camelot_drabble. I'll be honest, I did it because the idea came swiftly and it would be a quick write, because when getting words out these days is like pulling teeth, I'll take anything easy I can. Anybody who knows me knows that A/M is not my pairing of passion. In Merlin, I'm a multi-shipper for the most part, and I much prefer A/M as a bromance than I do anything sexual/romantic. I specifically don't read A/M when I read fic for my own pleasure, partially because it just doesn't work for me a lot of the time, partially because I want to support rare pair authors as much as I can. This puts me in a minority. I know all this.And yet, I'm still a little stunned at how avidly A/M gets read in comparison. In 24 hours, that 1k ficlet I wrote has more hits than the last eight stories I posted combined. And more kudos than the last nine. The numbers are mostly the same as other A/M stories in this week's collection, so it's not like it's anything special, except that it's fun and a little sexy. I like it a lot. I wouldn't have written it otherwise.
Here's my dilemma. And if this makes me sound superficial, well, I can't help that. I can count on one hand how many times a year I choose to write about Arthur/Merlin. I'll be the first to admit my brain goes straight to Percival first almost any time I'm considering a prompt. (The gentle giant is one of my major kinks, both in fic and in genre fiction. I'll own that.) But seeing all those kudos was *really* nice. I've missed that. A lot. It's the biggest reason I probably won't ever leave fic behind because the romance world isn't nearly as immediate in regards to positive feedback. And the ficlet really is a great set-up for something longer. I don't think it would be hard to keep going.
But...it feels like selling out. Writing for the market. I've resisted that in my original stuff (much to Craig's chagrin) because it makes me feel like a hypocrite. Is that all in my head? Am I just thinking too much, lol?
