AO3 hit counts meme

[terajk]

Let's try this again…

I finally got around to doing the "top ten works by hit count on AO3" meme! I didn't do it last year.



1. The Words Get in the Way (Smellerbee and Toph, 695 hits, 24 comments, 35 kudos and 6 bookmarks)

I wrote this for last year's Remix Redux, from in the audience by handyhunter. I loved the idea of Toph and Smellerbee playing pai sho together, although I was WAY intimidated about writing such a minor character. (I went to make a loop of all of Smellerbee's dialogue in the series. It might be five minutes long.)

2. Control and Other Illusions (Azula/Ty Lee, 623 hits, 1 comment, 11 hits and 3 bookmarks)

For esmenet and last year's queer_fest Here's the DVD Commentary, which is almost as long as the fic.

3. The Princess and the Bandit (AtLA/Aladdin, Jasmine and Toph, 576 hits, 41 kudos, 3 comments and 2 bookmarks)

My first crossover ever! (Oh, dear.) Written for purimgifts last year.

4. Gaps (Zuko and Azula, 524 hits, 5 kudos)

The first fic I wrote about Azula set after the finale; also the first one I wrote dealing with Zuko's Very Complicated Feelings about her then. Plus I was going for Not Entirely Trustworthy POV Character in Less than 400 Words. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking, either.

5. Rewind (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Homura/Madoka, contains graphic violence and major character death) 524 hits, 5 comments, 45 kudos, 7 bookmarks)

I wrote this for last year's yuri_challenge; I'm still bemused it's as popular as it is. On the one hand, it was written during the hiatus and is basically More Episode 10. On the other it's totally id-tastic: since the romantic couple is, like, 12 years old, I could get away with them sharing food and resting their heads on each other's shoulders at the park. Plus, I was angry at the villain. They may have become a scapegoat for Things I Didn't Like About the Canon but Couldn't Put into Words at the Time: namely, that you have all these lovable, fabulous ladies and their universe keeps beating on them and beating on them, and it becomes more and more evident that watching little girls suffer is the point of the show.

6. Attack its Weak Point for Maximum Damage (AtLA, Mai, Azula, Ty Lee, Zuko, 518 hits, 35 kudos, 11 comments, 1 bookmark)

Written as a treat for vi for last year's Lunar New Year gift exchange at white_lotus. Not only did I have to design a tabletop RPG without ever having played one (and screwed up the math so bad, y'all. SO BAD), but I misremembered the meme. (In my defense, Azula wouldn't settle for "massive" damage. She'd want all the damage. ALL of it.)

Remixed most fabulously by glass_icarus as no returns or exchanges (the equilibration remix), which contains this line, which has influenced my understanding of Azula ever since:

Her father's standards are much more demanding, a whetstone she can use to hone herself into a keen-edged blade.

7. The Way Home (Zuko, 510 hits, 13 kudos, 4 comments)

A remix of Delphi's The Path Travelled In other fics I've written, when Zuko and Azula actually are together he avoids dealing with her/gets angry she won't leave. Either he has Very Complicated Feelings or is a victim of bad writing.

8. The Strongest Couple in the Entire World (Azula/Toph, 509 hits, 19 kudos, 4 comments, 2 bookmarks)

It warms my heart to see this pairing in my top ten! (And lizbee's, too! High-five!) This fic was for femslash_kink; it was the first time I'd written anything kinky for a prompt/someone else and I was really nervous, what with the TOTAL ABSENCE OF PORN. It was a while before I could look at its hit count and not think: "Look at all these poor, disappointed people!"

9. Marks (Zuko, 429 hits, 7 kudos, 2 comments)

My first fic_promptly fic, as well as my very first AtLA fic.

10. Apex (Azula & a bunch of people, 404 hits, 8 kudos)

This is the longest and most complex thing I've ever written. (It's also 1465 words; WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) In part, I was trying to hide behind show how Azula's sense of time is as a combination of neurotype and recovering from a psychotic break. It ended up a hot mess. Seriously, part of one of the reviews on FF.net was: "So confused :("