#questions for the tumblmind

[destinationtoast]

Calling Supernatural fans with knowledge of the fandom's history! [see also: Game of Thrones version]

I'm in the midst of putting together some fandom deep dives as part of my analysis of TV Fandom Fix-Its on AO3. I'm starting with Supernatural and trying to give context for how many fanworks the fandom was producing overall, and when overall spikes in fandom activity were happening, and I could use help.

Specifically, I'm trying to label the activity spikes with what episodes/events seemed to contribute to them. But I'm not in the fandom, so I'm probably missing important context. E.g., I know there were other events like fanwork exchanges happening that might have been contributors to some activity spikes, or things the show creators said/did might also have contributed sometimes.

If you have theories about why the red spikes happened around July 15 and Oct 7, 2023 (both after The Winchesters was done airing), that would be excellent.

And if you think I'm missing important context for some of the earlier spikes, or I made goofs on some of the labels, please LMK!

(Edit: This was posted on April 7, 2024; I'm hoping for replies in the next week or so.)

If you prefer to look at the raw data, it's too long to list here, but you can read it in this spreadsheet (edit: click tab "just the total activity"). And you can view the graph and labels bigger in this slide.

Thanks so much in advance!!

(If you have questions or critiques, please click through and read more context on AO3 or click through to the OP version of this post, which I will update with clarifications as needed.)

[destinationtoast]

Calling Game of Thrones fans with knowledge of the fandom's history! [see also: Supernatural version]

I'm in the midst of putting together some fandom deep dives as part of my analysis of TV Fandom Fix-Its on AO3, including GoT. I'm trying to give context for how many fanworks the fandom was producing overall, and when overall spikes in fandom activity were happening, and I could use help.

Specifically, I'm trying to label AO3 activity spikes with what episodes/events seemed to contribute to them. But I'm probably missing important context. E.g., I know there were other events like fanwork exchanges happening that might have been contributors to some activity spikes, or things the show creators said/did might also have contributed sometimes.

If you have theories about why the red spikes between seasons happened near the following dates, that would be excellent:

Dec 28, 2020

May 11, 2020

Oct 5, 2015

Sept 29, 2014

July 21, 2014

And if you think I'm missing important context for some of the other spikes, or I made goofs on some of the labels, please LMK!

This was posted on April 10, 2024; I'm hoping for relevant replies in the next few days.

If you prefer to look at the raw data, it's too long to list here, but you can read it in this spreadsheet. And you can view the graph and labels bigger in this slide.

Thanks so much in advance!!

(If you have questions or critiques, please click through and read more context on AO3 or click through to the OP version of this post, which I will update with clarifications as needed.)

[destinationtoast]

I've just found the perfect birthday card... for me. 🤔

*requires creeping on a mutual for their address and birthday

[destinationtoast]

*waves shyly* Hello!! First off, I absolutely adore all of your stats and get excited when you post new ones -- thank you so much for all that you do!

Secondly, a friend and I have been discussing fandom longevity lately, and I wondered if you have thoughts? Subjectively, it seems to us that new fandoms tend to have more quick bursts of fandom activity when a new season/movie/book/etc comes out that fades quickly with time, whereas older established fandoms have more staying power. I'm curious if you have any insight about whether this is objectively true in most cases or not, and as to whether or not the type of canon source material matters (eg show-based fandoms vs book-based fandoms). I hope you're having a great day <3

Hi there, and thanks! :D This is a great question, and one I have been having a bunch of conversations about lately.

I share this subjective experience -- it sure seems like the attention span of fans and lifespan of fandoms is shorter than it used to be, when I think of how quickly people stop talking about a bunch of newer movies and TV shows these days. And then I see some of the older fandoms like Harry Potter still producing a ton of new fanworks, and I think, "Wow, maybe new fandoms just don't have the staying power of older ones." At the same time, I also question how objectively true/simple that story is for a few reasons, including:

Memory bias: When we look back on the past, the fandoms we remember most are usually the ones that lasted a long time. So our estimates of past fandom longevity may be overly generous.

Changes to fandom size: Maybe any changes to fandom lifespan are mostly due to some other change, like fandom size... Attention is more splintered these days than it used to be across more streaming services/etc, and I think there are more, smaller fandoms than there used to be. Maybe if a fandom doesn't get really huge, it's just not likely to last that long.

For TV fandoms -- changes to canon release schedule: most TV shows used to have seasons that lasted most of the year, so they had a lot more reason to stay in the public mind longer. Now many seasons are shorter and sometimes drop all at once. Perhaps if we compared popular TV procedurals with 22 episodes/season from now vs. ~a decade ago, we'd see similar patterns of fandom activity?

I've been thinking about ways to try to gather quantitative data about the changes, and testing out a few methods. A few ideas I've had:

Look at the Tumblr official lists of top fandoms and see whether the top fandoms tend to leave the top 20 rankings faster now than they used to. (The Tumblr rankings go all the way back to 2013 on a yearly basis, at least -- I'm not sure how long they've been releasing the weekly lists; those may have started later.)

Look at AO3 fandom activity after new canon infusions - how quickly does activity drop off after a new movie/book/video game release, or after a TV season ends? How has the rate of activity dropoff changed over the years? (And how much of that seems to be explained by other factors, like fandom size?)

See how quickly AO3 authors/creators tend to migrate to new fandoms, and how that's changed over time - many authors tend to be active in multiple fandoms, so we'd have to define what it means to migrate to a new fandom, but I think we could do so in a way that would allow us to look for changes.

Look at Tumblr, Twitter/X, and/or Reddit activlty after new canon infusions - same as AO3, but on a platform where people are posting shorter content and there's more of a discussion. (This data would be harder to collect, though.)

I'd love to also hear other ideas. I think I'm going to need some volunteers to help gather data if I do any of the above, though... Readers, if you'd be interested in helping to gather data for an hour or more to help investigate this question, please reply/DM and let me know! And/or join the new fandom-data-projects community.

Also if any readers know of anyone else who has looked into this/similar questions, I'd love to hear about it!

[destinationtoast]

Thanks for the rec, and for sharing the rest of this list! 🥰 Royjamiekeeley has eaten most of my brain ever since S2, so despite being somewhat multifandom and multiship, I anticipate posting a lot about the OT3 and Ted Lasso for a long time to come. :) Some links:

my Ted Lasso fic (almost all RJK)

my Ted Lasso S3 fandom stats about the fandom response to S3 -- some data about RJK in here, and I anticipate future updates

some 🔥🔥🔥 RJK fanart (full explicit version here!) I commissioned from @nottonyharrison to go with my fic Outgrow the shoes of expectations (still my favorite fic I've ever written) -- I love their Ted Lasso art and fic which is all RJ(K)

my #roy x jamie x keeley tag -- lots of reblogged meta, fanart, ficlets, gifsets, etc (plus my own fic and very occasional meta)

my #ted lasso tag -- mostly RJK or gen, but I also reblog other ships from time to time, especially tedbeard, tedtrent, rebeccakeeley.

my tag about soccer research contains recommendations for relevant articles, books, podcasts, and more -- I also have lots of related recs in the chapter endnotes for Outgrow

I may reblog again and add more RJK blog recs later as I think of them -- some of my faves are already rec'd above! One quick rec that's not RJK but may appeal: @chainofclovers has written and reblogged a lot of thoughtful TL meta (and the folks they reblog meta from are also terrific), plus great TL poly fic that often features RK (lots of Roy/Keeley/Ted/Rebecca and combos thereof; also lots of Beard/Ted/Rebecca.).

I know I have a bunch of RJK fans among my followers -- what other blogs would you rec for more good RJK content?

hi! do you have any ted lasso blog recs- especially if they're royjamiekeeley focused? thank-you!

Greetings, exalted one! Always such a pleasure to run into a fellow RJK fan! <3

I’m afraid that I’m not a great person to ask, as I’m still rather new to the fandom myself and tend to follow quite few people in general, but you can have the TL blogs I follow (some with an appropriate love for our OT3) and then maybe my kind followers would care to chime in with more suggestions? I’d love to hear them myself – feel free to plug yourself too, if you fit the RJK bill!

Here goes:

@destinationtoast – not a Ted Lasso blog per se, but posts a lot about it and also write the sweetest OT3 fic and sometimes meta! The stuff not related to TL is also great, so this is just a good blog for anyone to follow, really. Does fandom statistics!

@scoatneyhall – knows a lot of things about football and the Premier League (and England) and is very generous about sharing their knowledge. Writes OT3 fic, writes meta and reblogs a lot of TL stuff.

@jamiesfootball– mix of reblog and original posts, lots of fun stuff to be found. Writes fic, including a post-season 3 one I’m eagerly awaiting, though I believe it’s RJ rather than RJK.

@liesmyth – multifandom blog, but you get A LOT of glorious TL stuff, including interesting meta and some very nice fic! Also, a nice helping of The Locked Tomb stuff, which I adore!

@pghumfort – mix of reblog and original posts, almost all of it TL! Lots and lots of RJ but a fair bit of RJK too! Writes fic and will happily join discussions and add to posts (which I adore) and talk TL to you!

@lunar-years – multifandom, but a fair bit of Ted Lasso, both original posts (fun meta!) and reblogs. Absolutely on the OT3 train. Huge on Taylor Swift lately, so if you’re into that as well as Ted Lasso, this is a great choice!

@jedusaur– multifandom and posts less about TL than the others, but writes lovely (and often kinky) fic, both for your RJK and RJ needs!

@hacash – mostly NOT a TL blog and I’m not sure if they do RJK at all, but their TL meta is thoughtful and interesting.

@itsalinh – has not posted in like a month so no idea if they’re gone for good, and I’m not sure they were into RJK, but they posted a lot of fun TL stuff! Also knows a lot about football and was happy to answer questions it.

@sabra-n – does not post a lot about TL anymore but there’s great stuff if you go back a bit, including lovely and well-put meta.

[destinationtoast]

Help me understand some AU tags.

I'm in the midst of looking at find fandoms on AO3 that have a lot of works tagged with "Alternate Universe" or a related tag. I'm trying to sort a bunch of the freeform/additional AO3 tags into cases that are simply canon divergent vs. cases that involve a larger transformation of the universe (e.g., a change to the time period or setting of the story, or a change to the powers that characters have, or a change to character gender or age). Please help me figure out which category the following tags fit into. (I'm writing this July 29, 2024; if you're reading this more than a week or so in the future, I probably don't still need help. :) )

Do these AO3 tags represent canon divergence or a larger change to the canon universe (or are they canon compliant)?

"Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa)"

"Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting" (fandom: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF)

"Humanstuck" - (fandom: Homestuck) I assume this probably is about Homestuck trolls being human or some other major transformation, but otoh maybe it's just focused on the human characters or something...?

"Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale)"

"Alternate Universe - No Curses (Jujutsu Kaisen)"

"Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale)"

"Alternate Universe - No Blue Lock" (fandom: Blue Lock (Manga))

"Alternate Universe - K/DA (League of Legends)"

"Alternate Universe - No Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa)"

"Magical Stiles Stilinski" (fandom: Teen Wolf) are there even magicians in TW canon? I don't know...

"Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls)"

"Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session" (fandom: Homestuck)

[destinationtoast]

Toastystats poll: fandom fix-its

I've analyzed three fandoms so far with a lot of fanworks tagged "Fix-It" on AO3 (for my TV fandom fix-its analysis): Supernatural, Stranger Things, and Game of Thrones. I'm planning to post a chapter about Sherlock next. If I do one more chapter after that, which fandom should I look at?

[destinationtoast]

I've been getting a new wave of spam comments recently on AO3 that are easy for me to spot because they are responding to my fandom stats meta as if it were fiction:

[redacted]* left the following comment on [Fandom stats] Ted Lasso S3 on AO3: fandom response to Season 3:

I love how you explored the unexplored aspects of the original story. It adds a whole new layer of depth.

[redacted]* left the following comment on [Fandom stats tutorial] How to gather fandom data & do fandom stats:

Your fanfic is an emotional rollercoaster. I laughed, I cried, and I couldn't get enough. Fantastic work!

[redacted]* left the following comment on [Fandom stats tutorial] How to gather fandom data & do fandom stats:

Your writing has a lyrical quality to it. The prose is poetic, and it added an extra layer of beauty to the story.

[redacted]* left the following comment on [Fandom stats tutorial] How to gather fandom data & do fandom stats:

I can't get enough of your writing. It's addictive.

I believe I've only been getting these on my most recently updated three works (and mostly on the oldest of those three, which is also the most popular, the only WIP, and the only one with multiple chapters). But it's also possible I got some comments on older works that were fiction, and I didn't recognize them as spam.

Has anyone else been noticing a similar influx?

*Edit to add: redacted because at least some of the names the bots are using are real usernames, appropriated for spam. (But if the name in a comment is not linked, it's not the actual user leaving the comment.) If you see such comments yourself, don't blame the real users for the spam bots' actions!

[destinationtoast]

This is an interesting sort of question, and I suspect your hunch is right; I know some users author single fics that are millions of words, and some people post a huge number of separate short works, but I suspect those are fairly separate populations.

I'd be very interested in related questions like "How many authors are there with at least X fanworks?" or "How many authors with at least X word count?" if you (or anyone else) figure out a good way to get/estimate that data. But I also advise caution around user privacy here -- I wouldn't want to share the pseud of the author with the highest word count, or a list of the most prolific authors, for instance. Because they haven't agreed to it and don't necessarily want to be publicized in the way. So I advise sharing anything you figure out with care, and strongly consider anonymizing any accounts you're talking about.

That caveat made, also boosting this in case anyone else has relevant data/estimates to share. And good luck in your own investigations! :)

i want to know who has the most fics and who has the most words published on ao3. i doubt they’re the same person and i want to know.

[destinationtoast]

Reverse fake relationship fic?

Has anyone read any fic where characters who are not in a relationship have to pretend to be siblings, or some other platonic relationship, and in the process realize how hard it is to act truly platonically, and that they want more?

Or about members of an established relationship who have to pretend to be platonic and keep having to explain away absent-minded affection, and have to keep sneaking around to have secret sex? (Edit: a couple people have rightly pointed out that this one is a Secret Relationship, which is indeed an existing trope!)

[destinationtoast]

Just finished rereading the Imperial Radch trilogy. (Or, actually, I listened to it this time.) How is it so fucking good?? I'm sniffly about it. *happy sigh*

I love rereads in general, but I especially enjoyed the additional Presger insights I had this time around, thanks to Translation State.

Based on my love of this universe and the Murderbot Diaries, a friend recommended A Memory Called Empire. Do any of you agree/disagree, or have any other recommendations?

[destinationtoast]

britpicking? (Ted Lasso)

So, I seem to be continuing to write lots of Ted Lasso Roy/Jamie/Keeley fic. :D Is anyone interested in britpicking? I'd be especially interested in someone who can help with the essentials of a Northern/Mancunian dialect (e.g., when it's appropriate to say something like, "she were sending a text" vs. "she was sending a text") and also with "innit" (which I know is linguistically more complex than just replacing "isn't it" and has been evolving). I'm happy to beta/ameripick in return, if desired.

I currently have a couple WIPs that are a few thousand words each.

[destinationtoast]

Hi! I don’t know if you’ve ever taken suggestions for your fandom stats stuff, but I would LOVE to see the stats on DID/Disasocitive Disorder tagging on ao3. I’ve written some about Ken Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul) and plurality and despite him BASICALLY canonically having it, the tag wasn’t at all wrangled— all I got was DreamSMP. Which is fascinating.

Hey! I don't have time for a deep dive right now, but I will say that I think that which tags get wrangled as canonical is more about how expert & active the volunteer tag wranglers are within a given fandom than it is about how canonical a tag is. When I look at which character tags have a canonical "<name> has DID" tag, they're mostly (all?) from very big fandoms:

I think another important factor is that characters who canonically have a feature don't always get tagged with it -- probably because authors don't feel the need to point it out if it's canon. The characters from Moon Knight and Mr. Robot provide further evidence of this. Both of those fandoms use the tag "Dissociative Identity Disorder" a lot, presumably because (I believe, as someone who hasn't actually seen Moon Knight) the main characters from both shows canonically have DID, and some of the fanworks focus on that. However, neither Steven Grant (nor Marc Spector or any of the others) nor Elliot Alderson have a canonical tag of the form "<name> has DID," even though Moon Knight especially is a large and active fandom.

Has anyone else out there done any data collection/research about the Dissociative Identity Disorder AO3 tag or any related topics?

[destinationtoast]

Hey! Love your stats roundups and everything. Can you tell how many authors are on AO3? I know there are 5.8M users and 11.1M works, but out of those users, how many write? Thank you!!!

Hey! Great question, but I don't know the answer... @zz9pzza is this something you would be able to share? And/or can anyone who has looked at author stats in the past give insights/estimates?

[destinationtoast]

I’d like to see the data about how the League of Legends fandom and associated tags after the success of Arcane. Because despite being one of the most popular games In the world it has a low amount of written fan works.

I do see lots of fanart.

From what I’ve seen Arcane lead to a massive rise in fan works.

I don't have any plans to look at this fandom anytime soon, but I'll publish this in case anyone else has done relevant analysis.

[destinationtoast]

hi! I'm writing my dissertation on the Ghost community on tumblr and I'm going through the ethics process. my diss is autoethnographic, but I do want to cite posts. the ethics folks want me to make participant information sheets/consent forms because I'm technically working off of implied consent rather than affirmative right now.

what I'm thinking is I'd make a pinned post saying like hi! I'm a Ghost researcher and I want to make some sort of blanket info statement about what that means!

and also make a consent form for citing posts. have you come across anything like this? am I overcomplicating it? thank you so much

I haven't done the kind of research you're talking about, and I don't have good guidance on best practices. But I bet maybe some of my followers may have advice, so I'll open it up to them!

(Good luck with the diss!!)