(Less Than) Annual AO3 Stats Meme

[thisbluespirit]

I've been a bit tired and weird again the last few days, so in the meantime have another post I had handily (mostly) made earlier! (I'm not much different to usual; I just stopped coping with the flist for a bit. The weather got warm for a little while and those two things so often go together.)

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For some reason, the last time I seem to have done this was here in 2022. I suppose I got tired of concluding that Miss Marple had won yet again or I was just down or something. I took advantage of the break to start using the stats page for the categories where that makes a difference, except for the comments, because it just felt wrong after all this time.



Hits
(Still minus the two which can only have been hit by a bug many moons ago.)

1. Not Bad For a First Attempt (Heyer, Rule/Horry, 200 words), 4184 hits.
2. (4) i love the rose both red and white (Shadow of the Tower/15th C RPF, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 8072 words) Yuletide 2018, 3694 hits
3. (2) Century's End (Poldark, Ross/Demelza, 2692 words) 3528 hits.
4. (3) Rewards of Battle (15th C Hist/Shadow of the Tower, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 669 words), 3156 hits
5. (-) it's the rain that will strengthen your soul (Star Wars, Padme Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi, 10,926 words) Space Swap 2020, 2895 hits
6. (5) something in the heart (15th C Hist/Shadow of the Tower, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 730 words), Trope Bingo, 2832 hits
7. Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine) (DW/ST: Voyager crossover, 5260 words), 2713 hits
8. (6) So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 758 words) Fan Flashworks, 2713 hits
9. The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 2588 hits
10. (8) Truth & Compromise (Discworld, William de Worde/Sacharissa Cripslock, 4404 words), NYR 2011 2404 hits

Lurking just below is Night Falls (Dracula 1968, Dracula/Jonathan, Dr Seward/Lucy, 8535 words), NYR 2017, 2379 hits (courtesy of tumblr's new Dracula fixation, I think, & A Minute's Peace (April Lady - Georgette Heyer, Nell Irvine/Giles Cardross, 632 words) Fandom Stocking 2015, previously at #10. I'm surprised that all the Henry VII/Elizabeth of York is still holding out against the Star Wars, but there we go: guest readers are keen on them.


Kudos
1. The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 366 kudos
2. (3) it's the rain that will strengthen your soul (Star Wars, Padme Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi, 10,926 words) Space Swap 2020, 352 kudos
3. (2) So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 758 words) Fan Flashworks, 328 kudos
4. Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine) (DW/ST: Voyager crossover, 5260 words), 233 kudos
5. (-) Dodging a Bullet (DW, Twelve/River Song, Clara, Bill, the TARDIS, 1550 words), for Hurt Comfort Exchange 2019, 213 kudos
6. (5) By the Book (Original Works, Male Demon/Female Librarian, 5863 words), Hetswap 2018, 205 kudos
7. (-) Home? (DW, multi-era, 7938 words), 199 kudos
8. (7) Observation (Miss Marple/Harry Potter crossover, Miss Marple & Luna, 357 words), 183 kudos
9. (8) Not Bad For a First Attempt (Heyer, Rule/Horry, 200 words), 179 kudos
10. (-) i love the rose both red and white (Shadow of the Tower/15th C RPF, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 8072 words) Yuletide 2018, 179 kudos

Some With Arrows, Some With Traps (SW, Obidala, 13944 words), 178 kudos has now crept above We'll Burn That Barn When We Come To It (11th Century RPF, William the Conqueror/Harold Godwinson, 3511 words), Yuletide 2018, 172 kudos and there's been a bit more turnaround here than in the Hits.


Comments
(Excluding multi-chapter works.)
1. The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 111 comments
2. We'll Burn That Barn When We Come To It (11th Century RPF, William the Conqueror/Harold Godwinson, 3511 words), Yuletide 2018, 84 comments
3. (4) By the Book (Original Works, Male Demon/Female Librarian, 5863 words), Hetswap 2018, 66 comments
4. So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 758 words) Fan Flashworks, 60 comments
5. (9) it's the rain that will strengthen your soul (Star Wars, Padme Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi, 10,926 words) Space Swap 2020, 42 comments
6. (5) I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) (DW, Thirteen/all her previous selves, 4031 words) Remix Revival 2019, 41 comments
7. (6) Persistence in Porcelain (Jonathan Creek, 4090 words), Yuletide 2013, 40 comments
8. (10) Extract from the Memoirs of a Credit Snake (I Claudius RPF (ish), Snake in the opening credits, 693 words) Yuletide 2014, 38 comments.
9. We'll Be Dating to the End of Time (DW, Thirteen/Yasmin Khan, 1934 words), Chocolate Box 2019, 37 comments
10. (7) movements of the mind (Twelfth Night, Feste & Olivia, 1891 words), Yuletide 2016, 36 comments

Not very much movement here - some shifting around, some that haven't even gained comments. For some reason the snake fic is still more popular than it ought to be!

Bookmarks
(Using the stats page with the private bookmarks therefore included, let's go!)

1. (2) it's the rain that will strengthen your soul (Star Wars, Padme Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi, 10,926 words) Space Swap 2020, 126 bookmarks
2. (1) The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 102 bookmarks
3. (4) By the Book (Original Works, Male Demon/Female Librarian, 5863 words), Hetswap 2018, 80 bookmarks
4. (6) i love the rose both red and white (Shadow of the Tower/15th C RPF, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 8072 words) Yuletide 2018, 71 bookmarks
5. Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine) (DW/ST: Voyager crossover, 5260 words), 67 bookmarks
6. (3) So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 758 words) Fan Flashworks, 66 bookmarks
7. (10) Home? (DW, multi-era, 7938 words), 54 bookmarks
8. Anomalies (SW, Padme/Obi-Wan, 11,478 words) Hurt/Comfort Exchange 2020, 48 bookmarks
9. (-) Nobody's Property (DW, Seven & Ace, 1320 words.) hc_bingo round 4, 42 bookmarks
=10. (-) There's Coffee in That Galaxy (Far Far Away) (DW/SW, Kathryn Janeway & Obi-Wan Kenobi, 4157 words.) For Space Swap 2018, 41 bookmarks
=10. (7) We'll Burn That Barn When We Come To It (11th Century RPF, William the Conqueror/Harold Godwinson, 3511 words), Yuletide 2018, 41 bookmarks
=10. (9) I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) 41 bookmarks,

Subscriptions
1. Take the Second Path (OUaT, Emma/Regina, 2828 words), 6 subs
=2. Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine) (DW/ST: Voyager crossover, 5260 words) 5 subs
=2. Dodging a Bullet (DW, Twelve/River Song, Clara, Bill, the TARDIS, 1550 words), for Hurt Comfort Exchange 2019, 5 subs
=2. I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) (DW, Thirteen/all her previous selves, 4031 words) Remix Revival 2019, 5 subs
=2. Anomalies (Star Wars, Padme Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi, 11,478 words.) Hurt Comfort Exchange 2020 5 subs
=2. Under a Cloud (Star Wars, Padme/Obi-Wan, 4200 words), genprompt_bingo, 100fandoms, 5 subs
=2. Thwarted (DW, Thirteen & Delgado Master, 787 words) 5 subs
=3. Rewards of Battle (15th C Hist/Shadow of the Tower, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 669 words) 4 subs
=3. There's Coffee in That Galaxy (Far Far Away) (DW/SW, Kathryn Janeway & Obi-Wan Kenobi, 4157 words.) For Space Swap 2018, 4 subs
=3. it's the rain that will strengthen your soul (Star Wars, Padme Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi, 10,926 words) Space Swap 2020, 4 subs
=3. Home? (DW, multi-era, 7938 words), 4 subs

People are still subscibing, optimistically but not unreasonably, to Take the Second Path, which could easily have a sequel, if I was ever bothered to write it. Of the rest, Under A Cloud is in the same case & I suppose Anomalies, too. (If ever an exchange fix wanted to be an 80k novel that I had to beat over the head to keep in check, it is that one.)

The others, idk, some people use these things instead of bookmarks, or because you never know when an author might suddenly turn up and write more and you wouldn't want to miss it. Although I have no idea what more anyone imagines I might write for something like Thwarted, but maybe they're just the disguised bookmark sort.

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Overall, I've been quieter, written less; fandom has been quieter etc. & I haven't done many exchanges. So there hasn't been all that much change in most of them - more slight shifting of the order, and the Star Wars works have steadily gained, although not enough to quite displace Miss Marple yet.

I am glad to see By the Book continues to do well despite being OW, though - that's really lovely! Less enthralled that Home?, which I just don't think is very good any more, and which was sinking a bit last time, has arisen from the depths yet again.

The most random change is that Dodging a Bullet has jumped upwards, and since that is pretty inexplicable in itself at this late date, I can only suppose that it has been recced somewhere. Which is nice, although I do miss the days when you could google and find the rec and be smug about someone appreciating you, instead of going, "Hmm, look at these random people who keep popping up on this older fic. It must mean a rec. Somewhere, deep in a Discord or something." But, still, nice.

I should be less obscure and sort of actually write things sometimes, but, you know, I wouldn't want to displace Miss Marple from her throne, after all.

Anyway, generally, I can't argue with most of the top pieces. I have other ones I like, but, yeah, it's the rain, The Spirit of St Mary Mead, We'll Burn That Barn, By The Book, I Do, I Do, I Do I agree are pretty much up there out of all the things I've written, and some others I'm fond of have crept in here and there into some of the categories (movements of the mind, Of elements and existence, particularly) and that pleases me too.

People should definitely stop reading Home?, though - but I do understand why they do. (I would read it if I wasn't me and wincing at all my faults from that era of my writing glaring at me all the time.)

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

I've also discovered that it goes the other way, too, and a lot of people use bookmarks instead of subscribing. Well, whatever works for ya, I guess!

People will use things the way they didn't ought to be used! lol. Humans.

I feel you on that one, but I personally have long since made my peace with the fact that I'm not the one whose judgment actually counts when it comes to which of my fics are worth reading. These days, I mostly try not to have opinions on the matter. :)

I'm fine with it, too. Except for that one! They need to stop reading that one, or I will delete it or lock it on AO3 and then they can go read it on Teaspoon where I don't have to hear about it. (Ok, it's funny and it's a fun combination, so I do get it, but it just reads like such a painful mess to me these days & everything else of that vintage is nowhere near my top 10s, so that's fine, it's quite sweet if the odd person still enjoys them. I suppose I need to write something popular to knock it out of the Top 10s and then they can read it in peace and not bother me, but ahhhh. Yeah. Easier said than done. XD)

Sigh. Me too. I still try sometimes, and once in a while googling the title or my username and "fic" turns something up that explains where all the sudden hits on something come from, but more often than not, it remains a mystery.

The lurkers love us in the Discords! You can sometimes still snag a tumblr rec that way, but, yes, it's so hopeless, and the search engines are worse on top of everything else. *cries over the state of the internet yet again*

[astrogirl]

People will use things the way they didn't ought to be used! lol. Humans.

Always and with literally everything, I suppose!

I'm fine with it, too. Except for that one!

Oh, I think we all have some of those. There are reasons why some of my oldest fics aren't on AO3.

I suppose I need to write something popular to knock it out of the Top 10s and then they can read it in peace and not bother me, but ahhhh. Yeah. Easier said than done. XD

No, no, clearly that's the only solution! Just keep writing stuff until something does it. Yes. :)

You can sometimes still snag a tumblr rec that way

Yeah, I have seen a few of those, too.

and the search engines are worse on top of everything else. *cries over the state of the internet yet again*

Ugh, so true. Everything is enshittified, and clearly we mere plebes don't deserve to be able to look up what links to a particular URL anymore, not for free. I mean, perish the thought. But I should stop, you know, before I get all "back in my day..." Once that starts, it's too hard to stop. :)

[thisbluespirit]

Just keep writing stuff until something does it. Yes. :)

Yes, that is the trick, isn't it?

Ugh, so true. Everything is enshittified, and clearly we mere plebes don't deserve to be able to look up what links to a particular URL anymore, not for free. I mean, perish the thought. But I should stop, you know, before I get all "back in my day..." Once that starts, it's too hard to stop. :)

Yes, it's all v frustrating and depressing. Don't worry, we can be (justifiably) grumpy Internet Olds together.