad that the person I gifted it to enjoyed it. It’s a fun little play on the actors’ careers prior to 9-1-1. It didn’t go exactly as planned, but it came out alright in the end.

“Firefighting… Gamers?” was a total joke. I wrote it after getting prompted, and it’s based on the game Animal Crossing New Horizons (which… well, I’ll have a post about that one of these days). Anyway, I just wanted to do something humorous, and this worked well in my opinion.

Most Popular by Comments

I’ve already talked about ““Back in Class (to Protect Those I Love)”,” “Firefighting… Gamers?,” “Doze the Afternoon Away,” “Dancing Past and Future,” “Trauma Takes Many Forms,” and “Paint Fight.”

“Returning the Favor” is another Audie the dog fic. I wanted to have Dad!Bobby, and I randomly decided that having Buck be minorly hurt worked well for the story. Audie is a very sassy sarcastic dog, and I actually wrote one of my favorite lines for this fic, I swear. It was well worth it to me.

So, I wrote “Frozen Hearts Still Beat” with the thought that the “Gwyn is dead/going to die theory” was a possibility after 3×03. Of course, I ended up right four episodes later. This one is one I’m pretty proud of, though it didn’t get the love I wanted it to get. But I really think I captured Carlos’ broken emotions of seeing the man he loves unconscious in the hospital.

“The Beautiful Aurora” is one of those fics that I just decided to do. I wanted to expand on the final scene of Tarlos in 1×10. It’s pretty short and there’s really not a lot for me to say about it, honestly. It just happened to work for what I needed.

Most Popular by Bookmarks

I’ve already talked about “Back in Class (to Protect Those I Love)”,” “Doze the Afternoon Away,” “Dancing Past and Future,” “Returning the Favor,” “Paint Fight,” and “Firefighting… Gamers?”

“Wedding Bells (Visit Hell)” was a fic that I came up with on a whim, and it happened to fit with one of the bingo prompts. I decided to jump on the “Diaz parents suck” trend with this, but I did have a little bit of fun with it. It kinda ran away from me, but I did enjoy it.

“Christmas Postcards” was something that I’d been thinking about a lot. Buck sent a postcard to Maddie during his probie year, before she escaped Doug and joined him in LA. But who took the photo? That’s what I wanted to explore, and I think it came out pretty well in the end.

“Rainy Day Shopping” is just a quick little weird fic that I didn’t particularly like writing. I tied it into Advent, but I just wasn’t particularly happy with it. It happens.

Most Popular by Length

I’ve already talked about “Back in Class (to Protect Those I Love),” “Returning the Favor,” “Wedding Bells (Visit Hell),” “Dancing Past and Future,” and “Christmas Postcards.” Seeing a pattern yet?

“The 118 Wordle Competition” was a funny little fic that I wrote because of the Wordle craze. It blossomed into a post-5×10 fic. I had a bit of fun with this. It didn’t get much of a glance from people, but I don’t mind. It was the final Bingo fic I wrote.

“Summerville Tales” was an attempt to write an Alternate Universe fic, featuring both 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star in a small town setting. It was a fun little experiment that I may or may not return to. The drive isn’t there (and the person who initially sparked it isn’t someone I want to speak to right now…). But I may jump back into it at some point.

I blasted out “A Veteran Talk” in about two hours, wanting to get the plot that popped into my head down on paper. I wanted to do a fic that touched on Eddie’s status as a veteran, which isn’t something that often gets touched up in this fandom. It unfortunately was posted late on Veterans Day and was pretty much ignored. I’m not bitter about it, just disappointed.

My Favorites That Didn’t Get a Mention

I had a good deal of fun writing “Quite the Bell Ringer,” as it was just a “firefam” meetup fic. It wasn’t anything special, but I enjoyed it. I’m not surprised it didn’t really hit anyone’s radar, honestly. I just thought it was fun to write, and it was a cute way to write this prompt.

Wrap Up

For my first actual Bingo, I think I was pretty successful. I finished 21 out of 25 prompts, which was honestly more than what most people wrote, as most people chose a 3×3 card, something I didn’t take into consideration when I picked up this challenge. In the future, when the 118 Discord hosts this again (because apparently they will be?), I’ll be sure to only pick a 3×3 card, if only for my sanity. (August 2022 Edit: This will not be happening, see the note above.)

I managed to get seven bingos, two horizontal, two vertical, both diagonals, and the four corners. The four prompts I didn’t get to do were Detective AU, Lifeguard AU, Soulmate AU, and Meet Ugly.

I’m glad that I took part in this challenge, but I’m also glad that it’s done. Mostly because I got hit by burnout after doing this, Whumptober, Advent, and Febuwhump back to back.

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 9-1-1 Bingo 2021” series. They are all in prompt order. (August 2022 edit: The collection has been deleted. If you would like to know which fics are bingo fics, please look at the first comment below. I’ve listed them out in order. Thank you!)

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!

Whumptober Wrap Up – Blogmas 2021

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

September 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.

Thanks so much for your understanding.

This has taken me an extra five weeks to do… because HOLY SHIT.

When I decided to do Whumptober back in September, I figured it would go the way of Febuwhump. I would be good for about half the month, then taper off and be behind until early December, if I was lucky. But the 118 Discord was absolutely amazing and inspiring, and wow, did I get shit done. In fact, I finished writing everything several days early!

So, my plan is to break this down in a few different ways. I’m not going to talk about every fic that I ended up writing for the challenge, but I will hit on a few that became my favorites. Trust me, there’s a bit to get through.

Challenge Comparison

Before we get into the Whumptober data, I wanted to actually compare it to Febuwhump. Both were month long challenges, but wow did things go differently.

During Febuwhump, I wrote 28 fics between February 1st and May 9th. During Whumptober, I posted 31 fics between October 1st to the 31st. (Technically, I started writing in early September, but the posting dates are what counted.)

My total word count for Febuwhump was 30,373 words, focused primarily around The Old Guard, with several crossovers with Criminal Minds.

My total word count for Whumptober was 41,922 words, primarily focused in the 9-1-1 fandom, though I did cross over with 9-1-1: Lone Star, Digimon, Sword Art Online, The Old Guard, and Criminal Minds.

Now, I will point out that the 9-1-1 fandom is much larger than The Old Guard fandom, which explains why my total hits and kudos are so skewed towards the former. But it is interesting to see that I wrote over 11000 words more, with only three extra days to show for it. But I’m not too surprised.

Most Popular by Hits

The most popular fic I wrote during the month by far is actually one that I’m not happy about. I wrote a fic for day five called “Two Directions,” which is an Anti-Ana fic. Now, I wrote it prior to the premier of the latest season of the show, when the character Ana Flores was nothing more than a cardboard cutout of a character. By the time the day came around to post it, it was the day after the third episode, where Eddie breaks up with her. Now, the fic itself doesn’t exactly paint her in the best light (though it’s nowhere near as mean as several that I’ve read in the fandom). But I’m not exactly proud that I wrote it the way I did. I ended up putting a pretty detailed note at the beginning explaining my intentions with the fic, and how it was written early. I’m glad it was popular, but it’s not one of my favorites.

The next three on the list for top hits are all within about a hundred hits of each other. “Rude Wake Up Call” was written for day two, and it’s the shortest fics I ended up writing, as I was still getting back into really writing. This one is one that I actually enjoyed writing, and it’s one that will soon (hopefully) get a second chapter.

“Maybe He Should Skip Leg Day” was a fun one from day ten, that I really enjoyed figuring out how to make work. I really enjoyed the narrative behind this one, without even trying. I think I wrote this in about two hours? And it worked, without too much trouble. I also did a good deal of research with this one to make it at least semi accurate. Did I succeed? I think so.

And of course, let’s not forget about “The Most Valuable Collectable” from day twenty eight. But I’m going to wait to really talk about that one.

The fifth fic on this list was one that I never expected to get so damn long, but it did. When I started day twenty three’s “Taking Something Precious,” I figured it would be maybe just over a thousand words. I didn’t think I would nearly hit three thousand, with plans for another chapter. I also wasn’t planning on writing SEAL!Buck, but that’s what happened. It was absolutely crazy, and I have to thank the Discord for encouraging me to finish it once I realized where it was going. This one is a ride, and I really want to hop back on.

Most Popular by Kudos

The top two fics for this category were “Maybe He Should Skip Leg Day” and “Taking Something Precious.” Since I already mentioned them, I’m going to move past them.

When I was writing “The Most Valuable Collectable,” I’ll be totally honest, I ended up scrapping it and restarting. I realized the way I wrote the villain was wrong, and would present a commentary that I wasn’t comfortable with. I ended up changing it, and it mostly worked, though I think if I had some more time, I would have done things a little (okay, a lot) differently.

The night before I posted day twenty nine’s “Seventy Hours, and A Moment More,” I felt like something was missing from it. So I jumped into a couple sprints on the discord… and added nearly 1500 words and an entire subplot. What had been this simple little fic expanded into something else, and I’m really happy about it. It was worth all the extra trouble I ended up going through in editing.

“‘No’ is a Complete Sentence” from day seventeen ended up being one of the most talked about fics, both on AO3 and on Discord. Apparently me leaving it where I did was a problem? I have the second chapter mostly written, I just need to sit down and finish the thing. I want May to be strong, instead of some weak character that many of the people in the comments kept portraying her as. This one is one of my favorites, BTW.

Most Popular by Comments

The top fic for this category was “‘No’ Is a Complete Sentence.”

I wasn’t exactly happy with day four’s “Do You See Me?” So much so that I’m considering adding a second part. It deals with a scene from one of the second season episodes, and it’s something that I really thought was going to happen (congrats writers, you got me). But I’ve read someone else’s take on the scene, and it was far better then my own. This is life.

“Left Behind” from day six was… personal. Something that wasn’t addressed in the show was exactly what happened between the end of season two, and the beginning of season three, primarily focused on Buck. When I first saw the show, I assumed that the 118 had his back the entire time that Buck was on medical leave, but I’m not entirely sure that was the case. When I wrote this one, I was pretty stubborn. (My thoughts on this have changed a bit more since writing this fic, and it’s something I want to talk about in a full post one of these days.)

Two fics ended up tied for the fourth position on the list. One I’ve already talked about (“Taking Something Precious”). The other…

When I started brainstorming the prompts for Whumptober, day twenty two was one of the first I came up with. “Hiding Behind a Screen” was inspired by another fic, but I took it in a different direction. I was never a fan of Abby in the show, especially of how her relationship with Buck was shown. When it came to this fic, I thought about it, and her reaction during the final episode of season one. It’s, not very nice to her, but I really did enjoy writing it.

Most Popular by Bookmarks

I’ve already discussed every fic on this top five! They are: “Seventy Hours, and A Moment More,” “Taking Something Precious,” “Maybe He Should Skip Leg Day,” “‘No’ is a Complete Sentence,” and “Left Behind.”

Length

Two fics in this category were already mentioned: “Taking Something Precious” and “Seventy Hours, and a Moment More.”

Alright, the first one is kinda cheating, because I did just write the second chapter. But I’m counting it, because I posted it on my birthday. Day twelve’s “I’m Begging You (to Come Back to Us)” is a crossover fic, one of like six I wrote for this challenge. I had a random thought one night on the Discord, and this idea popped in my head and wouldn’t leave. What if Buck decided to play a video game from Japan, and ended up trapped in it. Thanks, Sword Art Online, for not getting out of my head. While it didn’t end up popular, it was actually kinda fun to write a character that had interactions with the main characters of SAO, without actually talking to them. Outsider POV was fun to do in those scenes!

“Just Keep Swimming (Until the End of Time)” from day eleven was a labor of love, because I had to publish a fic before this, which I barely managed to do before Whumptober started. This was the biggest crossover I did, as I tied 9-1-1 into my Immortal Genius series. Having to writing about drowning was… terrifying. I had a plan originally, but someone ended up writing something to that effect, so I had to move it. It’s a whole thing. But I loved this one, and I really want to jump back into this world.

Prior to Whumptober, Sadie from the Discord and I both wrote 9-1-1/Digimon fics in celebration of Odaiba Day. I ended up using day three as the sequel to that fic, and I loved it. “Unwelcome Guests” features more Digimon as well as problematic parents. I had way too much fun thinking about how the different characters would react to Digimon, and it was worth it. This had actually been requested, and there will be a third fic to go with this… someday. That will hopefully feature more of the 118.

My Favorites That Didn’t Get a Mention

These last five are the ones that I really think deserved some more love, because I’m proud of them.

“Gettin’ Taken For a Ride” was a funny but serious take on kidnapping. I trapped Buck inside a trunk and sent him over a cliff. No, that’s not a joke. It ended up being one of my favorites, because I added in the surprise villain in the last paragraphs. This one will be betting a follow up for sure.

Okay, “Revenge, Just Add a Cactus” is seriously just a fic I wrote to tease the hell out of SadieYuki. She has had a tag on AO3 that is “Chase Mackey can Suck a Cactus”, and I just couldn’t help it. The damn thing wrote itself. I wrote most of it in like an hour, and laughed my way through every moment.

“Just a Little Nick” was my required response to Buck getting cut while on blood thinners. This one… I just kinda ran with it. I’m not too happy with it, because it’s been done before, but I got to throw in a joke to Eddie’s cooking. Or lack there of. Speaking of which…

“Cooking is a Public Health Hazard” was my ‘kitchen scene’. Basically, in 5×03, Ana leaves Eddie’s kitchen looking like a bomb went off. It’s insanity to see, if you haven’t. Most of the fandom wrote scenes that made fun of it. I… had a lot of fun writing this one, mostly because the excuses some of the fandom gave pissed me the hell off.

And finally, “Here’s to California Beaches” is my first attempt at writing what the 118 Discord called the pairing “Four Alarm Fire”. Basically, it’s the pairing of Buck/Eddie/TK/Carlos. Together in a poly relationship. I wrote it as pre-4AF, and I had fun with it. Plus I threw in a joke from when I was growing up…

Wrap Up

It’s hard to wrap up 31 fics, especially ones that I really loved working on. This is just a decent sampling of what I wrote, but there are others that are also available on my AO3 page. I’m really happy with how this all came out. In a way, it proved that I can write, and I can write a lot. I felt so good by the end, and I can’t wait to work on more. (Which I’m doing this month).

I hope you enjoyed this wrap up! I’ll absolutely be doing another one at the end of the 118 Advent. (September 2022 edit: Per note above, I will not be participating in any sort of fandom event set up by the 118 Discord. This statement had been stricken through to reflect this.)

Until next time!

Whumptober is Coming!

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Remember back in February when I took part in Febuwhump, and I didn’t finish until May? It was 28 fics, and I think I completely about 23 before the end of February, and the got some burned out I dragged myself to finish three months later. All were focused around The Old Guard, and I’m still proud of how much I wrote.

Well, I was thinking back to that time not too long ago, and I figured out why I burned out so much, and so quickly. It’s very simple, actually. I was trying to write every prompt on the day it needed to be posted.

By that, I mean that every morning, I’d get up, so my morning routine, and plant myself in front of the computer to write a fic. There was no real planning ahead, no writing ahead, just daily writing.

And I remember how burned out I got. I just didn’t want to do it anymore, but people in the TOG community were cheering us on, and I wanted to complete it for them.

Well.

After that, and all the stress I put myself under, I told myself never again. No big challenges, no bingos, no big bangs. Just writing when I felt like it. And for the rest of spring and all of summer, I stuck to that.

Until.

I was over on the 118 Discord (the 9-1-1 Discord I’m on) when one of the more prolific and well known writers in the community started talking her plans for October. She mentioned that she was debating between Flufftoper, Whumptober, and Kinktober, and she was jumping between the three. This started a major conversation, that started with an explanation of what each event was.

Flufftoper is basically 31 “fluffy” fics in October. By fluff, it means light and soft, no pain or injury or main character death. Just… happy thoughts.

Whumptober is somewhat obvious, I’d you were around my blog in February when I announced I was doing Febuwhump. Basically, it’s the bad stuff. Nothing’s really off limits. The prompts can be taken in lots of directions.

Speaking of taken, Kinktober is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a month of writing NSFW fics. Yeah. That’s it.

Anyway, we all really got talking, and I ended up getting convinced to take part in one of the two options I’d actually entertain (the third was Kinktober. I’m just no good writing NSFW stuff.

So, I did. I committed. I kept checking Tumblr and Discord to see if the prompts, mostly because I wanted to write them down and make everything pretty. It’s not like I could pre-write or anything. No, not at all.

As of today, it’s September 15th. I’ve already have seven of the prompts completed, with one mostly done and one in bullet point form (which is how I plan stories out). My goal is to be at least halfway done by the time October begins, which is a definite possibility. I also challenged myself (again) to try and do one fandom the entire way through. Thus far, it’s worked!

I came up with a fun way to pick my prompts, by the way. I wrote the numbers 1-31 on tiny squares of paper, folded them up, and stuck them in a jar. Every time I finish a fic, I pull a new one. If I don’t have a plot already planned for that number (of which there are a few that I haven’t come up with yet), I put it to the side and pick again until I find one that I can do. Then any “duds” go back in. I know which ones I’m still coming up with prompts for, and I’m actively thinking about them, even when I’m working on a prompt.

So, yeah. In addition to Blogtober, which is when I write a post every day, I’m also going to be doing Whumptober. The stress is real.

Until next time! (Wish me luck!)

As If September Needed to Be Busier…

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I’m enjoying my September Challenge (see post from September 1st). I’ve been doing some writing, I’ve actually started using Tiktok, I’m about 60% through Lego Hobbit…

I didn’t need two major companies announcing fan shows. I’m busy this month, damn it!

Okay, let’s break this down.

There are two major events being geared towards fans of two different companies. Both enternainment companies. Both of whom I’m currently watching show for.

One of the is “Fox TV Fan Hub,” which will air for four hours on September 15th, starting at 3PM PST. Apparently it’s going to be jam packed with previews and sneak peeks of some of the shows that are currently airing on Fox, including my current favorites 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star. Speaking of Lone Star, one of the stars of the show, Ronen Rubinstein will be playing host, hosting conversations with fan favorite stars from their shows.

Because I’m me, I of course volunteered to watch the whole event, taking notes on any of the shows that my friends over on Discord are currently watching (of course, my focus is my firefighting shows). I also was lucky enough win one of the prize packs for signing up early enough, so I’ll have that breakdown (likely on TikTok) later on.

I’m actually looking forward to this event! Four hours is a good deal of time. If it’s split evenly amongst the shows, each show should get to shine for about twenty minutes, but of course this is up in the air. They haven’t released a schedule as of yet.

The other event that I’m going to be watching is called “TUDUM,” hosted by Netflix. This is taking place on September 25th, started at 9AM PST, though the preshow starts at like 5AM (which I will not be watching). This is the event I’m more hesitant for.

It’s scheduled to be a three hour event, which I would be happy about, except for two major reasons. The Old Guard fandom got burned badly by Geeked Week (also hosted by Netflix earlier this year), even though it had a presence in the original press release and end-of-show sizzle reel. The other thing is that yes, three hours is a long time, but there are over 70 properties currently set to have a moment at the show. If everything gets the same amount of time, that’s approximately two and a half minutes per property. However, which what I know about Netflix, they’re going to push certain properties, which translates to Stranger Things and The Witcher.

I’m absolutely going to watch, because I’m a glutton for punishment, and I’m here to represent The Old Guard in any way I can. Heck, I’m one of several people on Twitter still badgering Netflix about the film on a semi-regular basis.

All in all, it’s not like I needed to take part in both of these events, but here I am. The countdown begins.

Until next time!

A Funny Thing about Finales…

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Before we start: If you haven’t read my post about trailers, you might want to before reading this post. I’m gonna be hitting on some of the things I touch upon in that post. Also, if you haven’t watch 9-1-1 Season Four Episode Fourteen “Survivors” (or the previous episode), do not read. I’m going full on spoilers here.

So. Let’s talk finales.

TV finales are hard. There’s a lot to think about before writing the final act of the season. Has the show been renewed? Or is it on the bubble. Should it be a two part finale, split with the season break? Or maybe have the arc last a few episodes, and end during the finale. What characters should be featured? Who can be safely set aside with a smaller role?

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg that showrunners and writers have to come up with.

Over my many years, I’ve seen some spectacular finales. Ones that leave the viewer on the edge of their seat from May to September, begging for more. An amazing example would be “To Hell…” and “…And Back” from season four of Criminal Minds, which ended on a cliffhanger, leading directly into the season five opener “Nameless, Faceless.” A two episode case that sets up so much, then a shock ending, leading to a crazy but incidental case in the premier that leave characters in a much different state then they had been only twenty four hours previous.

Those three episodes left a mark on me, and I didn’t even watch them live. I got into Criminal Minds late in Season Five, so long after this moment. But even though I didn’t have to experience that three-four month wait for the conclusion to the story, it still shook me.

This type of finale works when the producers know they already are assured for a new season. They could safely leave a cliffhanger, to ramp up emotions for the fans.

But I’ve also seen it backfire.

When I was young, my favorite cartoon was Super Robot Monkey Team HyperForce Go, over on Disney XD. It was an animated show that took heavy inspiration from various anime and sentai shows out of Japan. The first season was one that was pretty episodic, where you could tune in and not have a problem, excluding the rare two-parter. Even season two, where storylines would stretch beyond a single episode, it was still possible to treat it like most American after school cartoons. Season three and four have massive season spanning storylines, where each episode primarily connects to the previous. And that worked! Mostly. The creator decided to end season four with a massive cliffhanger, showing the main cast of heroes preparing to team up with heroes from across the galaxy to stop the evil villains (I’m being vague as possible, go give the show a watch on Disney+.) It’s a scene that now reminds me of the massive Avengers shot in Endgame.

But the gamble didn’t pay off. The show was surprisingly and quietly canceled after season four. No ending, no summary of what happens next. The finale was a massive build up with no pay off. Thanks Disney.

And that shows the dangers of writing finales. They are hard to nail.

Last night, I went into the 9-1-1 Season Four finale with that thought in my head. I’ve talked about how fast I watched the show to catch up to this point. I’ve seen three finales at this point.

  • The Season One finale felt like a regular episode. There were some plot threads tied up, but really nothing was left at stake. It wasn’t really a showstopper, just a good end point for the season.
  • The Season Two finale was amazing. It tied into the previous episode, but not in a heavy handed way. Buck is heavily injured due to a bomb exploding under the ladder truck he is on, and his place with the LAFD is left in jeopardy due to those injuries. On top of that Eddie is left with the question to return to El Paso (where his family is) in the aftermath of his estranged wife’s death. Both of these plotlines tie into the Season Three Premiere (which in itself becomes three episodes).
  • The Season Three finale is a major bookend episode, with a lot of plotlines both started and ended. Buck (finally) gets closure with Abby, even if I feel like Abby still did that boy dirty. Maddie finds out she’s pregnant. Michael’s health is on the mend. Athena deals with the aftermath of being attacked in the previous episode, but comes out stronger (a plotline that S4 deals with). There are some fun little plotlines set up…

And then the world ended.

Remember when I said finales are hard? I feel for the writers across every scripted show this season. Since 9-1-1 is set in the real world (for the most part), the writers chose to address the pandemic during Season Four. Some of the plotlines from Season Three were dropped or placed on hold (Christopher’s camp is quickly canceled, May defers from college for a year and is working at the 9-1-1 call center). Maddie’s pregnancy storyline is a major feature for the character, but it also sets the timeline in a tailspin (there’s a month discrepancy). Chimney has his loyalties tested between Maddie and the firehouse, especially Buck.

Oh, and there’s Hen’s med school plotline, that is probably one of the weirder choices this year, but it fits. And Eddie… exists? He really doesn’t have much this season besides a budding romance that the fans decidedly do not want. (No seriously, check Tumblr. Or AO3. It’s frankly hilarious.) Bobby and Athena seem to be fine, then suddenly there’s a fight and cracks in their relationship, and I feel like with four more episodes this would have been a more solid storyline.

And then there’s Buck. Buck, who is the heart of the team. The one to put himself in danger. The one who acts first, does the dumb, get’s yelled at, then does it again. Because he’s Buck. He finally starts therapy, which is a major thing for the character. He tries to date someone (that doesn’t work, and it’s a plotline that deserves to be forgotten). His apartment becomes the home to his team at the 118 (besides Bobby) during the height of the LA lockdowns, which means his safe space is basically gone. Buck does solidify himself as a major person in Christopher’s life, which helps when Eddie missteps with his new relationship. And the viewers got to finally get some backstory on Buck, besides the few little tidbits he’s dropped before, when he finally got his “Begins” episode, though I did feel it was a little too focused on Maddie. By 4×13, I kinda felt like Buck was finally finding his footing in his life.

And then Eddie got shot in front of him. That’s how then ended 4×13.

So, let’s talk the finale. Buck literally drags Eddie underneath the 133’s ladder truck to keep him safe from the bullets raining down on them from the sniper. He helps keep him from bleeding out (and to the fan’s happiness, finally calls him “Eds,” which has been a fanon nickname for a while now). Eddie survives surgery (yay!) and spends most of the episode either unconscious or drugged. Side note, make Ryan Guzman act doped up more often, because it was kinda hilarious. Also, his girlfriend gets like one line and less than a minute of screen time. I have a feeling that she’s not sticking around for too much longer. (An Instagram post from Ana’s actress also seems to imply this, but take that as a grain of salt.)

While at the hospital, another firefighter is brought in, and there is talk that there is a serial sniper taking aim at the LAFD. So, to protect both the public and the firefighters, the LAFD will be wearing Kevlar vests and be surrounded by SWAT when on calls. And for some reason, no one thinks to send a traumatized Buck home. Seriously, it is very clear he is not okay. And damn it, his breakdown after telling Christopher that his Dad wasn’t coming home that night was heartbreaking. For proof of the fact that Buck had no business working, I point to the scene where the victim is at the top of a massive crane (you know, the type that helps build skyscrapers). There’s no cover for them to safely climb until the LAPD sweeps all the surrounding buildings. While Bobby is speaking to the SWAT captain, Buck grabs what is needed for the rescue and begins one of the scariest rescues I’ve seen on this show yet. It’s shown that there are several points where he could have been shot. He’s borderline suicidal at this point. But no, “Buck’s gonna Buck.” That’s the 118’s takeaway. He gets a pathetic verbal reprimand from Bobby, and I’m sorry, but I was not happy with it. (I’m planning on doing a post about Buck in the coming days. I have things I want to say.)

By the end of the episode, the team is called to a burning building by the sniper, because of course he wants to go out in a blaze of glory. Bobby is shot, and Athena gets to play hero and save him, while keeping Buck from helping her (hilarious, guys). All is well. Eddie finally tells Buck that he changed his will following his near death in Season Three (well collapse, his “Begins” episode, which had the same director) and if Eddie should die, Buck would be Christopher’s legal guardian. Also, he calls him Evan. And then we are treated to every family group coming together, including a party for the released Eddie (with bonus appearances from Eddie’s Abuela, Ana (who gets the same type kiss as Abuela) and Taylor, who is with Buck now. It’s a thing.), Bobby and Athena sit down to a family dinner with Athena’s kids and Michael and David, and Hen and her wife Karen share a picnic with their former foster daughter and her mother after meeting them at the part coincidentally.

There’s a few plotlines that got really buried during the episode, including more hints to Maddie’s postpartum depression with leads her to quit her job (apparently this will be a storyline that will tie into Season Five in September). There’s also the start of Buck and Taylor’s relationship, which I’m not a fan of. I think they are amazing at being friends, but I really feel like Taylor did Buck a little wrong in this episode. She puts up walls which Buck respects, then tears them down and kisses him, then runs. He doesn’t follow (remember the walls?) and instead heads to Eddie’s bedside, as he’s just woken up. At the end of the episode, Taylor arrives at Buck’s apartment and calls him on not running after her. When he says flat out that he’s done chasing after people, she kisses him again and stays with him. It just doesn’t really fit.

All in all, it was a solid finale. Sure, the sniper plotline kinda fell flat. And there were a couple lines that I’m not a huge fan of. But I’d give it a solid 8/10. At least on par with Seasons Two and Three. Heck, it’s better than most of the season finales I’ve seen in recent years (up to and including Supernatural. And Locke and Key, which is a fun show on Netflix with a terrible S1 finale).

Like I said, finales are hard. You’re tying up loose ends while also leaving some dangling for the next season. You have to make it satisfactory for everyone, especially if you’re not leaving the season with a cliffhanger. This one worked. And I’m happy with it.

And now I get to spend the next four months waiting for September. Thanks guys. XD

Until next time!

A Funny Thing About Trailers…

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been getting a real kick out of the 9-1-1 fandom.

Don’t get me wrong, like 90% of the people tweeting about the show are hilarious. But it’s been a real trip the last few days, ever since the trailer for tonight’s episode dropped.

Let me quickly, briefly, and badly summarize it. The trailer shows the team helping a woman with a child. There’s a brief shot of Eddie’s girlfriend Ana, and then “the scene”. It’s implied that a main character get’s shot by a sniper.

The camera focuses on Eddie right before the sound of a gunshot. The call for “firefighter down” is heard from the captain of the 133.

So, why does this make me laugh? It’s simple. Trailers are designed to entice someone to watch whatever they are advertising. A bad trailer can cause a decline in projected sales or viewership.

But the thing is, trailers, especially trailers for TV shows, are designed to hook someone. And they lie. A lot.

Take the last episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star. There’s a shot in the trailer that shows Carlos in his apartment at the top of the stairs, calling for TK as flames fill the area. The way the shot is framed, it looks to imply that TK is downstairs in the living area, where the fire is.

In reality, TK and Carlos were having a moment in bed (ok, they were on their way to second base) before TK smelled the smoke. Carlos beat him to the top of the stairs by about a second. TK quickly pulled him back into the bedroom as there wasn’t a safe way downstairs.

See what I mean? The trailer was meant to make the viewer worried for TK’s safety, as if he was in the middle of the firestorm that was their living room. In reality, they were both upstairs.

The same can be said for most movie trailers, as they are meant to sell the basics of the story without giving away major plot points or the ending of the film. Of course, some marketing companies seem to have forgotten that in recent years… as I’ve lost count of how many times I see a trailer and it basically shows the entire movie. In all honestly, I’ve stopped watching most trailers at this point for exactly that reason.

The reason I bring up trailers is because the reaction to the 9-1-1 episode trailer has been fierce. I’ve lost count of the amount of people that have written fics saying that Eddie gets shot. Or Buck, who is on the street as well, in normal clothes instead of his uniform. Or both of them.

The thing is, I can almost guarantee that tonight’s episode will go one of two ways with this. One: we’ll get the gunshot and “firefighter down” without seeing who it is, then do a time jump to before. Or two: this lovely plot point will be a cliffhanger ending for the episode, leading into the finale.

I’m leaning towards option two.

Do I want anyone to actually get shot? Ok, look. Let’s not look at my AO3 History, got it. But seriously, no, not really. Is it going to happen? Probably.

Is this what breaks up Eddie and Ana, because there’s no possible way she’ll be strong enough to deal with her boyfriend being injured and not just a “hot firefighter”? God I wish, but the show already went that route in season one with Chimney and his ex Tatiana after the rebar to the skull incident, as well as Buck and Ali, who left him in the season two finale after the firetruck explosion. (Tatiana broke it off before Chim was released from the hospital, while Ali at least waited until Buck was home before talking it out and leaving.) Honestly, I’d be okay with either option. Or if they break up before the shooting.

… Look, I just don’t like Ana’s character, ok? And I wasn’t exactly happy when she popped up in the trailer. She’s a two dimensional character that has no personality and only exists to be a love interest. She’s made ablest comments to Eddie’s son previously. She doesn’t seem to realize that dating Eddie could be an ethics violation. She and Eddie have no chemistry. (I have nothing against Ana’s actress, to be firm. She’s fine. She just have NOTHING to work it. Honestly, I feel for her, because the entire fandom is up in arms about this. Luckily, no one is directing it her way, because it’s not her fault. But still.)

But back to trailers.

I’m hoping that there’s gonna be a surprise ending. Like someone we don’t know getting shot. Or the wound is minor. Or something. It’s leading into the season finale, and the show has some big shoes to fill. Season One’s ending didn’t have an explosive ending, just upheaval, with Abby leaving (and going on to ghost) Buck, but also Bobby finally moving forward with Athena. Then there’s Season Two, with the aforementioned firetruck bombing, and the fallout of Buck’s injury. Hell, Season Two also opened with an earthquake, which sets the stage for a pattern that is followed in the next season (natural disaster start, catastrophic accident at the end… oh.). Season Three opened with the Tsunami, which has a major effect on the 118 (Buck and Christopher are in the damn thing, and then Christopher get’s swept away from Buck, it’s a whole thing. Chris is fine, though. He’s a national treasure.) and ended with a horrific train derailment, and the return of Abby (and fucking closure for Buck.)

There is a pattern. Shit.

… Eddie’s getting shot.

Buck is his best friend. They are practically co-parents to Christopher. They’ve been partners since day two. (Day one, Buck was jealous of Eddie. It’s a whole thing. He got over it.)

…

Hey trailer guy? If this is right, I’m gonna cry.

(That moment when you start putting two and two together. Lovely. I’m rambling, and derailing. I’m gonna go sit in front of the TV now. It’s almost time.)

Until next time!

What I’ve Been Watching

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I wasn’t a real fan with how I did my “January Wrap Up” post. It just felt… hollow, or at least devoid of emotion. It was just statistics. And that’s not me. So instead, I’m gonna change it up a little bit.

I wanna focus this month of what I’ve been watching.

Movies

I’m starting with movies because of one very good reason: I have only watched two movies in the past few weeks. One was a rewatch, and the other was something entirely new to me.

The “new” film was the 2016 film Hidden Figures. When the film originally released, both my mom and I wanted to see it, but our schedules never lined up to actually go. Then we made the decision to move, and if it wasn’t a Marvel film, we were saving the money by not going to the theater. By the time we got settled in California, I was checking streaming services almost monthly to see if it was out. And finally, it appeared on Disney+.

We both really enjoyed it! My mom is much more of a history buff than I am, and she was pleasantly surprised about how much was actually accurate. I really enjoyed how they presented the story without making it feel like it was being shoehorned down my throat. It was a very honest and well written movie, and I cannot recommend it enough.

As for our rewatch… After finishing a certain show I’ll be talking about later, I made the decision that I wanted to start at the beginning. So, the other night, I convinced Mom that we needed to rewatch the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning. We were going to go in timeline order, but then it was decided that we also had to watch the credit scenes, so we’re following release order. And wow, I’d forgotten just how much Tony Stark had changed from his first appearance in Iron Man. But wow, does this film (mostly) hold up. I kept on having to remind myself that yes, this was 2008, no not everyone would have the smartphones of today. But wow, Rhodey’s flip phone made me laugh, especially when remembering Infinity War. Because reasons.

If anyone is curious, I’m not planning on chronicling every MCU film we watch. But we are planning on watching the major ones, and making liberal use of the fast forward button during certain films that we’re just not fans of (The Incredible Hulk, the first two Thor films, Ant-Man…) Again, just personal opinion. Maybe one of these days I’ll do a tier list or something.

Let me make a note of that…

Television

By far the thing I’ve been watching the most lately. Which, if you know me, is so insane it isn’t even funny.

So, we watched all of WandaVision. Now, before I lay out my personal opinion, let me be clear. I totally understand that there were massive production issues, brought upon due to the pandemic. I get it. Writing had to change, plans evolved as things continued to get worse, then better, then worse still. And I’m totally okay with it. That said…

I enjoyed it! I won’t say it’s my favorite thing that’s come out of the MCU, but it’s up there. Elizabeth Olsen is able to hold the weight of the show with ease, especially when all the revelations about Wanda slowly come out. There were some issues I took with some plot lines, especially a few threads that I felt were tied up too quickly, though again, COVID. I will say I totally freaked with the twins, and again during the Halloween episode.

The only real downside was that I didn’t really feel the payoff. This could have been due to the editing, or due to restrictions so that they couldn’t get it perfect, but I felt that there needed to be something… more, especially in the last episode. I’m doing my best to avoid spoilers here, so forgive the vague-ness.

I’d give it a high B, or even a low A. Almost perfect. I’m excited to see what the next Disney+ MCU show (Falcon and the Winter Soldier) will bring to the table.

I also gave Black Sails a try this month, though I didn’t get very far. For those who don’t know the show, Black Sails is a prequel to Treasure Island, airing from early 2014 until 2017 on Starz. I only watched the first episode before realizing that I really should read the book first… and then never got back to it. I also never read the damn book, but that’s because every copy from my library’s online app kept on coming through corrupted and unreadable. I guess the fates made it clear to give this one a pass. It was fine, but it just didn’t do anything for me.

The show that did do something however was 9-1-1, by far my newest hyperfixation. I’ve mentioned it a few times before that I was surprised how quickly I fell into this damn fandom. And fell is the right word. Within two weeks, I’ve watched every episode of the show, including the winter finale.

Here’s my thing about this show. I really enjoy pretty much all of the main characters. The writing is pretty good, though there are some obvious tv mistakes and logical leaps that just don’t work. The plot lines are also mostly well thought out, the abundance of natural disasters hitting LA notwithstanding. And a big thing I like is how they are portraying the pandemic, and making a point for the characters to wear masks, and separating characters for safety. It works.

I have only one really big reservation, which is the the latest episode. I don’t know if the normal writers took a break halfway through writing the B-plots (the firefam plots not relating to any of the emergencies they had to deal with). For one, they are pushing a romance plot for Eddie Diaz, which is going far too fast. And they missed a golden opportunity to have an important conversation with Eddie and his son about dating after loss. But no, they just have Christopher have a temper tantrum, hop in an Uber, and hightail it to Buck’s apartment, where he has (most of) the conversation. It just didn’t work as well as it should have. It’s possible that this was changed due to the rumored on set tension between the actors of Eddie and Buck, but I’m not sure. I don’t care about shipping them, which is the main ship in the fandom (but if it happens, I’ll be pleased). I just feel like this whole plot line is doomed to fail. The episode ends with Christopher just suddenly being ok with his father dating his former math teacher. Why.

Talking about Buck, he also has had a small arc the last two episodes that majorly didn’t sit well with me. He goes out for a COVID date with a woman, has the most awkward date in the world, and then discovers that this woman lives next door to him. This, I’m actually ok with. By the end of last episode, I figured it would be all wrapped up… and then Buck discovers, after he goes to apologize for the frankly terrible date, that his roommate Albert has slept with and is now with this woman. Wow. First off, no. Bro code, dude. You don’t sleep with someone your roommate has already gone on a date with. Two, communicate that you’re going to, if you’re going to do it in the first place! And then, the writers forced this double date on Buck with an ex from Season Two. It wasn’t… the best scene. At least there’s a decent wrap up, and perhaps she’ll be around as a friend for Buck, but hopefully not in a relationship. He doesn’t need it.

The other plot lines in this episode also weren’t great, but nowhere nearly as bad as the previous two. Chimney and Maddie clash about their birth plan, in which the writers leave the one brain cell these two share on the cutting room floor for half the episode, and Maddie basically is a moron. Hen and Karen found out that their foster daughter, Nia, will begin to be reunified with her birth mother, which is something that happens. It comes a bit out of nowhere, but it’s a plotline I don’t really remember seeing on TV, so I’m somewhat interested. Oh, and Albert still exists for some reason. He basically has no character except to be in the way. He can leave now. (No, seriously, his character arc isn’t working this season, which is primarily because of the rewrites due to COVID. And his character arc last season was so beyond boring anyway, so please, writers, take note.)

And I just realized I went on a three paragraph rant on one episode. Whoops.

For the record, most of the show doesn’t make me want to write multi-paragraph rants about dumb decisions that were probably made by the Powers That Be long before the writers were allowed freedom into the writer’s room. The characters are 3 dimensional and compelling, with storylines that enhance their backstories and personal lives. The emergencies are varied, but also have enough realism to them that they keep your interest, especially since most of the emergencies are inspired by real things that have happened around the country. And honestly, the fandom isn’t toxic, which is a major improvement over several of the fandoms I’ve been in recently. (Seriously, the reaction to the winter finale was amazing.)

It’s a good little show with some Fox-related issues. And now I have to watch the spinoff, because the discord is watching it and I just don’t have it in me to fight anymore. Curses. I will suffer through watching Rob Lowe, because apparently the rest of the cast doesn’t suck.

Conclusion

So, TV watching has taken over my life, which is a hundred kinds of weird. I honestly haven’t watched this many episodes of a television show since I was majorly into Criminal Minds or even Supernatural. It’s a change, but one that I’m actually welcoming.

I’m not really sure where I’m gonna go from here. Falcon and the Winter Soldier starts next Friday, but 9-1-1 is on a six week break, so I’m not sure. Maybe my movie backlog? Or perhaps jump into a couple recommended series that I haven’t seen in absolute years (Hawaii 5-0 or CSI NY)? Everything’s kinds up in the air right now.

We shall see where the viewership takes us.

Until next time!

Finding a New Fandom

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Don’t worry, I’m still completely in love with The Old Guard. That’s not changing any time soon.

I briefly talking about this new-to-me fandom in Friday’s post. I’m not at obsession level with it, which I’ll explain why below. But it’s caught me, and I know exactly who to blame.

The show is called 9-1-1. It takes place here, in Los Angeles, following both Station 118 of the Los Angeles Fire Department, as well as a Sargent with the Los Angeles Police Department, and a 9-1-1 dispatcher. It also airs on Fox, though I’m watching it on Hulu.

As of last night, I’ve completed the first two seasons. And I’ve enjoyed it, for the most part. I think the cast is a great bunch that plays of each other very well. Some of the emergencies have been… lame, but most were entertaining. There is some uneven writing, mostly in the B-plots, but all in all, it’s not terrible.

I started watching simply because I was sick of the Monday night 9-1-1/9-1-1 Lonestar chat that would take place for like six hours on the discord I’m mostly on. I’d known about the show since it first launched, but I never gave it a second thought. I figured I was done with crime proctorial shows, thanks to the Criminal Minds/CSI NY burnout I’ve been dealing with for several years. But something about the chat caught me.

So, against my better judgement, I started watching. And after the first episode, I wasn’t completely sold. I could see the actors were trying, but they weren’t gelling. Not yet. But slowly they started to. And the storylines got less soap opera-like and more one the actual primetime tv level.

While I enjoyed season one, there was one character that stood out to me, and not in a good way. That character was Abby, who was the 9-1-1 operator, who made contact with rookie firefighter Buck on a call. Soon, their connection grows (unevenly), and almost too quickly, they are dating. Then, she takes a soul searching world traveling trip and leaves Buck in the dust. Okay, there’s more to it, but that’s the gist of it. Honestly, Abby, who was older than the then 27-ish year old Buck, was almost manipulative in how she got Buck. Maybe others won’t see it, but I sure did. And honestly, I thought I wouldn’t like Buck, after his behavior during the first episode (though he did quickly mature, because his actor deserves good storylines).

Actually, now that I think about it, most of the relationships are written unevenly. I’ve just completed season two, so I’m not sure if things change from her. Hen, a veteran firefighter and first female on the 118, lives with her wife, but their relationship, while loving, feels shallow right now. Not the fault of the actors, it’s the writing that I draw issue with. Buck’s next relationships also feel the same way. (Please, please, please tell me he dumps Ali in season three. She’s a damn idiot.). Buck’s sister comes to town, (which is whole other can of worms I’ll unpack in a second), and deals with the death (literally) of one relationship, and the blooming of another. Which was poorly timed. Hell, even newcomer Eddie, who starts in season two, has a relationship that dies in the same season. The only relationship that makes it through is between Sargent Athena Grant and 118’s Captain Bobby Nash.

Let me talk about Buck for a second. Because the season two finale did him dirty. Buck has spent all of season two becoming a better character. He makes mistakes and fixes them. He deals with his absent sister showing up out of the blue, helps her, deals with the aftermath of his brother-in-law’s death (who didn’t die painfully enough), and then watches finally get with someone who treats her right. It’s clear that everything he learned in season one, he took to heart. And then a firetruck flips because of a bomb, it lands on his leg, he barely gets any screen time, we only see a minor character with him at the hospital (not his team or SISTER), and poof, he’s home and healing. Yes, it’s a major injury, but I just described what amounts to ten minutes. Of the season finale. Where this accident was featured in the promotional material.

They did him dirty.

Honestly, they did the same with Eddie. The man is a Army Veteran, coming from Texas, with his young son, Christopher. His wife ran out on them when she finally broke after having to care for Christopher, who is cerebral palsy, while Eddie was in Afghanistan. Suddenly she’s back in the picture, but she just wants to see him, not get back together or really be a family again. Then poof, she gets hit by a car and dies like a day after asking Eddie for a formal divorce. Because the man with enough issues needs to see that. At least his friendship with Buck mostly well written. Buck easily becomes close with Christopher, and there are at least two comments about “his son” that he doesn’t deny. If the writers are teasing the fans with this bromance, I think they might riot.

The second season has a few episodes solely dedicated to the pasts of some of the characters. While I think it’s a good idea to fill in the backstories of characters, I wasn’t really impressed with how they did this. Flashbacks are fine, but the entire episode was dedicated to these characters, which many main characters not making an appearance if they weren’t around at that time. Hen’s story is empowering, and I really enjoyed the fact that she stood up to her former captain. Chimney’s was fine as well, though it didn’t explain the origin behind his name (real name Howard), and it was placed between two connected episodes with a cliffhanger. It just didn’t do it for me. Bobby’s episode (which is the second time we’ve had major flashbacks to his life before the 118) was also in the middle of two connected episodes, but it was at least more relevant to the currant storyline.

I’m complaining a lot, but I don’t mean to be. It’s all the issues I have with the writing. But there has been some good.

I have really enjoyed some of the cases they’ve been called out to. The banter fits, and the emergencies are varied but interesting. It’s not all crazy incident here and bomb threat there. There are also just general car accidents and fires and people making mistakes and asking for help. The variety is honestly very refreshing. And most (not all) really feel like they are down to earth instead of being spit-balled at a wall.

I’ve been warned that as a Buck fan, I’m going to have issues with the first half of season three. And I’m okay with that. If I could survive season six of Criminal Minds (the year the Powers That Be forced out AJ Cook in two episodes, dropped Paget Brewster to 16 with most of the B-plots revolving around writing her character out, and then hiring Rachel Nicols (no offense to her) to be the token blond girl for most of the season, with a horrifically written character), I can survive this. There’s this magic button on all the streaming players. It’s call the “move forward 15/30 seconds” button. And I will make use of it.

On the flipside…

The show gained a spinoff last year, and I’m not really sure if I want to watch it. I’m talking about 9-1-1 Lonestar. There’s just something about it that feels off-putting. I don’t know what. I know I have to watch it, because there is a crossover episode that just aired, so I have to bite the bullet at some point. But I’m really not looking forward to it. I guess it just hasn’t clicked with me yet.

Honestly, 9-1-1 isn’t a bad show. It’s good old fashioned TV. Not award worthy, but good enough to tune into every week (or, if you’re me, binge-watch two seasons in four days. Now to blast through the rest by next Monday, because I’d love to be able to watch it live with everyone).

I’m gonna get back to Febuwhump (which is suffering because of this show, I swear) and maybe treat myself to another two episodes once I finish. Maybe.

Until next time!