#kotlc survey results

[bookwyrminspiration]

ok so i was thinking abt what was like. off. to me abt stellarlune and i realized it kinda felt like a bad movie adaptation of a book? like it felt (to me) more like a list of plot points that she went through and checked off rather than the more natural flow that the other books had. im guessing this is bc a) she went to film school and b) she actually planned out the plot beforehand this time but thoughts?

Oh that's a interesting comparison proposition! I must admit I have seen few book adaptations so my sense of them isn't refined, but this is definitely a possibility.

Shannon has said that her film school background influences how she writes, but I hesitate to say it's the reason this book is off; she's been influenced by her film school background for the entire series, not just for Stellarlune. That's not something new, unlike this shift.

I think it's more likely that the different planning approach she used impacted the story, your B guess. The entire series prior has had a less concrete structure going in, so even if that's not to some people's taste it's at least consistent. Now with a more structured approach, even though plans can be helpful, it's at contrast with what we're used to--and what Shannon's used to writing, so it doesn't feel quite right.

It's also possible that the off feeling is part of the preparation for the final book(s). The story is coming to a close, and so how that's written and the approach needed may be different from what we've seen before. We're no longer leading up and hinting and leading up and asking questions, those hints needs to be tied together and those questions answered, which can impact the feeling of a story.

To me, Stellarlune feels like a set up for book 10. As though its not part of the story in its own right but making sure everything's in place--that going through the list and checking things off feeling you mentioned--as much as possible so the final book can do what it needs to.

To summarize, I think there's multiple reasons we can look to as explanation for the different feeling. Not that one of them is correct, but that they all intersect to create this bad movie adaptation-esque novel. She used a different writing approach, the series is starting to end, this book came out after a break and perhaps she's re-finding her writing voice still, etc. Those are just some thoughts, but I hope they satisfy your questioning! I'm always open to talking more :)

[everliving-everblaze]

Best Kotlc Quote: The SURVEY

So, now that everything is said and done, I'm curious—how accurate are the bracket results to which quotes the fandom actually likes best?

This is a fairly simple survey. The first question has you pick one of the top 16 quotes, and the second allows you to write in a different quote you would have liked to win OR stick with your first answer.

If you voted in the bracket, I would really appreciate you filling this out! Obviously, this is still an imperfect way of collecting data, but I'm curious to see how it'll differ. As such, please don't try to convince people to vote a certain way. I want honest, somewhat-uninfluenced opinions!

Thank you!

[gay-otlc]

Keepblr Wrapped 2022

Stats

note: numbers might not be 100% accurate

17 drawings of Fíntan in the definitely canon Neverseen uniform (likely more but tumblr search function sucks so 17 is the amount I found)

528 works published or updated on ao3

-230 ass of Fintan

69 genders transed

420 bowls of Pinterest soup

80085 cursed posts made

A fuck ton of absolute chaos

Year In Review

Most of the world started 2022 by praying this year wouldn’t be as bad as the last two. I started 2022 by being a math gay and posting the results of a survey on the KOTLC tumblr fandom’s gender and sexuality demographics. In conclusion, keepblr is very queer, which we probably didn’t need an official survey to prove.

We celebrated Valentine’s Day by coming up with keeper themed pickup lines, including but not limited to “I hope your mind isn’t as impenetrable as the rest of you” (shoutout to Achilles for that one). Then the Stellarlune cover dropped, and the sapphics of keepblr were all really normal about all the pretty girls on the cover. In honor of Maruca on the cover, Swan dedicated the entirety of March to her.

Other people in the KOTLC fandom have discourse about Sokeefe vs Sophitz. We don’t do that here. We have discourse about the size of Fintan’s ass. The discourse started in May, but Fin continues to deny the (true) accusations that his ass is flat.

As previously mentioned, keepblr is very queer, and we somehow got even gayer when pride month rolled around. Alden and Quinlin had their no homo wedding, but the rest of us were proudly yes homo.

In August, the (in)famous stripper Neverseen uniform post reached 500 notes, and we celebrated by drawing fanart. Unfortunately, some members of the instagram fandom were upset about this, and we had a bit of a war between the platforms, but eventually that died down.

As the release of Stellarlune approached, Arjun decided to redesign the book covers. Marketing KOTLC as a ya tiktok sensation. Using canva. The result was… memorable.

In October, the KOTLC series turned ten years old, and Tobi hosted a month of prompts and events to celebrate.

After years of waiting, Stellarlune was published! This book gave the fandom many great things, like unhinged gardener Fíntan and Prentice pagetime, but it also brought some aggressive Fitz-bashers onto tumblr. They have since been added to Fin’s soup, but not before one of them could send Roisin the iconic “Just because you’re gay doesnt mean Sophie is!!!” ask.

Keepblr’s 2022 will soon end with a fandom-wide secret Santa, that I should probably be working on now instead of writing the year in review. Oops. Anyway, thank you to keepblr for making 2022 slightly more bearable and a lot of fun, and I hope we cause just as much shenanigans in 2023.

[faggot-friday]

are you planning to post the results of the kotlc ship survey?

Yeah, eventually! I'll see how many responses there are first, but the survey itself will remain open until the day I die

[my-swan-song]

Hey folks! I was on the kotlc rp discord and I was convinced by the lovely @bronte-deserves-better and @aysel3928 (who I can’t tag for some reason) to make a kotlc discourse survey because we all love statistics!

So, here’s the link if you want to take it! I really want to see what the fandom thinks of all the points of controversy!

https://forms.gle/8C5GQrP7hP2dVyks8

I’ll give y’all the results soon!

[bronte-deserves-better]

A KOTLC Fandom Discourse Survey

So my wonderful friend put together this great survey on some of the recent discourse in the KOTLC fandom, just to see where most of the fandom stands. It’s 100% anonymous and will only take a few minutes to answer, please help us get lots of results!

Link

[gay-otlc]

Tumblr KOTLC Fandom- Pronoun Demographics

From the survey @an-ungraeceful-swan and I made, here are the results of the question asking "What pronouns do you use?" Participants each wrote in an answer. There were 94 responses.

@tiergan-andrin-alenefar

Hypothesis: There will be more xe/xem users than he/him users

(note: 19 people used all pronouns, so 19 was added to the number of pronouns explicitly specified for each pronoun set)

(another note: all decimals are rounded to the tenths place)

In order of most commonly used pronouns, we have

they/them, at 61 total users (~64.9%)

she/her, at 58 total users (~61.7%)

he/him, at 37 total users (~39.4%)

xe/xem, at 31 total users (~33.0%)

ae/aer, at 30 total users (~31.9%)

fae/faer, at 27 total users (~28.7%)

it/its, at 26 total users (~27.7%)

ey/em, at 21 total users (~22.3%)

ze/hir, at 21 total users (~22.3%)

voi/void, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

cat/cats, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

sea/sear, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

lea/leaf, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

ve/ver, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

disc/discs, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

sil/ver, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

sol/sols, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

star/stars, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

hx/hxm, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

ar/son, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

cy/cyr, at 20 total users (~21.3%)

The data does not support the hypothesis. However, the data does not automatically reject the hypothesis.

Since he/him and xe/xem are the only proportions necessary for this hypothesis, confidence intervals have only been constructed for the two of them. I am 95% confident that the true proportion of he/him users in the KOTLC tumblr fandom is between 29.3% and 49.4%. I am also 95% confident that the true proportion of xe/xem users in the KOTLC tumblr fandom is between 23.3% and 42.7%.

Because of the overlap, there is no significant evidence that either set of pronouns has more users within the KOTLC tumblr fandom.

[gay-otlc]

My favorite responses to "favorite headcanon"

they're all trans

I don’t even remember the difference between canon and fanon anymore

ae/aer biana

✨shorthaired linh✨

Fintan is Sophie's older, trans, time-traveling self.

i like to believe that sophie listens to a lot of early 2000s pop punk and that she thought she had a crush on those greasy guys until she realised later that it was just gender envy

dex had a crush on fitz & marella had a crush on biana in the first book at least. like cmon

Linh is the only elf with a period

None because they're all actually canon what do you mean-

all the main characters move into one giant house together when the series is over

vacker fursona, also fintolkien

babe please i can barely remember the series as it is

I have no thoughts anymore

They all use neopronouns. All of them.

uUUHHHHHHHH (haven't been very active in the fandom recently so idk)

URMOM

Post book eight? Ish after Sophie does a little arson she gets a nice haircut and shaves off like one side of it like Gwen from into the spiderverse

Idk if this counts but the girls in suits

That joke going around that Alden had Fintan talk to Alvar when Alvar was being rebellious. I am SURE this is how it happened

Elf ears rotate in circles (i created this and i am very proud of it)

alden and cassius r toxic exes

Tam and Linh just dye their hair normally but wanted to tell people a cooler story

once keefe comes back they use him as the Meme Fountain(TM)

[gay-otlc]

KOTLC Fandom Demographics- Gender

Not me forgetting about this ahaha-

26 (27.660%) respondents are female.

20 (21.277%) respondents are questioning gender.

15 (15.957%) respondents are nonbinary.

13 (13.83%) respondents are agender, genderless, or N/A

13 (13.83%) respondents are genderqueer.

12 (12.766%) respondents are genderfluid.

10 (10.638%) respondents are demigirls.

6 (6.383%) respondents are masculine or transmasculine.

3 (3.191%) respondents are male.

3 (3.191%) respondents are genderfae.

3 (3.191%) respondents are multigender, bigender, or pangender.

1 (1.064) respondent is cassgender.

1 (1.064) respondent is a demiboy.

1 (1.064) respondent is girlflux.

1 (1.064) respondent is implagender.

1 (1.064) respondent is a paragirl.

1 (1.064) respondent is unlabeled.

1 (1.064) respondent is xumgender.

[gay-otlc]

My favorite responses to "favorite character"

stina because gay girlboss

Biana because *cough cough* lesbian *cough cough*

Fintan Pyren. He's an interesting character. He seems to be attempting to help people, but he's going about it in the absolute worst way possible. He's so chaotic and I love him for that.

marella because marella

I love Dex and Keefe, I love their dynamic together, also they are gay I don’t make the rules but also I definitely do and I declare them as such.

biana because im gay

Elwin for trans of gender goals

Linh, cuz I'm Gae

elwin y know what stan him

Marella because I stan a badass lesbian pyrokinetic

Tiergan, because I too am gay and sad and do not know how to interact with people.

Bronte because he seems very psychologically interesting.

fintan pyren. queer vibes but in a very specifically oh-god-there-is-something-deeply-wrong-with-me kind of way.

UR MOM

on my third read as a far more seasoned queer I was like, yeah he’s [Fintan's] kind of got a point. Favorite gay bitch. Also Tiergan, who’s got immaculate vibes and plenty of room for angst

You expect me to choose? Like, make a decision? The audacity

marella because i relate to her a little too much and biana because i'm a tiny bit in love

Fitz because I can project and living up to parents expectations oh my god, also he’s sexy like me /hj

Lady Cadence. we love an eccentric/begrudging mentor who lives on a boat and is cool with the ogres

Oh also Elwin because yes stan Elwin

Biana is a girlboss obviously

Biana, Stina, or Marella, I think. But I can't ignore Linh, Fitz, Keefe, Dex, Maruca, Tam, or really anyone else. Don't even get me started on Fintan and Bronte. Or Tiergan and Prentice. I love all of them, actually.

Sophie because even though she has shit self preservation she is amazing and fierce.

tam song and I have no explanation why just. him.

uh. yes.

[everliving-everblaze]

KotLC Fanfiction Readers Survey Results

Thank you to everyone that participated! We had a total of 90 responses!

Without further ado, let’s get into it!

How often do you read fanfiction?

The larger blue section is “nearly every day”—it’s a bit tricky to tell them apart.

How old are you?

None of the responders were older than 29.

Do you most often read romance-focused fics?

Trope Ranking - Every Trope You Enjoy Reading

This ranking, unlike the following one, allowed responders to vote for as many tropes as they wanted.

Trope name (# of votes)

Angst (64)

Fluff (62)

Friends to lovers (59)

Enemies to lovers (58)

Slowburn (57)

Mutual pining (56)

High school AU (54)

Hurt/comfort (53)

Soulmate AU (53)

First kiss (52)

Missing scenes (49)

Canon divergence (46)

Established relationship (43)

College AU (42)

Humor (42)

Fake dating (41)

Fix-it fic (40)

Royalty/medieval AU (38)

Fairy tale AU (36)

Amnesia (34)

Magic AU (34)

Coffee shop AU (32)

Major character death (29)

Unrequited love (29)

Miscommunication (26)

Time loop (24)

Crossover (23)

Arranged marriage (22)

Historical AU (22)

Love triangle (22)

Body swap (20)

Baby fic (17)

Write-ins (1-2 votes each): Action, taking place before/after canon, AUs in general, any kid fic, forbidden/secret relationship, chat fic, time travel, whump, found family, superhero AU, de-aging

Trope Ranking -  Favorite Three Tropes

This ranking allowed responders to write down their favorite three tropes. I counted up the amount of times each appeared and ranked them; I did not include any responses that appeared only once.

Enemies to lovers (20)

Angst (19)

Slowburn (15)

Hurt/comfort (14)

Mutual pining (14)

Fluff (13)

Friends to lovers (11) -- Several people specified “childhood” or “best” friends.

Soulmate AU (11) -- One person specified “where the first thing your soulmate says to you is tattooed on your wrist.”

Fake dating (9)

High school AU (9)

Humor (8) -- “Reaction,” “Chat,” and “Twitter” included under this heading.

Major character death (7)

Amnesia (5)

College AU (5)

First kiss (5)

Baby/kid fic (4)

Found family (4) -- “Adopted parents” and “Dadwin” included under this heading.

Missing scenes (4)

Unrequited love (4)

Body swap (3)

Coffee shop AU (3)

Crossovers (3)

Established relationship (3)

Magic AU (3)

Royalty/medieval AU (3)

Time loop (3)

Any kind of AU (2)

Friendship (”non-romance”) (2)

Miscommunication (2)

Superheroes (2)

What do you want to see more KotLC fanfiction of?

Occurred Most Often - Ranked

Fake dating

High school AUs

Pain/death/angst

Slowburn

Humor/Chatfics

Hurt/comfort

Time loop

Soulmate AUs

Missing scenes

Side ships

Enemies to lovers

Less romance

Fluff

Friendship-focused

Major character death

Fix-it  fics

Crossovers

College AU

Time travel

Interesting Responses

I often summarized and simplified these, so many aren’t direct quotes. They are in no particular order.

“More fics in the past filling out backstories of older characters!”

“Fics that show the day-to-day of Elvin life, particularly the Elvin economy and careers.”

“Focusing on all of the characters more equally and not just the love triangle.”

“More AUs in general, just the characters NOT in the world Shannon made for them.”

Conclusion

I hope you found this survey helpful! Go forth, fanfiction writers, and conquer!