AO3 Meme
Stolen from kaydeefalls.
I came very late to the AO3 party, mostly because I am the world's laziest person. And I still haven't transferred all my DW fic over there, because, well, do you know how much DW fic I have? I started to transfer it, but the "import LJ entry" feature wasn't working properly and it was taking forever and it wouldn't do what I wanted it to do, etc., etc., so I got annoyed and stopped. However, when I started to write Sherlockfic, I thought, Here's a chance for me to keep up with AO3 posting right from the very beginning (and Sherlock seems to be big into AO3 as a fandom, whereas DW wasn't for a long time, so I have, in my Sherlock phase, grown more comfortable with everything about AO3).
So, anyway, that means I only have 22 fics on AO3, so analyzing my top 10 in hitcount isn't as interesting as it could otherwise be. However, I was still curious, for REASONS that I will share below.
1. John Watson's 12 Things Happy People Do. Sherlock, Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson, Molly Hooper, Harry Watson; 4,617 hits
2. An Empty House. Sherlock, Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson; 3,406 hits
3. Middlegame. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + John; 3,216 hits
4. Everything Is Chess. Sherlock, Mycroft, Sherlock; 2,424 hits
5. Beyond Scotch. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade; 1,924 hits
6. Scotch. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson, John; 1,787 hits
7. Scotch, the Third. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson, John; 1,626 hits
8. Scotch, Considered. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + John; 1,526 hits
9. Scotch, Declined. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade; 1,520 hits
10. Scotch, Examined. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + John; 1,444 hits
So, here's what I find interesting about this: The number of people who have apparently read the conclusion of Mycroft and Lestrade's "Scotch" arc ("Beyond Scotch") without having read the previous parts, because "Beyond Scotch" is, in fact, the most-read part of the "Scotch" arc. Now, what I assume is that AO3 isn't counting unique hits. So, with the chaptered fics, it's counting a hit on each chapter if people are reading as it's being posted, so that in actuality the number of people reading a chaptered fic is much lower than the number of hits, right? So, it's possible, then, that what's going on with "Scotch" is that maybe most people read the entire arc, but they liked the "Beyond Scotch" story the best and are re-reading it, and that's why it registers so many more hits than the rest of the "Scotch" series? Only because it just strikes me as funny to just read the last story in a series, and I'm interested in thoughts on this. I am usually inclined to read the first story and, if it doesn't catch my interest, not go on. But do some people read the last story to see if it's worth it to go back and read the rest?
I came very late to the AO3 party, mostly because I am the world's laziest person. And I still haven't transferred all my DW fic over there, because, well, do you know how much DW fic I have? I started to transfer it, but the "import LJ entry" feature wasn't working properly and it was taking forever and it wouldn't do what I wanted it to do, etc., etc., so I got annoyed and stopped. However, when I started to write Sherlockfic, I thought, Here's a chance for me to keep up with AO3 posting right from the very beginning (and Sherlock seems to be big into AO3 as a fandom, whereas DW wasn't for a long time, so I have, in my Sherlock phase, grown more comfortable with everything about AO3).
So, anyway, that means I only have 22 fics on AO3, so analyzing my top 10 in hitcount isn't as interesting as it could otherwise be. However, I was still curious, for REASONS that I will share below.
1. John Watson's 12 Things Happy People Do. Sherlock, Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson, Molly Hooper, Harry Watson; 4,617 hits
2. An Empty House. Sherlock, Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson; 3,406 hits
3. Middlegame. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + John; 3,216 hits
4. Everything Is Chess. Sherlock, Mycroft, Sherlock; 2,424 hits
5. Beyond Scotch. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade; 1,924 hits
6. Scotch. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson, John; 1,787 hits
7. Scotch, the Third. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + Mrs. Hudson, John; 1,626 hits
8. Scotch, Considered. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + John; 1,526 hits
9. Scotch, Declined. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade; 1,520 hits
10. Scotch, Examined. Sherlock, Mycroft/Lestrade + John; 1,444 hits
So, here's what I find interesting about this: The number of people who have apparently read the conclusion of Mycroft and Lestrade's "Scotch" arc ("Beyond Scotch") without having read the previous parts, because "Beyond Scotch" is, in fact, the most-read part of the "Scotch" arc. Now, what I assume is that AO3 isn't counting unique hits. So, with the chaptered fics, it's counting a hit on each chapter if people are reading as it's being posted, so that in actuality the number of people reading a chaptered fic is much lower than the number of hits, right? So, it's possible, then, that what's going on with "Scotch" is that maybe most people read the entire arc, but they liked the "Beyond Scotch" story the best and are re-reading it, and that's why it registers so many more hits than the rest of the "Scotch" series? Only because it just strikes me as funny to just read the last story in a series, and I'm interested in thoughts on this. I am usually inclined to read the first story and, if it doesn't catch my interest, not go on. But do some people read the last story to see if it's worth it to go back and read the rest?