The AO3 Meme

[jedibuttercup]

My top 10 fics on AO3 by hitcount. (Which were definitely influenced by my starting to list the AO3 link on LJ posts in early 2011; the divide between that and earlier is pretty striking.)

Three are gift fics; the rest are self-indulgent. Two involve hot new TV shows. Six are crossovers. Only two are less than 2,000 words. One is a Big Bang. Only three are really gen (despite that being the majority of my work); the others all contain slash or pre-slash. Only one is from a woman's POV; where's all my Buffy stuff? Though mostly thanks to the Fast and Furious 'verse, the list isn't monochrome.

In fact, #s 1, 2 and 4 are from a single series, which may be the most popular thing I've ever written: The Fast and the Non-Biological Terrestrials, shortformed The Fast and the NBTs.

1. Waking the Beast (Fast and Furious/Transformers Bay-verse) - Brian O'Conner/Mia Toretto, Brian O'Conner/Dominic Toretto; Mature. Dom frowned, the lightness in his expression finally fading as his brows drew together. "What have you done to my car, O'Conner?" Part 1 of a series. Words: 6,001; Hits: 2580.

2. The Right of All Sentient Beings (Fast Five/Transformers Bay-verse) - Brian O'Conner/Dominic Toretto; Teen. "En-bee-whats?" Vince objected. "Are you saying he was in some kind of government experiment?" Part 2 of a series. Words: 7,001; Hits: 2400.

3. The Soul Job (Leverage/Angel) - Eliot-centric genfic; Teen. "We're brothers, not bookends," Eliot growled as he sank into a chair opposite Lindsey, avoiding his teammates' eyes. Words: 25,005; Hits: 2320.

4. Running Ain't Freedom (Fast Five/Transformers Bay-verse) - Brian O'Conner/Dominic Toretto, Han Lue/Gisele Harabo; Teen. It was her. She was thinner in a way that spoke of a long recovery, bones prominent in her face and at her wrists, but the woman in the black motorcycle leathers was definitely Leticia Ortiz. Part 3 of a series. Words: 9,009; Hits: 1907.

5. The Only Logical Conclusion (Dresden Files/Star Trek XI) - Harry-centric genfic; Teen. So perhaps I can be forgiven for walking into a scheduled meeting with Ramirez and assuming the worst when I spotted a man with greenish-pale skin bending over his sprawled body. Words: 5,100; Hits: 1378.

6. Strange Attractors (Jurassic Park) - Alan Grant/Ian Malcolm; Teen. "That's just what a man likes to hear; that his best feature is his hat," Alan sighs dramatically. Words: 1,500; Hits: 1280.

7. Testing the Leash (Grimm) - Nick Burkhardt/Monroe; Teen. Eddie had never really liked fairy tale protagonists. Their stories never ended well for guys like him. Words: 2,600; Hits: 1091.

8. Where You Gonna Run To? (Person of Interest) - John Reese & Harold Finch; Teen. The machine didn't make judgments, just predictions. And it was never wrong. Very, very shortly, a lot of people were going to die. Words: 4,200; Hits: 1084.

9. Bent By Paths Coincident (Firefly/Leverage) - Mal-centric gen; Teen. Mal would recognize the compact, long-haired man in the worn duds anywhere. Words: 1,500; Hits: 1066.

10. Metaphysical Gravity (The Sunshine Epilogue) (Fast Five) - Brian O'Conner/Mia Toretto, Brian O'Conner/Dominic Toretto; Mature. It was kind of ironic that it had taken someone else loving Brian to turn 'not enough' into her 'happily ever after'. Words: 2,201; Hits: 1042.

Comments

[earcmacfithil.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm slightly confused...that's all interesting, but I don't see what makes it a meme.

[jedibuttercup]

What makes it a meme is that I'm not the first person to say, "okay, what are the top 10 fics on the AO3, and what patterns do I notice among them?" There've been at least six others on my flist this week doing the same thing and also calling it a meme. =)

[earcmacfithil.livejournal.com]

Ah. I kind of thought most memes had some provision that the poster was supposed to call upon others to snatch up the baton, as it were.

[jedibuttercup]

Well, the actual definition of a meme is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." - it's the spreading part that matters, not the finger-wagging to get others to do it. (In fact, I almost invariably avoid the ones with demands; I don't answer many memes, but the ones that do, are just because I saw more than one other person doing it and thought it was an interesting concept.)

[earcmacfithil.livejournal.com]

Huh. And all this time, I thought it was just an online community term.

I figure doing this particular meme myself might not be too horribly revealing. I have 20 stories up on AO3 and, as I'm sure you're aware, at least half are Tangled...so the stats might not mean much as far as who's reading what. But maybe I'll do it anyway....