#got some omgcp got some rpf

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (11-17 Feb 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😠 A Damsel in Distress (PG Wodehouse) - via Serial Reader app; hadn't read before. mostly a pretty standard PGW but the final chapter was off the charts fatphobic even for PGW ☹️

😍 Dishonor on Your Cow (mandarou) - reread, forever fave. shrunkyclunks canon-adjacent AU

🥰 "Pistol Grip" (Vina Jie-Min Prasad) - described in tumblr post as "m/m pwp super soldier gunfucking" and they are telling no lies. This was fantastic.

😊 Howitzer (spacebuck) - 111K, stucky, college hockey AU - got some OMGCP inspo for the set up but very much its own tale; very enjoyable.

💖💖 +99K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Duende (astolat) - Master & Commander: Aubrey/Maturin, 14K -a truly impressive amount of worldbuilding in so few words

The One Where They Adopt a Selkie (mikkimouse) - Teen Wolf: Sterek, 7K - a fun accidental (supernatural) baby acquisition fic

perne in a gyre (enemyofrome) - Punic Wars RPF, Ancient History RPF: Scipio Africanus/Hannibal Barca, 7K - brilliant & hilarious modern AU for fucking PUNIC WARS RPF! hannibal's taking a gap year/getting away from being the rich kid & ends up staying at Scipio's family AirBnB. and there's only one bed. Fave quotes: 'He was sharing a room with some kind of glittery Italian twink, and there was a grumpy eagle glowering at him from the headboard as if he’d offended it in a past life, but at least he couldn’t see the wolf piercings anymore, so it was fine. It was all just fine.' and 'Then Mago came back. “Soggy twink at the door for you.” “Didn't order one,” said Hannibal. Then the word twink sank in, and he looked up. “Is he glittery?” “Like a unicorn.” “Mierda,” said Hannibal. “That’s my twink.”'

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

The Graham Norton Show - s31, e14 (Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Kingsley Ben-Adir)

The Repair Shop - s1, e1

QI - series S, ep 6

Ghosts (US) - s2, e8-15

Game Changer - s6, e1

Dirty Laundry - s3, e12

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Party Politics" (s21, e6)

D20: Adventuring Party - "You Are The Chosen None" (s16, e6)

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

⭐ Up First - The Sunday Story: More Than Friends

What Next: TBD - Breaking Up with Dating Apps

The Allusionist - 189. Mouthful of Fortune

⭐ Hit Parade - Hello, Gorgeous Edition

Vibe Check - UsherBowl…and Beyoncé?!

Pop Culture Happy Hour - 2024 Super Bowl, Plus Beyoncé's New Singles

Throughline - The Hindu Text That Continues to Influence Indian Politics

Short Wave - The Shared History Of The Chinese And Gregorian Calendars

The Sporkful - Can A Stanley Drinking Cup Really Withstand A Car Fire?

⭐ The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Robert Is Here

I Said No Gifts! - Joel Kim Booster Disobeys Bridger

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Toy Story

NPR's Book of the Day - 'Toxic' looks back on Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and tabloid culture in the 2000s

All Songs Considered - Mix messages: Listeners share the songs that say 'I've got a crush on you'

Switched on Pop - The Star Spangled Banger!

I Said No Gifts! - Emma Thompson Disobeys Bridger

Vibe Check - Rollercoaster of Love (and Hate)

Short Wave - Celebrate Valentine's Day With These Queer Animals

Outward - The Inherent Queerness of Poetry

⭐ Code Switch - Before the apps, people used newspapers to find love

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Platonic Love In Pop Culture

Culture Gabfest - We’re Saving Our Own Lives

⭐ The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Owamni

Decoder Ring - Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same?

The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week - Government Cheese, Mitochondria NOT Powerhousing, Dawn of the Cockroach

Ologies with Alie Ward - Hydrochoerology (CAPYBARAS) with Elizabeth Congdon

Throughline - Love, Throughline

The Assignment with Audie Cornish - Gen Z In the Workplace: Rethinking Business Etiquette

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Damanhur

Up First - KC Parade Shooting, Russian Space Nukes, Migrant Crossings Drop

Films To Be Buried With - Eddie Marsan

⭐ 99% Invisible #570 - The White Castle System of Eating Houses

Welcome to Night Vale #242 - The New Branch

Short Wave - The U.N.'s First-Ever Analysis Of World's Migratory Species Just Dropped

Dear Prudence - How Do I Get Over Someone I Never Dated? Help!

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Feud And What's Making Us Happy

Endless Thread - Dinner and a (Slide) Show

All Songs Considered - New Music Friday: 5 albums out Feb. 16, plus 'Rhapsody in Blue' still thrills at 100

⭐ You're Dead to Me - History of Bollywood

Sound Up! - Audience reaction to Rock Hall Noms, Mark reviews Stevie Nicks live and Chris Molanphy breaks down how Beyonce will impact country music and radio.

It's Been a Minute - Legendary choreographer Fatima Robinson on moving through changes in dance

99% Invisible - The Power Broker #2: Jamelle Bouie

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! - WWDTM: Sleater-Kinney

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Presenting Barbra Streisand

Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox

[tulakhord]

heads up seven up

i was tagged by @lucdubois​ to post seven sentences from a wip or seven sentences from various wips! these are more like, uh, excerpts? oops. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1. Two days later he gets cornered by his captain at practice when he’s resting between sets. It doesn’t seem fair to ambush a man while he’s flat on the bench press. Troy was having a very functional time staring at the ceiling and not thinking about Adam’s dimples at all.  “Stech,” Bo says pleasantly, leaning over into Troy’s field of vision, “why is Petey posting thirst traps again?” 2. “You're telling me you weren't fucking around with Connor through juniors,” says Mitch, feeling slightly unhinged. 3. “Can’t keep your hands off that Quebecois meat, eh, bud?”  “Nooooo,” Mat protests, clawing at his own traitor face, “I’m just naturally tactile.” 4. It still gets him every time, though, when General Solo looks his way and lowers his voice and says please, uncomfortable giving commands even after all these years. When he comes down to it, Poe’s not really saying yes so much as he’s taking another step down the path he’s been on since Senator Leia Organa sat New Republic Defense Fleet Rapier Squadron Commander Dameron down and asked him to go where she could not follow. 5. “I’m doing better than I was,” Jack says. “Head’s not so bad now. Apart from, you know.” Kent does not know. Kent has a three-day-old doctor’s report and a series of text messages from Alicia Zimmermann. Kent has texted back thanks for the update four separate times.  6. He sets his thumb so it sits square at the corner of Bitty’s mouth. Bitty presses forward just a little, just enough that he can feel the line of it against the bone, pulling his lips slant. He feels like he’s on fire. He thinks, loud enough that Parson must be able to hear it, kiss me. Keep your goddamn hands on me and kiss me. 7. Whiskey carefully sets his milk on the countertop, opens up the cupboard, and gets out a bottle of Wild Turkey instead. “If it ain’t too much to ask,” Bitty says weakly, slumping into a chair, “I’ll take some of that as well.” 

i do not know who has already been tagged but i’ll tag @raylangivins​ :)

[beggingwolf]

I actually got into watching hockey by accidentally stumbling on hockey rpf… and liking it so much that I started to do some googling so I could understand better what I was reading - and next thing you know I’m watching game recaps on youtube and getting invested in teams hahaha

that's delightful! I started by reading rpf too; I think Sid was a minor character (or mentioned) in an omgcp fic I read, and then when ngozi said something along the lines of "jack is like me taking Sidney Crosby’s life and ruining it" I was like Well I Think It's Time For Me To Investigate This Sidney Person. Off to find the rpf I went.

...five years later, here we are.

[garden-of-succulents]

Just got back from Calgary, where I was visiting family but also got to sneak in a gabfest over coffee with @crosmopolitan.  It was so nice—we're not in totally compatible areas of fandom (RPF squicks me out) but it was so nice to mutually talk each other's head off about how outsiders don't understand just how toxic hockey culture is, and the phrase "like stones in our throats" gets us totally verklempt, and Sheldon Kennedy is pretty much the best person ever, and fandom on Livejournal was totally full of toxic bullshit and yet it does feel like there was more opportunity for cozy, intimate, thoughtful conversation there, and there is some amazing work being done in OMGCP fandom about trying to wedge in diversity even when certain ships or dynamics don't seem to lend themselves to it (special shoutout to @zombizombi's Jeff Troy, who's a local Stoney Nakoda boy), and I really do need to write a guide to BPD for laypeople, and maybe what fandom needs is people actively mentoring teenagers in effective activism instead of just waiting for them to learn the nuts and bolts (as opposed to flashy callouts) in college, and—

—and I love fandom a lot more consequently, okay. It was really really nice.

[signechan]

Friday fic recs only it’s a monday so the world is probably ending.

Last Friday I was watching some hockey in Nottingham (fuck the Steelers) and this Friday I was ice skating with my sister but I need to get all these recs off my kindle so here we go. On a monday!

Check Please

Best Laid Plans (18596 words) by Euphorion Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Check Please! (Webcomic) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Larissa "Lardo" Duan/Shitty Knight, Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann, Adam "Holster" Birkholtz/Justin "Ransom" Oluransi, OMC/Eric Bittle Characters: Shitty Knight, Larissa "Lardo" Duan, Eric Bittle, Jack Zimmermann, Justin "Ransom" Oluransi, Adam "Holster" Birkholtz, Original Male Character(s) Additional Tags: Unresolved Sexual Tension, Bisexual Lardo, Cunnilingus, shitty's stupid plans, lots of discussion of gender and sexuality stuff, Getting Together, Asexuality Spectrum, Drinking, Discussions of Homophobia, coming out stories Series: Part 1 of Best Laid Plans Summary:

"Dude," said Holster, his eyes huge, "that's so sad. We gotta get them together."

"This isn't a romcom, Holtzy, " Ransom said, patting his arm. "I'm sure that's not what Shitty had in mind."

"Actually," said Shitty, "that's exactly what I had in mind. And I've got a plan."

Carry You There (1886 words) by foryouandbits Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Check Please! (Webcomic) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann Characters: Eric Bittle, Jack Zimmermann, Shitty Knight, Justin "Ransom" Oluransi, Adam "Holster" Birkholtz Additional Tags: Ficlet, Drunk bitty, Pre-Relationship Series: Part 11 of Tumblr Ficlets Summary:

Jack carries a drunk Bitty up the stairs.

Do You Have a Mirror in Your Pocket? (1955 words) by the_one_that_fell Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Check Please! (Webcomic) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann Characters: Eric Bittle, Jack Zimmermann, Samwell Men's Hockey Team Additional Tags: Bad Pick-Up Lines, Getting Together, Bad Flirting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Series: Part 4 of omgcp tumblr prompts Summary:

“Hit me with your best shot, Mr. Zimmermann,” Bitty said, steeling himself for the Zimmermann Charm.

As it turned out, the Zimmermann Charm was a goddamn myth.

Hockey RPF

Coffee in the Morning (2459 words) by thinkzebrasfirst Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Paul Martin, James Neal, Alexander Ovechkin Additional Tags: Blind Date Summary:

“Hi, are you Geno?

The man looks up from his book, brown eyes comically wide. He blinks at Sid and Sid sees the earbuds in the man’s ears for the first time.

“Sorry?” His accent is thick and Sid thinks it’s Russian. It’s weird Nealer didn’t mention that.

“Are you Geno? Nealer’s friend, um, James Neal, he sort of took it upon himself to play matchmaker?” He trails off, a niggling doubt in the back of his mind that he’s just made a fool of himself in this coffee shop and now can never come back here ever again.

“Oh! Geno, yes!”

The Truth About Cats, Dogs and Penguins (23654 words) by Hils Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin, Carl Hagelin/Phil Kessel Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel Additional Tags: Alternate Universe Summary:

Geno wasn't exactly looking for love, but these things are out of your hands when you're friends with Alexander Ovechkin.

Sidney wasn't exactly looking for love either, but it's hard to tell that to a bunch of meddling French-Canadians.

Or the one where Geno runs an animals shelter, Sid tries online dating under a fake name, and romance happens.

the prettiest thing (i've ever seen) (5900 words) by CloudCover Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins Ensemble, the Gonchar Family Additional Tags: Fluff, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), Teacher!Sid, Kid Fic, Kinda, Meddling French Canadians Summary:

Dinnertime conversation at the Gonchars’ tends to circle back again and again to the same topics of conversation, usually thanks to Zhenya’s goddaughters.

Tonight it is, as it often is, all about Victoria's kindergarten teacher, Mr. Crosby. Out of whose ass sunshine and rainbows shine, apparently. Or at least that’s Zhenya’s fast and loose interpretation of things.

magic in the midnight sun (8381 words) by hapakitsune Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby Additional Tags: Magic, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Curses Summary:

There's a curse mark on the back of Sidney's neck.

Stick Check (17110 words) by orphan_account, uraneia Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby Additional Tags: Crack, Humor, Fluff, PWP, D/s themes, First Time, Sex Toys, Comeplay Summary:

Sid's on-ice slump has invaded his pants. Luckily Geno knows just how to stickhandle this particular problem.

Translations (5367 words) by jezziejay Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Summary:

Five times Sid plans to tell Geno he loves him and one time he doesn't.

Friday Night Arrives Without a Suitcase (14669 words) by marycontraire Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF, Sports RPF Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Danny Briere/Claude Giroux Characters: Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, Carson Briere, Caelan Briere, Cameron Briere Additional Tags: Domesticity, Berlin - Freeform Summary:

“People who want to eat my grilled cheese for dinner should learn not to interrupt the delicate purchasing process with their unwelcome mockery,” Claude says.

Danny and Claude move to Berlin. Nothing really changes, until everything does.

“But my soul is still full of desires” (7274 words) by C_Diva Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin Additional Tags: Coming Out, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s) Series: Part 1 of "Пробужденье" (Awakening) Summary:

No one blinks twice when Sidney mentions he’s going to see two hockey games while he’s in Russia. It’s Sid, and everyone knows that there’s only one thing he loves more than owning a Tim Hortons in his hometown and that’s Russian ice hockey.

Bias (6141 words) by withershins Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Mario Lemieux, Evgeni Malkin, Colby Armstrong, Maxime Talbot, Jack Johnson, Sergei Gonchar Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Mutants, Alternate Universe - X-Men Fusion, Pre-Relationship Series: Part 1 of mutant au Summary:

On the government's classified mutant register—and on the NHL's records—Sidney is listed as Sidney Patrick Crosby, Nova Scotia, Canada: Class Two. Death visions, skin contact required.

Persistence (5290 words) by MapleMermaid Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Original Female Character(s), Trina Crosby Additional Tags: Magical Realism, Animal Transformation Series: Part 1 of Persistence Summary:

It’s impossible, they say. No one knows how it happened, they say. Nothing can be done, they say.

They never thought to factor in Geno Malkin.

The Gentlest Chains (1421 words) by LadyJanelly Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin Additional Tags: AU, Bonding, preslash, Happy Ending Series: Part 1 of The Gentlest Chains Summary:

Beyond that door is a boy Sid has skated with six times, and spoken to twice. He’s a year older than Sid is, and drugged out of his mind on Bonding agent.

Sing Your Praises (5520 words) by itsacoup Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Additional Tags: Praise Kink, First Time, Come Eating Series: Part 1 of Secret Chord (Hallelujah) Summary:

When Zhenya thinks about it later, alone in his hotel room, he can’t even understand it. Fine, they don’t like him because he’s good, but their reaction to him being the best hockey player in the world is to tell him he’s bad at hockey? It’s not even defensible, and it makes Zhenya more than a little steamed up, lying on the lumpy hotel bed. He imagines punching faces that are twisted up as they yell, spittle flying, chanting Sidney Crosby sucks until they can’t chant past the broken teeth and black eyes he leaves them with, until he feels like Sid’s honor is properly avenged and he can rest easy.

Careful Cooking (19917 words) by Java_Genie Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Taylor Crosby Additional Tags: Kid Fic, Alternate Universe Series: Part 1 of With Abandon Summary:

Their supply guy has totally fucked them. Sid doesn’t know if it was just an off day at the warehouse, or if Ovie insulted the guy’s mother again, but whatever the cause, there’s a metric fuckton of peas in the walk in.

“I’m never taking a night off ever again,” Sid says ominously.

OR: Sid raises his sister, manages the kitchen in Mario's restaurant and tries not to fall in love with Geno. AU of the German film Mostly Martha

Stubborner as Mule (3502 words) by sahiya Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin Additional Tags: Food Poisoning, Nausea, Hurt/Comfort, Vomiting (off screen), Sickfic Summary:

Healthy Sid is stubborn. Sick Sid is stupid stubborn. As mule.

All I Ever Wanted (10033 words) by sevenfists Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin Additional Tags: Getting Together, Getting Back Together, Vacation, Feelings, Hot Tub, True Love Summary:

Sidney said, “You should come to Vail with me.”

Zhenya rolled his eyes. Just what he needed: a relaxing week of power skating drills with Sidney.

Scott Wilson and the Case of the Levitsky House Ghosts (11046 words) by withershins Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Scott Wilson, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Matt Murray, Oskar Sundqvist, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Magic Summary:

How to reunite long-dead lovers wasn't exactly on the list of skills Scott expected to learn during summer hockey camp.

Dezinformatsiya (35445 words) by othersideofthis Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin, Evgeni Malkin/Original Female Character(s) Characters: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin, Original Characters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Alternate Universe - Historical, minor original character death, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Non-Graphic Violence, undiagnosed mental illness Summary:

(dezinformatsiya: disinformation; the deliberate spreading of false information to mislead an enemy as to one's position or course of action)

Sidney leads them to a fallen log, just off the bank, still shrouded by trees. They can see the river, but no one can see them. If he were there with anyone else -- if he actually wanted to pursue Zoya the way everyone at work wants him to -- the spot would be romantic. But this is Sidney, and Zhenya knows he can’t have that.

“Nice spot,” Zhenya announces. He brushes some leaves off of the log then lowers himself to sit. “Very nice. Quiet, you hide back here. Bet you take pretty girls here, be alone.”

Sidney stops before he sits and looks at Zhenya; the hurt expression that crosses his face slides away so quickly that Zhenya isn’t even sure that he saw it at all. “No,” he says finally as he sits down. “No, only surly Soviet defectors who ask too many questions.”

(or: Sidney Crosby and the spy who loved him)

Welcome Home (61832 words) by oflights Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Hockey RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: Underage Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin Characters: Pittsburgh Penguins Ensemble, Crosby Family, Malkin Family Additional Tags: Time Travel, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Coming of Age, Soulmates Summary:

On his seventh birthday, Sidney meets 23-year-old time traveler Geno, who tells him that they will play hockey together. And then they do. Loosely based on The Time Traveler's Wife.

[tulakhord]

b/c i was convo’ing about it with @meddyllnat​​ on twitter, i think that sometimes it can be hard to tell (from the reader side, or from the new writer side) what normal engagement looks like on ao3. this is based on my experience as an “average” fic writer across a handful of fandoms; no doubt other writers will have different experiences!

my ao3 fic stats screenshots and discussion thereof under the cut.

first, if you didn’t know: authors have access to a statistics panel, which gives us a basic rundown of hits, kudos, subscriptions, bookmarks, and comment threads on our fic. it’s pretty bare bones, but it’s a nice overview, and it can be drilled down by year or by fic.

by default, we get a daily aggregate email with new kudos, and separate emails for new comments. we don’t get any notification for bookmarks or subscriptions, and while we can see private bookmark totals we don’t see who created them. ditto subscriptions: we see a total count (on works, series, and on our author account) but not the subscriber. if you leave notes in a public bookmark, we only see it if we go click through the bookmarks the same way as anyone else.

i’m not a particularly popular writer, so my stats tend to be average. (at least, that’s my assumption!) the most popular fic i ever wrote was for john wick, and i wrote it verrrry slowly over a period of (mumble) two years due to some pretty big life upheavals. it’s a ten chapter work, with the first chapter published a few months after the second movie came out, and the last chapter published right before the third movie dropped, so i got a built-in bump there. i’m not “active” in that fandom (idek if there is an actual fandom there) but i had one fic i wanted to write so i did. anyway, the stats for it look like this:

meanwhile, my hockey rpf stats look like this:

unstraightening is the most popular, probably because it had a few things going for it: (a) written for a fic fest, (b) written in the fall off-season where we were all riding high between playoffs and hockey restarting, (c) while it’s for a rarepair, has a secondary not-rarepair to draw hits, (d) non-challenging content/feel-good storyline, (e) i put a lot more care into writing it than i did for say, covalence, where i had an idea i wanted to get out but i wasn’t interested in spending a lot of time refining it. if you contrast that with some of the other fics (situational dub-con! mostly sexual! first fic in the ship tag!) it’s pretty obvious why the stats shake out how they have. 

hopping fandoms, my omgcp list looks like this (and yes, i am still finishing second-hand emotion i promise lol): 

again, as expected. afterthoughts is the most popular by a mile. quarter-life closure is a weirder, darker fic than afterthoughts: it gives neither of the two fandom megapairings a happy ending and ends “unhappily”, so i am thoroughly unsurprised by the difference there. i’m honestly amazed as many people kudos’d all to the ground as they did (thank you!) since it’s a one-scene sketch. 

just to finish the list, though the rest of this stuff is all pretty niche:

the hits/kudos ratio on duly and indelibly is my worst by far, but (a) i think that’s typical for that fandom, and (b) it was a treat for an exchange, and the recip seems to have liked it, so i do not care. it was also my first foray into writing f/f in a long while.

overall thoughts: i generally like to see a ~10:1 hits to kudos ratio, regardless of fandom or overall numbers. sometimes i hit it, sometimes not. c’est la vie. other than that, i don’t sweat these stats too much, though obviously it’s always nice to see them go up. :) and of course getting a comment from someone “got” what i was trying to convey with a fic is always extremely nice. i recently (in the past week) got a comment like that on a reasonable amount of trouble, and it made my day.