AO3 Zutara Top 10 Hits

Shitty statistics brings you a list of the Top 10 most popular Zutara fics on AO3. PLEASE READ THE FAQ! Submit for the Author Feature!

[zktop10]

Welcome to the blog!

To get the most of out of the content, here are some quick links:

Please read the FAQ about what this is, how to interact, and what to expect

Submit a request for Fresh Fic Friday!

Here is the Top 10 ALL Fics

Check out the tagged Top 10 posts

Sign up for the Author Feature

And feel free to ask me anything. I might not have an answer, but it’s something you can do!

EDIT: The links do not work on mobile for some reason. You can use the search function for the top 10 tag instead!

[ao3commentoftheday]

If you or someone you know is getting spam comments from guests (rather than logged in users), you don't need to send in a report. You can just use the Spam button located at the bottom of every guest comment. The button will only be visible to the logged-in owner of the work.

If the volume of these spam comments is overwhelming, you can also edit a single work or edit multiple works to restrict commenting to only logged in users.

If you're a twitter user, I recommend following AO3_status over there. They're always on top of updates about site downtime and other issues.

[insanitysilver]

I wish more fanartists would put their work on AO3. Just followed an artist who organizes their work by making a series for Fandom X, and within that, they have multi-chapter works for different ships & gen. Every new chapter is just their latest image for that subject.

It's been so delightful not to have to wade through social media algorithms and endless ads.

[ao3commentoftheday]

If you've never posted fanart on AO3 before, you need to know that AO3 doesn't host images. That means you need to upload them somewhere else online and then embed them in your post. There's an FAQ that tells you how.

[mrsackxrman-deactivated20230717]

Postimages — free image hosting / image upload

Provides free image upload and hosting integration for forums. Free picture hosting and photo sharing for websites and blogs.

[northstarfan]

You can also upload your meta works to AO3! Got a 5K essay on cultural appropriation in Dragon Age? Or a multi-part work on queer subtext in the X-Men broken down by writer and era? Post it - we love to see it!

Fanfic may be the biggest part of the archive, but that’s not all it’s there for!

[insanitysilver]

Yes yes yes yes!! And may I encourage people to use this tagging system:

"metafiction" - for self-aware fiction "meta analysis" - fannish nonfiction (also consider the "Essay" tag!)

Makes it easier to differentiate under the "meta" tag umbrella!

[degenderates]

You can also post your fanvids there as well! Just make sure to host it somewhere else first (YouTube, video, etc)

[textsfromthefifthbasement]

I love it when anons/guests find my works and kudo/leave reviews, but given the new revelation that Elon Musk is using bots to mine AO3 fanfiction for a writing AI without writer’s permission, my works are now archive-locked and only available for people with an AO3 account.

[vanyamired]

r/AO3 - Sudowrites scraping and mining AO3 for it's writing AI

241 votes and 35 comments so far on Reddit

[not-a-regular-mom]

what the fuck.

[dresupi]

In case you didn’t know how to do this in one fell swoop, 

Dashboard > Profile > Edit My Works > All > Edit > Scroll down to Visability and click ‘only show to registered users’

[bluegrasshole]

send me a made-up fic title and i'll tell you what i would write to go with it

[kyloren]

*sweeps all of my AU ideas under the rug* why must I be called out this way?

[ghostgirl19posts]

@zeldaseyebrows oof this got me

[sparrowsarus]

If y'all could read this fic in my brain you would be so impressed.

[pugetprincess]

Zutara Recs ??

I have a question for you zutara stans!  I know we all have our all time favorite fics, the ones we’d like DIE for, but what are your most favorite fics that have only recently been published??  Let’s say in just the last couple years?  

[gemgirl28]

Ok so I’ve been wanting to do a fic rec list for a while but I have read so many fics they are jumbled up in my head. Let’s see if restricting it to “published in the past year” keeps it from getting out of hand (probably not).

Mind the ratings y'all.

The Solace of Night (E) By @formerlygoldilocks - Are y'all tired of me screaming about this fic yet? Too bad it changed my life.

Picking up the Pieces (E) by @ifyouwereamelodymeg - The puzzle as a metaphor? Just lovely

Hollow (E) by @oerhisheartashadow - I am impatiently waiting for part three but will be screaming about this series forever

what are you doing new year’s eve (E) by @ajstyyling - 👏Himbo👏Zuko👏rights👏

Heartsong (T) by @wewere-angels - Siren!Katara. Need I say more?

take my hand in secret (G) by @ladamapintada-deactivated202106 - I think about this fic so much it’s so sweet

The Summer of the Switching Sickness (E) by @fictionissocialinquiry - It’s crack but then it makes you feel things. How dare.

i can feel it in my bones (E) by @markedmage - I mean the whole series but this one especially just right in the feelings

dry kindling burns the hottest (E) by @fiyazu-lorko - Look sometimes they just hate each other. But they gonna fuck.

Purr (E) by @hello-athens - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reread this fic (but it’s a lot).

Cinderblossom (E) by @kashicanhaz - The ouchie is worth it for the ending

I Cannot Say It All In Lines (T) by @cablesscutie - BLACKSMITH!ZUKO

A Little Catharsis (E) by @littlestarlost - I think about this fic at least once a day.

Pale Fire (E) by @ekphrastic - Just GORGEOUS

The Benefits of Exercise (E) by @seraluci - I am very happy this fic is back

For Pride and Honor (E) by @neincraff - The historical details make for an extra fun read

Lyk Dis (E) by @slpytea - a smut LEGEND

New Girl (M) by @asajjvxntress - New Girl + Zutara = Amazing

Good Boy (E) by @laadychat - Domtara anyone?

Souvenirs We Brought Back From Ember Island (M) by @jasmine-tea-latte - I don’t normally like this trope but I like this series.

Pumpkin Patch Proposal (G) by @thesavagedaughter0627 - Am I a basic bitch for loving a fall series? Sure. Do I care? No.

Waffleosophy (G) by @lettersfromn0where - Another one people are probably tired of me talking about but the LITERAL FLUFF!

Covered in You (M) by @evergreenonthehorizon - Look evergreen killed zk month but the pining? My heart.

Hot to Bake a Cake (T) by @neurologicaldamage - Fluff fluff fluff

Dragons (E) by @ladyaniko - Crack smut that’s just delightful

round two (E) by @ahumanintraining - ETFP()

Waiting on a Steady Sun (M) by @nire-the-mithridatist - *singing* The Pining!

I Never Knew: Till the Night I Held You (G) by @tea-and-la - Zutara Prom!

Zutara Drabbles (T) by @bulletproofteacup - Look I did not want to watch Pacific Rim the first time I saw it but this made me want to watch it again.

Seal My Heart and Break My Pride (T) by @rideboldlyride - The only wip on this list but also it just pulled me in from the start

Of Lanterns and Turtle Ducks (G) by @zukos-calming-tea - My HEART

Honestly I could go on and on but we’ll cut it off here hmmm?

[littlestarlost]

ahhhh thanks so much for the shout-out! <3

[clockworkspider]

Hey since fandom is reviving on tumblr...

We need to bring back fic rec lists but like, everyone needs to be so normal about it.

This will only work if you don't get publicly upset about your fic not being included on fic rec lists or people having frank reviews/warnings on their fic rec list (eg. I greatly enjoyed this fic but X was very OOC).

This will also only work if you're normal about clearly labeled content for fic recs. So none of the "you included a fic with implied incest side ship on a fic rec list for my otp and therefore we can't be friends anymore and I have to make a callout post" drama.

Cause like. Fic rec lists used to be so vital in fandoms for short fics, gen fics, semi-popular side-pairings, and underappreciated writers. Not everyone's taste match with the highest kudos fics on ao3. We should bring them back. We should reblog people's fic rec lists in our fandom/circle and add our own. We should second people's recs when we agree.

[clockworkspider]

So the importance of fic recs in fandom culture is that it introduce secondary content curation. It's a way for people to share/see fics without the fic writer themselves having to market/promote their own fic. This benefits fic authors. But fic rec isn't for fic authors.

A rec list is from readers to other readers. (Even tho I'm a fanfic writer, when I make a fic rec, it's from POV of a reader to other readers.)

And it's important for everyone to have this distinction, because if a rec list says "7/10 great read but kinda slow" the rec-er is not speaking to the author or offering criticism, the rec-er is warning other readers. It's distinctively different from comments, which are directed at the author.

An author can "choose not to use archival content warning" and the rec for it can have detailed cw for everything. A fic can choose to have no spoiler in the tags but the rec-er can choose to decide actually knowing the couple broke up is pretty fucking important. This too is an important part of fandom and adds layers to ways people can engage with fan-fiction.

In the current era of intense self-promo fic authors have all the pressure of framing their own fic, but also all the power. This shouldn't be the case. We need secondary curation to balance the fandom ecosystem. It'll benefit both writers and readers.

[autie-j]

Reads a fanfic: that was good, I'll leave a kudos

AO3: You have already left kudos here

Me:

[soopersara]

Fic Printing

Only by Starlight

Y'all, I did the thing, and I am delighted with how it turned out! The thing I wrote exists in physical form!

Or... y'know, technically it exists in two physical forms because I had to print it twice to figure out some formatting glitches, but IT EXISTS! And as promised, I'll be sharing the print-ready files (and info on where to order a printed copy) for anyone who's interested in getting a fic in book form (in a reblog, because Tumblr and links don't always get along).

In the meantime, a sneak peek at the future fic printings that I'm planning to work on:

... okay, so some of these are nowhere near being ready to print because they're not... y'know, written yet, but I&S Book 1 Volume 1 is ordered and should be here in a few weeks, and when I get the last few chapters of Book 1 proofed, I'll put together Volume 2 and order that too. I'm just excited about this, and having stylistic consistency for the series is one of my favorite things.

And I fully intend to get all my other stuff printed too, I'm just trying to figure out which groups of short fics/oneshots work best as a collection. Once I get that all hammered out, I'll definitely have more printable files to share!

[ao3commentoftheday]

I think I want to do an ao3 site skin based on one of those colour swatch aesthetic thingies. Anyone have some good light mode inspo?

[ao3commentoftheday]

[image is a screenshot of the top of the front page of AO3. The top of the site has a rainbow background that arches up into the top left corner. above the rainbow is the site title. Below the rainbow is the greeting to the logged in user. Below that is the header menu with a background the same orange as appears in the rainbow. The Find your favourites section is titled in the same green. Three tags have been favourited and their backgrounds are purple, pink, and blue. The background for the entire page is a pale, pastel peach]

it begins...

[ao3commentoftheday]

If you like rainbows and/or pride flags and don't want to wait around for me to finish this thing, I have great news! AO3 user ElectricAlice has you covered in both light and dark mode, for desktop or mobile:

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

please leave them some kudos. they deserve it :D

[anexperimentallife]

I feel so attacked right now...

[lioness--hart]

[chewedcorn]

Unreasonable Ideas

[unlettered-heathen]

It seems silly but this is why it’s so important to give yourself downtime where you can just let your brain idle!! You gotta let yourself become the cardboard box, trying to make ideas is just herding cats so let them come to you instead

[xirlos]

This is especially useful for ADHD people – chasing something relentlessly will just burn you out. You’ll find it if you divert attention, annoyingly – use the weird psychological quirks to your advantage!

[tkingfisher]

“Become the cardboard box” is terrifyingly good advice.

[sassyresacon1990]

why am i like this

[anneapocalypse]

I Didn’t Think I Shipped It But The Fic Writers for This Ship Really Brought Their A Game: a memoir.

[biodead-on-the-biobed]

I Didn’t Know This Ship Existed Previously But Now I’m In Hell: the sequel

[liaragaming]

I Used To Hate This Ship, What Have You Done?!: the third installment

[greentrickster]

I Ruined Myself With This Ship And Now I’m Taking You All Down With Me: a memoir

[fineillsignup]

I’m The Only One Writing This Ship But I WILL Convert Some of You or So Help Me: a manifesto

[maniacfish]

This Used To Be A Crack Ship But Now I See The Potential Oh God: a confession

[elidyce]

I Didn’t Even Ship It But Someone Dared Me To Convince Them It Could Work And I Convinced Us Both: a whoopsie-doodle

[kataclysmicsass]

@blackkatmagic

[lesbianfanfictionenthusiast]

"good night" i say as i open the browser to 207 ao3 tabs