#I don't know what this says about me

[pixiefeatherkw3]

some of my favorite characters from each fandom are stabby guys

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Statistical analysis of the most popular A:TLA fics on AO3

(All of this is accurate as of May 27 2024)

I like numbers and statistical analysis and for some unfathomable reason I find it calming. So last night I made this spreadsheet!

DISCLAIMER: This is not a judgement of the quality, value, or merits of any of the fics on this list. It's just me being curious about what's popular with the A:TLA fandom on AO3. I was genuinely surprised at some of the results!

Observations and analysis under the cut:

TL:DR, the fandom fucking loves putting Zuko into Situations.

Methodology: I'm including all fics from the first page of results from the most kudos'd, commented, hits, and bookmarks tagged under the Avatar: The Last Airbender (cartoon, 2005) tag on ao3. I am deliberately not including any larger multifandom flash fiction or drabble collections because I don't think they're super relevant. This ended up including 38 fics in total.

I put all the fics into one single spreadsheet in order to compare the differences between fics that are really high on the kudos count but not the hit count, or what has a lot of comments but fewer hits. Basically, I'm throwing a lot of things together to observe what gets engagement and looking at patterns that emerge!

Top 5 most popular fics by hit count:

Salvage - MuffinLance

Fractures - EvieNyx

Embers- Vathara

Towards the Sun - MuffinLance

The Art Of Burning - hella1975

Max: 1,407,170 (Salvage -MuffinLance)

Min: 78,168 (Risking it all - Sreeder)

Average: 349,442

Top 5 most popular fics by kudos count:

Salvage - MuffinLance

The Family You Choose - TunaFishChris

where the stars do not take sides - WitchofEndor

Fractures - EvieNyx

The beginning of a new and brighter birth - aloneintherain

Max: 59,947 (Salvage - MuffinLance)

Min: 3293 (Risking it all - Sreeder)

Average: 19,868

Top 5 most popular fics by number of comments:

The Art Of Burning - hella1975

Salvage - MuffinLance

Fractures - EvieNyx

Towards the Sun - MuffinLance

War Games - Lovely_Elbow_Leech

Max: 13,469 (The Art Of Burning - hella1975)

Min: 358 (Hallowed - Haircrescendo)

Average: 3634

Top 5 most popular fics by number of bookmarks:

absence of heat, excess of destiny - theycallmesuperboy

Salvage - MuffinLance

where the stars do not take sides - WitchofEndor

The Family You Choose - TunaFishChris

The beginning of a new and brighter birth - aloneintherain

Max: 150,317 (absence of heat - theycallmesuperboy)

Min: 430 (Risking it all - Sreeder)

Average: 9297

Highest kudos/hit ratio: Safety First - Haircrescendo (20.36%)

Lowest kudos/hit ratio: My Heart Burns For You - alwaysZutarian (0.89%)

Average kudos/hit ratio: 8.25%

Fic Ratings:

G: 9

T: 18

M: 6

E: 2

Unrated: 3

Popular authors (people who showed up more than once):

Aloneintherain (3)

Haircrescendo (5)

MuffinLance (4)

WitchofEndor (2)

Characters:

Literally all of these fics are Zuko-centric. Not all of them are Zuko-pov but every. single. one. focuses on Zuko as a main character. At least one of the following tags is on every single fic in this list: "The Gaang & Zuko", "Zuko & Zuko's Crew", "Zuko & Iroh" "Zuko & Azula" and "Zuko & [insert gaang member here]"

Relationships:

Ok this is what actually shocked me the most. I fully expected to see more Kataang, Zutara, etc in the top rated fics, but NO! Only 21 out of the 38 fics had any relationship slash tag, and of those, 20/21 were Sokka/Zuko (shoutout to My Heart Burns For You as the token Zutara fic to make it into this list). I did NOT realize Zukka was so popular! Now I'm super curious about what it would be like to run these numbers on FF.net because I know so much A:tla fanfic was written before ao3 existed and most hasn't been cross-posted, and Zukka wasn't a popular ship until more recently.

Other random observations:

There seems to be a pretty even split between post-canon firelord Zuko fics and canon-divergent "Zuko joins the Gaang early" fics.

Only one modern au as far as I could tell! (shoutout to "The Good Vanilla")

We all seem to love a Dadkoda fic

There is a very strong correlation between one-shots and a high kudos/hit ratio.

Seemingly no correlation between word count and number of kudos. The top kudos'd stories were mostly under 10k words, while all the other catergories were dominated by fics in the 100k+ word count.

I didn't really see much correlation between hits, kudos, and comments overall.

There were LOTS of fics that only showed up in one category, which was really interesting! I figured each list would look pretty much the same, and there were several fics that did show up on the front page of every category (Salvage definitely sweeps the board for overall most popular fic), but there was a lot of variation between each list! Some fics had TONS of hits but very few comments, some had truly wild kudos/hit ratios, some were just massively bookmarked.

Thank you for indulging in my nerdiness, and feel free to tell me what I missed or anything you're curious about!

Update: I did it again, this time with Legend of Zelda

[level1cleric]

yeah. alright. i'll admit. falin tearing her shirt off in that fight was way hotter than i thought it would be

it was very clearly not meant to be hot but

woof

[merylstryfestan]

trigun is taking over my brain like wow oo ee holy moly that man is so sad i want his gender

[lanatavina]

Dis is how my little adventure is going so far

[misc-obeyme]

I have so many things running through my head right now (all about Barbatos 🫶) but I feel weird sending multiple asks so I hope you don't mind if I put them all in one!

Firstly, owl Barbatos has been flying around my thoughts for DAYS. As a long-time bird lover, I can wholeheartedly say that he's very owl like in general! But this is less about him being a cutie patootie little bird and more about his onesie thing. I NEED TO HUG HIM. He looks so soft and comfy and squeezable EEEEE! I just need to spot him from across the room and then rush up to him and envelope him in the biggest embrace ever! Place several little kisses all over his beautiful face before he's had enough and just kisses me... 🙏 He actually looks like a dream to cuddle with in his onesie I cannot stand it.

Next, I am terrified of butterflies. This current even had me thinking all about how Barbayos would deal with this. Like, I am so scared of them that when I was a child, I was kicked out of the butterfly sanctuary for screaming and crying and scaring the other kids. Anyways, LMAO, I think he'd think I'm silly (I am) but still never make fun of me. That's what's so wonderful about him, he'll never judge!

I just realized these are all completely self-indulgent, and I apologize for that, but I have one more djmsjdwnwkow. So, I had left over chain from a previous DIY project, so I made Barbatos' collar chain that he has in his demon form!! I think it's super cool, and I think he'd think it is, too. I wouldn't even tell him about it, I'd just wear it one random day and see if he notices. (He will. He notices everything. More evidence towards owl Barbatos propaganda.) But, yeah, we'd match. I was wondering if you had any silly things you'd like to match Barbatos with! Personally, matching pajamas and keychains are SO cute.

Final thought, Barbatos would make you his home screen. Anyone can see a lockscreen if you look at their phone, but only he gets to see your face on his home screen <3

Listen, I always have Barbatos brain so I totally understand. You're free to send in one long ask or several smaller asks, it's whatever you're most comfortable with! I don't mind either way 💕

Ahh, owl!Barb is truly excellent. Like I definitely think that's a good choice for him. Owls have a reputation for being wise, right? And while I think in reality they're probably just as dumb as any other animal, I still like the association of wisdom for Barb, you know?

I actually have an owl that lives behind my house. I've never seen it because it gets dark here at night, but I've heard it hooting. It's actually pretty loud lol. But wouldn't it be cute if that was something Barbatos could do to like check in on MC in the human world? I think something similar whenever I see the crow gang that lives across the street from me, except I imagine it's Mammon. That's probably pretty silly, but I can't help but think about them, you know?

I think there are a lot of bird associations with the characters, I mean we also got peacocks for Luci. Though I have never seen or heard a peacock around my house lol. If I ever see a cow in the street, I'll blame Belphie.

Anyway, getting off topic here, which is that Barbatos in his onesie is absolutely adorable and I love him. He would be a delight to cuddle with.

OH suffering from lepidopterophobia?? LOL yes okay I looked that up because I was curious. I was like there has be a word for being afraid of butterflies. Anyway, I don't think Barbatos would judge you at all. The fact is, most phobias like this are irrational, it doesn't matter if they don't make sense. For you the fear is real and Barb cares a lot more about your comfort than anything else. He wouldn't want you to be scared or anxious about it!

Yo, no worries about self indulgence. I have so many self indulgent fics it's not even funny, this is what we're here for. I think Barbatos would be flattered that you would want to match with him. I especially like that it's something from his demon form, which he isn't in all the time, so it's like you're matching with him in a subtle sort of way. As for me, I don't know if I'd want something that's exactly matching, but I like the idea of something that's like clearly about him, you know? Like wearing a ring with a teal stone or something like that. I initially thought about wearing a teal septum ring, but then I realized I would like to be able to see it without a mirror so a regular ring would probably be my choice. I do like matching pajamas, though, that sounds adorable!

Oh yes, I like him being possessive. He's like, only I get to see this picture of MC, so it must be home screen. We'd kinda match that, too because this man is already on both my lock screen and my home screen yes I have a problem.

[enby-artist]

So I don't say the pledge the pledge of allegiance at school (because I like doing the right thing and don't think pledging allegiance to a country that's displaced and k*lled millions is moral). I go to a conservative school and when I don't stand up for the pledge my classmate give me stank-eyes. The thing is, I don't really mind. When they have their hands over their hearts and state their undying loyalty to the country, but proceed to look at me, makes it look like their pledging their undying allegiance to me, and it kinda makes me feel like a cult leader.

[sanddollarpoems]

If my daughter talked about me

The way I talk about my mom

I would be absolutely devastated....

[mikerickson]

On GoodReads there's a "Compare Books" function that lets you quantify how similar you are to another user by comparing how you both rated books you have in common. Usually I'm like around 40-60% compatible with a given stranger, but whenever I come across someone in the >80% similar range (which is uncommon), I hyper-focus on the books we rated differently and end up convincing myself that I don't trust said person's opinions. But I don't do this with people I already objectively don't agree with.

[red-crescent-marigold]

i had a dream where i was watching a bunch of random youtube videos but keith habersberger kept showing up in like every single video because he was the ceo of youtube and also voodoo donuts

[lordfreg]

-- anyone who wants to join

how does pinterest see you? search up:

~fashion

~pantone

~mood

~food

and put the first picture that shows up

mine:

tag ur moots!!!!

@batschistcrazy @julia-bonkers @girlbossblog444 @greengirllover @turnerside @ohmanareyoucereal69 +anyone who wants to join<333

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[inkskinned]

this is just my opinion but i think any good media needs obsession behind it. it needs passion, the kind of passion that's no longer "gentle scented candle" and is now "oh shit the house caught on fire". it needs a creator that's biting the floorboards and gnawing the story off their skin. creators are supposed to be wild animals. they are supposed to want to tell a story with the ferocity of eating a good stone fruit while standing over the sink. the same protective, strange instinct as being 7 and making mud potions in pink teacups: you gotta get weird with it.

good media needs unhinged, googling-at-midnight kind of energy. it needs "what kind of seams are invented on this planet" energy and "im just gonna trust the audience to roll with me about this" energy. it needs one person (at least) screaming into the void with so much drive and energy that it forces the story to be real.

sometimes people are baffled when fanfic has some stunning jaw-dropping tattoo-it-on-you lines. and i'm like - well, i don't go here, but that makes sense to me. of fucking course people who have this amount of passion are going to create something good. they moved from a place of genuine love and enjoyment.

so yeah, duh! saturday cartoons have banger lines. random street art is sometimes the most precious heart-wrenching shit you've ever seen. someone singing on tiktok ends up creating your next favorite song. youtubers are giving us 5 hours of carefully researched content. all of this is the impossible equation to latestage capitalism. like, you can't force something to be good. AI cannot make it good. no amount of focus-group testing or market research. what makes a story worth listening to is that someone cares so much about telling it - through dance, art, music, whatever it takes - that they are just a little unhinged about it.

one time my friend told me he stayed up all night researching how many ways there are to peel an orange. he wrote me a poem that made me cry on public transportation. the love came through it like pith, you know? the words all came apart in my hands. it tasted like breakfast.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[o-the-mts]

Maurice (Beauty & the Beast) - 87% Match

this quiz sorts through characters from like dozens of fandoms and finds the one you’re most like. I’m not even a little bit surprised by my result

[evelhak]

Had some dream again. I had just drawn a really hilarious KnB comic and posted it but forgot to link different parts together and when I went back to do it I saw that my Tumblr had been hacked. I was still able to use it somehow but it was like fighting with the hacker about who has time to click what first and trying to change the password and the hacker kept blocking me from doing it, so then I had to go to some wizard because of course I was living in an otherwise pseudo medieval world. He was able to help me, but told me to change my password every day, and I forgot so the hacker came back. This time the wizard didn't have time for me, so I sat there on the stairs of some castle crying about my Tumblr being lost forever, until it somehow occurred to me that the hacker was possessed by a demon and I went back to Tumblr which then turned into a hologram landscape before me, and I had a pseudo physical fight with the hacker who did indeed look like an otherworldly demon. I was somehow able to get it off balance and use its weight to make it fall into a hologram pit of some sort, like a glitch in the landscape. Then I tried to change the password again and for some reason could see the password that the hacker had been using repeatedly, and somehow because this was too dumb for a hacker demon my brain immediately reached the most logical explanation, which was that the demon was an abandoned human child and the password was his name, which he hadn't lost but didn't remember was his, because he thought his mother didn't love him. By reminding him this was his name, yelling it into the hologram pit, I was able to un-demon him, and then like a seven-year old boy emerged from where the demon had fallen, and also his mother who had been looking for him in different realms emerged from another glitch. Everyone was happy and I got my Tumblr back.

(The KnB comic was about Aomine living in a farm and Akashi helping him study and at some point everyone ending up there somehow and having group hugs. I'm not sure what was so hilarious about it except Aomine.)