Okay so apparently I'm only ever going to post memes now

[ladyfoxxx]

I am still not seeing a light at the end of the work tunnel, but BY GOD I am going to continue to have some kind of fannish presence. I'll do a life post SOMETIME, I promise, but right now I just want to do this top 10 AO3 fics meme I am seeing around because it interests the shit out of me.

So the idea is to sort your fics posted on AO3 by hit count, post the top ten and try to analyse your results. And GO.

1. James Cameron Got It Wrong 3187
Higher count than any other by almost DOUBLE. Yeah it's a big bang and a popular pairing (Frank/ Gerard) with bonus crazy threesomes (Frank/Frank/Gerard) but STILL. It blows me away that this crazy fic has been read so many times. YOU GUYSS. <3

2. Price Of Pretty 1634
I find it HILARIOUS that this is number two. 1600 hits and ZERO comments and mostly guest kudos? WHO ARE ALL YOU PEOPLE READING THIS FIC? You don't want people to know about your thing for spanking? Is that it? I DON'T UNDERSTAND. Well far be it for me to judge. GO YOU GOOD LURKERS. MORE POWER TO YOU.

3. Reaching Through The Mirror 1292
Gerard/Gerard prequel from the same verse as James Cameron so I guess that makes sense. But I love that my top three basically goes: SELFCEST THREESOME, SPANKING and SELFCEST. /o\ Go me.

4. Tell Me Something True 1178
A Mikey/Ray in position 4! You guys, you have NO IDEA how much this pleases me. I know it's probably mostly traffic via James Cameron since they are in the same 'verse but I STILL adore that a Mikey/Ray is doing so well. LOVE THIS PAIRING.

5. Feeling A Moment 1020
Frank/Gerard podfic co-op with podklb - I am not really sure why this one is up so high, probably because of the podfic because klb is such an awesome reader. Also NO SEX IN THIS ONE. WHAAAT.

6. No Experience Necessary 999 (somebody click now!)
My very first bigbang! The pizza 'verse. My first long trying-to-have-a-plot bandom fic with HS Frank/Gerard and Mikey/Ray I love it and want to cradle it to my bosom and I'm so happy it's still getting read.

7. Against The Wall 996
Oooh it's a tight race between positions 6 and 7! More D/s in the BDSM dom!Frankie verse from Price of Pretty. I guess people like BDSM fic?

8. Emergency Contact 948
I am ASTOUNDED to see this one in the top ten. When I first posted this fic it had very low views, but I think it had something of a renaissance when pennyplainknits podficced it and suddenly it climbed the list. Also YAY because Pete/Patrick/Mikey is a threesome I will ALWAYS love and there will never be enough of.

9. Ass-Kickin' Chick Music 886
My bandomreversebb fic! Only very recently posted always-a-girl!Gerard/always-a-girl!Frank, I'm so chuffed it made the list. I didn't think it would get much readership being femmeslash and yet... wow! Interestingly the LJ version of this fic seemed to get less traffic than the AO3 version, so it's possible that people's reading habits are changing?

10. In Production 854
Awwww I am so glad this one made the list! My second ever big bang, the movie AU of my HEART that was Gerard/Brian, Pete/Patrick, Bob/Ryan so it was never going to be a fandom favourite, but I'm VERY stoked it's made the top 10.

Honorable mentions: More BDSM fic at number 11, Waycest snowballing threesome came in at number 12 and my other-fandom Misfits selfcest fic at Number 13. WEIRD, you guys, WEIRD.

What does this MEAN? I... don't really know. People tend to read other fics if they are in a series? People like self cest? People like BDSM? People like PORN? People are less likely to comment on epic porn-fests about spanking?

I DON'T KNOW, YOU GUYS, TELL ME. What does this MEAN?

Comments

[shinetheway.livejournal.com]

Um. Okay, I'm going to do something which I almost never do, which is talk about why sometimes a fic makes me feel ALL of the ~~feelings. So if that's not--I mean, I totally get it if you want to stop reading now. [sheepish] I'm only doing this because you seemed confused/amused by the whole thing, and I can only speak for myself but as it happens this is something that I can possibly say something about.

And seriously, oh my god, I'm saying a lot here, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD FEEL FREE TO DELETE IF THIS SORT OF FEEDBACK ISN'T YOUR THING. :((((

2. Price Of Pretty 1634
I find it HILARIOUS that this is number two. 1600 hits and ZERO comments and mostly guest kudos? WHO ARE ALL YOU PEOPLE READING THIS FIC? You don't want people to know about your thing for spanking? Is that it? I DON'T UNDERSTAND. Well far be it for me to judge. GO YOU GOOD LURKERS. MORE POWER TO YOU.

I have a lot of feelings about this fic. To be perfectly honest, when I'm in the wrong frame of mind it comes close to being a squick. It's exceptionally well written, well plotted, and even the characterizations are freakishly close to my mental images, which maybe makes it even more difficult to read sometimes since the scenario is one that (in my head) requires a lot of spadework before it can make sense--since the spadework is mostly done in the first story, this second story is a bit like plunging in the deep end and it's jarring to go from, oh say, reading a fluffy story like One Hundred Percent to Gerard being physically punished for something he can't control. It's implying a lifestyle BDSM relationship, which makes me uncomfortable in entirely different ways mostly related to choice and consent and strays a little into my generally flailiness over dictated gender role territority, and it's dilemma play which is again rater uncomfortable since I tend to identify with the dilemma, it's spanking which isn't really my kink and it's A LOT of spanking which sort of doubles down on something that isn't really my kink and there's even that point when Gerard's seriously considering his safeword and there's been times that I've read it and I've been thinking "JUST SAY IT BB MAKE IT STOP ;____;" and getting all flustered and worried.

And yet. And yet. [helpless] None of that means that I don't like it. I can honestly say without any exaggeration I have read this fic at least forty times. Because I keep coming back to it. BECAUSE it is incredibly well written. BECAUSE it pushes me out of my comfort zone. BECAUSE Gerard doesn't safeword, because he trusts Frank all through it and yes, okay, sure it's a heavy, edgy, sort of violent, sort of painful, maybe even sort of dangerous game they're playing, but it's still a GAME and it's still THEM PLAYING IT, and the next morning Gerard's still Gerard and Frank's still Frank and they're still real and them and recognizable and themselves, all the special things that they are. It's heavy but consensual, it's hot like fucking BURNING, and because sometimes, fuck, this is TMI but frankly I think this is all probably TMI, sometimes when my hand is down my pants and I've been reading porn for the last hour and it's awesome but I'm getting tired and I just want to get off NOW, sometimes I load up this story and read it and it does the trick. Every. Single. Time.

A great writer can make me believe anything. Even stuff I'm not sure I want to believe. And a great writer can make me like anything, even stuff I'm not sure I want to like.

I'm going to go hide now, since I'm pretty sure this is INCREDIBLY not what you were looking for, but. Basically I think you're a great writer--one of the greatest in the fandom,and one of the greatest I've ever read. And sometimes your stories make me uncomfortable, and I don't really know what to say to them, but at the end of the day...I read them anyway.

[halfeatenmoon.livejournal.com]

Actually I think if there's a common denominator there, it's length. Most of those are over 10k, right?

[(Anonymous)]

It means that people like BDSM fic. And you should write more of it. :D?

[turps33.livejournal.com]

I love this meme, and a top 3 of self cest and spanking is awesome!

[pennyplainknits.livejournal.com]

In Production is one of my favourite things. I just reread it over the past few days and i love that you are clearly writing about something YOU love too. And (lol no surprise) I fucking love Pete in it. The image of him and Patrick in matching hats on the red carpet is one that I can't shake.

Also yes, Pete/Patrick/Mikey is all good things. Emergency Contact should TOTALLY have a renaissance

[slashxyouxup.livejournal.com]

PIZZA VERSE \o/!!!