Annual Writing AO3 Stats Meme 2020

[thisbluespirit]

It's that time of the year again, or past it even. Last year's post is here.




Hits
(Minus two which can only have been hit by a bug, as they're completely anomalous to everything else.)

1. Not Bad For a First Attempt (Heyer, Rule/Horry, 200 words), 3005 hits.
2. Century's End (Poldark, Ross/Demelza, 2692 words) 2914 hits.
3. Rewards of Battle (15th C Hist/Shadow of the Tower, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 669 words), 2206 hits
4. something in the heart (15th C Hist/Shadow of the Tower, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 730 words), Trope Bingo, 2076 hits
5. So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 578 words) Fan Flashworks, 2026 hits.
6. Truth & Compromise (Discworld, William de Worde/Sacharissa Cripslock, 4404 words), NYR 2011 1942 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), 1796 hits.
8. The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 1770 hits.
9. This Single World is Double Till I Die OUaT, Emma/Regina, 4138 words), 1695 hits.
10. A Minute's Peace (April Lady - Georgette Heyer, Nell Irvine/Giles Cardross, 632 words) Fandom Stocking 2015, 1673 hits.

Ten Times the Doctor (Almost) Got Hitched has fallen out of the top ten and, weirdly, Night Falls (Dracula 1968), popular with almost no one, is now hovering just below it. I'm guessing it's because it's tagged Jonathan/Dracula, idk. This category is getting very boring as the ships-that-are-ships steadily overwhelm everything else. Even Miss Marple! Tragic.


Kudos
1. The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 270 kudos
2. So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 578 words) Fan Flashworks, 220 kudos
3. We'll Burn That Barn When We Come To It (11th Century RPF, William the Conqueror/Harold Godwinson, 3511 words), Yuletide 2018, 135 kudos.
4. Observation (Miss Marple/Harry Potter crossover, Miss Marple & Luna, 357 words), 133 kudos
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), 129 kudos
6. Century's End (Poldark, Ross/Demelza, 2692 words), 122 kudos
7. Space Married (DW, Twelve/Clara, 940 words), prompt ficlet, 117 kudos
8. By the Book (Original Works, Male Demon/Female Librarian, 5863 words), Hetswap 2018, 116 kudos
9. Not Bad For a First Attempt (Heyer, Rule/Horry, 200 words), 111 kudos
10. Truth & Compromise (Discworld, William de Worde/Sacharissa Cripslock, 4404 words), NYR 2011, 89 kudos

These have mostly stayed pretty steady and, random Heyer aside, are mostly fairly predictable. I'm still really pleased that By the Book continues to do well, because origfic doesn't generally, not like that, not once the exchange is over. (Librarian/Demon otp 4eva or something).

I am, though, kind of annoyed at Century's End cropping up in these lists when NO ONE HAS EVER COMMENTED ON IT NOT ONCE. Like, stop pretending to care about it, people, it's obviously weird and all that and that's fair enough but stop putting it in my top ten lists, then, that's ridiculous. There are now loads of other Ross/Demelza stories you can go read instead, it's no longer the only one on the archive, and you can stop looking at my random 1970s-version immortal AU now. ;-p


Comments
(Comments, not comment threads, because I am not using the statistics page for these results as I should have done long ago when I first started them and now I can't change because it would not be a fair comparison. Also excluding multi-chapter works.)

1. The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 87 comments
2. We'll Burn That Barn When We Come To It (11th Century RPF, William the Conqueror/Harold Godwinson, 3511 words), Yuletide 2018, 76 comments
3. So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 578 words) Fan Flashworks, 52 comments
4. By the Book (Original Works, Male Demon/Female Librarian, 5863 words), Hetswap 2018, 44 comments
5. Persistence in Porcelain (Jonathan Creek, 4090 words), Yuletide 2013, 38 comments
6. movements of the mind (Twelfth Night, Feste & Olivia, 1891 words), Yuletide 2016, 36 comments
7. I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) (DW, Thirteen/all her previous selves, 4031 words) Remix Revival 2019, 33 comments
8. We'll Be Dating to the End of Time (DW, Thirteen/Yasmin Khan, 1934 words), Chocolate Box 2019, 32 comments
9. There's Coffee in That Galaxy (Far Far Away) (Star Ward/ST: Voyage, Kathryn Janeway, Obi-Wan Kenobi, 4157 words), Space Swap 2018 (ish), 29 comments
=10. Space Married (DW, Twelve/Clara, 940 words), prompt ficlet, 28 comments
=10. Of Elements & Existence (Discworld/S&S crossover, 2642 words), Yuletide 2012, 28 comments

Woo, a new entry from last year's Remix, because cracky accidental marriage fic featuring the Doctor + exchange magic. Not much other movement, probably not helped by me falling out of nearly every exchange I tried in 2019. (Even that Remix was only eventually posted after defaulting).

You will notice that when it comes to comments, exchanges and Miss Marple still rule and shippers are just ungrateful people who won't talk to me. (Not that I'm a bitter fandom old, obv.)


I got curious, so looked at the top 10 by comment threads, and it's mostly the same, with a couple differences in order, save for the fact that I Do I Do I Do is not quite there yet and Once Upon a Dream is (with 18 comment threads) because it was imported from the old Yuletide websites and carried over the original comments but not my replies, thereby halving its score on the comment count.


Bookmarks
(Not including private bookmarks. In other reasons why I should be using the stats page... *rolls eyes at self*)

1. The Spirit of St Mary Mead (Miss Marple, 4005 words), Yuletide 2016, 53 bookmarks
2. So We Meet at Last (Miss Marple/Dracula crossover, 578 words) Fan Flashworks, 40 bookmarks
3. By the Book (Original Works, Male Demon/Female Librarian, 5863 words), Hetswap 2018, 28 bookmarks
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), 28 bookmarks
=5. Home? (DW, multi-era, 7938 words), 19 bookmarks
=5. i love the rose both red and white (Shadow of the Tower/15th C RPF, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 8072 words) Yuletide 2018, 19 bookmarks
7. We'll Burn That Barn When We Come To It (11th Century RPF, William the Conqueror/Harold Godwinson, 3511 words), Yuletide 2018, 18 bookmarks
8. How to Save a Life (Ish) (Red Dwarf/DW crossover, Martha Jones/Arnold Rimmer, 2925 words), 14 bookmarks
9. Space Married (DW, Twelve/Clara, 940 words), prompt ficlet, 13 bookmarks.
=10. Observation (Miss Marple/Harry Potter crossover, Miss Marple & Luna, 357 words), 12 bookmarks
=10. Truth & Compromise (Discworld, William de Worde/Sacharissa Cripslock, 4404 words), NYR 2011, 12 bookmarks
=10. I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) (DW, Thirteen/all her previous selves, 4031 words) Remix Revival 2019, 12 bookmarks

Some shifting about here and I Do I Do I Do has sneaked into the top ten in this category, too. (Actually, By the Book increased quite a bit overall - I wonder if it's been recced somewhere? It does seem an odd one to attract attention without that, because who's going to be randomly searching for random Librarian/Demon anyway?)

Again, out of curiosity, if I use the stats page and include private bookmarks it's largely the same in order, although I Do I Do I Do is higher, as is By the Book and i love the rose both red and white. Also, Influence (Dracula 1968) and Nobody's Property (Seven & Ace), both of which I like and are nowhere near the other top tens, are lurking about just below the surface, which is nice.


And since I've got the stats page open, for the sake of completion, let me add the subscriptions count, especially since I can confidently predict this one is not going to be like the other lists:

Subscriptions

1. Take the Second Path (OUaT, Emma/Regina, 2828 words), 5 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)3 subs
=2. Ladies in Waiting (The Hardest Part) (15th C RPF, Margaret Beaufort & Elizabeth of York, 668 words), Yuletide Madness 2014, 3 subs
=2. Rewards of Battle (15th C Hist/Shadow of the Tower, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York, 669 words) 3 subs
=2. Under a Cloud (Star Wars, Padme/Obi-Wan, 4200 words), genprompt_bingo, 100fandoms, 3 subs
=3. Coldharbour (15th C/Shadow of the Tower, Elizabeth of York/Henry VII, 1665 words) 2 subs
=3. When the Lights Go Out (S&S, 18,272 words) Fandom Stocking 2016, NYR 2018, 2 subs
=3. Night Falls (Dracula 1968, ensemble, 8535 words) NYR 2017, 2 subs
=3. Half an Angel (15th C/Shadow of the Tower, Elizabeth of York/Henry VII, 2369 words), Meme fic, 2 subs
=3. another spark for the fire (The Flash, Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow, 790 words) Fandom Stocking 2018
=3. Thrice Cursed (OUaT, 555 words), halfamoon, genprompt_bingo, 100fandoms, 2 subs
=3. Dodging a Bullet (DW, Twelve/River, Twelve & Clara, Twelve & Bill, 1550 words), Hurt Comfort Exchange 2019, 2 subs

Well, that is indeed at least a bit different! I haven't written many WIPs on AO3, so I have very few stories with subscriptions and therefore it's a pretty random selection. Some of them make sense - When the Lights Go Out is probably the only WIP I have posted since being ill, and Half an Angel, Take the Second Path, and Under a Cloud are AUs that could have been interesting to continue, and I can see how someone would think Dodging a Bullet ought to have more to it. For the rest, I can only suppose it's the thing where some people use subscriptions instead of bookmarks because it involves less button pushing when you're on mobile devices? I don't know. But it's hard to imagine anyone thought there was anything to continue in Thrice Cursed (or Night Falls, which is a prequel to the very much existing 1968 TV Dracula - check YouTube for what happens next, not my AO3), so I expect that's what it is.

But, hey, that's a really fun random selection. Ladies in Waiting was a complete surprise and Miss Marple doesn't even get a look in. Miss Marple fans are dedicated, but they don't subscribe to my random fic.

Comments

[paranoidangel]

I have no idea why people use the subscriptions on something that isn't complete. Even if it's not complete I'll either subscribe to the author, add it to my read later list or bookmark it in my browser. But I think I use AO3 completely differently to everyone else anyway :)

[thisbluespirit]

Well, I can understand it on things that actually are WIPs - they may not be into the author's other fandoms and just want a notification when and if they update that particular story, subscribing seems sensible. I've even done it once or twice myself. But I think, to be honest, everyone uses it slightly differently - it's why nobody's ever happy, whatever AO3 does!

What does baffle me is people subscribing to complete stories! But I've been told that when on a mobile device the fact that it takes 1 button press to subscribe and two or three to bookmark is why people do it. People are mysteries, though!

[liadt]

The annual Miss Marple meme!

I have no idea why people aren't commenting on your Poldark fic. If it was an embarrassing ship I'd understand why people were being shy.

[thisbluespirit]

Well, to be fair, I think because it's the 1970s versions, not the 2015 ones and in a weird immortal AU so I can't really blame them. It just feels weird that people keep looking at it, kudosing it, but never even stopping to tell me it was weird or anything!

[astrogirl]

Ooh, is it this time again already? Maybe I'll do this one again myself. It's always an interesting time-waster, and occasionally the results turn out to have changed in surprising ways. Not often. But occasionally. If nothing else, I imagine a lot more Good Omens fic will have climbed up onto my own top ten lists.

(Minus two which can only have been hit by a bug, as they're completely anomalous to everything else.)

Are you sure it's a bug and they didn't just randomly go viral? :) (I am... maybe half-joking about that? I mean, I did basically have that happen on my top-rated ficlet, having it recced somewhere influential and making it a bizarre outlier on my hit count.)

I am, though, kind of annoyed at Century's End cropping up in these lists when NO ONE HAS EVER COMMENTED ON IT NOT ONCE. Like, stop pretending to care about it, people,

It is weird to me, how that happens with some fics. That one Mad Max fic I wrote was in the position of having lots of kudos and no comments for ages, until I think someone finally came along and gave it a pity comment. I can't help wondering if it's maybe a fandom-specific thing, somehow.

Woo, a new entry from last year's Remix, because cracky accidental marriage fic featuring the Doctor + exchange magic.

Cracky accidental marriage fic featuring the Doctor is the best. *firm nod*

[thisbluespirit]

AO3 stats memes are one of the best time-wasters, so you should do it. *nods*

Are you sure it's a bug and they didn't just randomly go viral?

I'm pretty confident of that, yes. It was two stories, many years ago, one of which was a drabble for Tom's Midnight Garden and the other a Public Eye fic. If something gets picked up somewhere or recced you usually get a corresponding rise of some kind in kudos and maybe even comments, but these just had suddenly 2000 more hits than anything else so I just discount them from the stats every year since. I think there was a bug that could do that back then.

I expect my Poldark fic is because it's 1975 Poldark, so 2015 fans read it (because it was the first Ross/Demelza fic in existence and naturally got lots of hits and kudos when the series came back and people looked for fic and mine was the only one) but no doubt feel weird about commenting because of it being slightly different versions. And also it's a random AU where they become immortal off a randomiser prompt. I just think that at this point they should stop looking at it now they have loads of 2015 fic that aren't weird immortality AUs about Angharad Rees and Robin Ellis, or if they insist, it's about time one of them commented! I would totally appreciate a comment that told me how weird it is! Just... talk to me.

(Talking of which the other day someone stopped by to tell me they were marking a crossover I'd written for later even though they didn't like the character from the fandom they did know or like the other fandom, but it was so odd they impressed and would have to read it. I'm not sure if I want to hear what they thought when and if they eventually do or not... XD)

[astrogirl]

If something gets picked up somewhere or recced you usually get a corresponding rise of some kind in kudos and maybe even comments, but these just had suddenly 2000 more hits than anything else

Ah, that does make sense. Still very strange, but, yeah, I suppose it's likely to have been a bot or something.

I expect my Poldark fic is because it's 1975 Poldark, so 2015 fans read it (because it was the first Ross/Demelza fic in existence and naturally got lots of hits and kudos when the series came back and people looked for fic and mine was the only one) but no doubt feel weird about commenting because of it being slightly different versions.

That also makes sense, I suppose. When you want a particular rare pairing, you will often go and click on whatever you can get for it! But, yes, people should comment on it for you! Oh, well, maybe it's just so unusual they have no idea what to say about it. :)

Talking of which the other day someone stopped by to tell me they were marking a crossover I'd written for later even though they didn't like the character from the fandom they did know or like the other fandom, but it was so odd they impressed and would have to read it.

Huh. I occasionally get people commenting on a crossover or Yuletide fic or such saying things like "I don't even know this fandom, but the title/summary/crossover fandom was interesting enough that I read it anyway." I almost always kind of want to go, "Really? And it actually made any sense to you at all?" Because it's usually pretty odd stuff they're commenting on, and I do tend to write very strongly canon-based fic. But they seem to enjoy it more often than I would have expected them to.

That particular person, though... Yeah, god only knows what they're even expecting. :)

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, well, maybe it's just so unusual they have no idea what to say about it.

I have regretfully concluded that it really was just too weird for the rest of the world. I wish I could pack up DW fandom and take it to all my other fandoms, because they don't blink at "and then they were immortal" unlike period drama fans.

That particular person, though... Yeah, god only knows what they're even expecting.

They've left good comments on several of my other things, so I'm sure they meant it nicely, but I kept laughing about it for days after, because it was just so... um, yeah, dear reader, you don't have to tell me that bit. Tell me that I won you over to a thing you didn't think you were into, but... :lol:

[astrogirl]

I wish I could pack up DW fandom and take it to all my other fandoms, because they don't blink at "and then they were immortal" unlike period drama fans.

Yes, nothing is too weird for Doctor Who, really. Which is one of its charms. (And if anything is too weird for Who, it's still not too weird for S&S. :))

ell me that I won you over to a thing you didn't think you were into, but... :lol:

Yeah, I know some people get annoyed at comments along the lines of "I don't usually like this character/pairing/trope/whatever, but you made me enjoy it!" but I personally really love them. But that comment... is not that. :)

[thisbluespirit]

Yeah, I know some people get annoyed at comments along the lines of "I don't usually like this character/pairing/trope/whatever, but you made me enjoy it!" but I personally really love them. But that comment... is not that.

Me, too. And I think my weird comment was aiming at being that, but lol, it did not get there.

Yes, nothing is too weird for Doctor Who, really. Which is one of its charms. (And if anything is too weird for Who, it's still not too weird for S&S.

Absolutely! But then, out in other fandoms, people look at you strangely and start to get nervous just at odd pairings or something totally innocuous like that. Fandom is just not trying these days!

[astrogirl]

What I find kind of funny is that a lot of things that fandom seems to regard as perfectly normal are super weird to me, and not necessarily in good ways. But then you get strange looks for things that seem much more reasonable! :)

[potentiality_26]

Yeah, subscriptions on completed fics confuse me too.

[thisbluespirit]

I've been told that it's apparently easier when on mobile devices than bookmarking, so some people use it instead? But otherwise, yeah, random. People are strange!