Aaaand there it goes. · 12:51pm Aug 9th, 2012
The site coding finally triumphs, and knocks Mood Wings off of the featured box. Though it's still going strong in popular stories. Yay! 
Again, I must thank all the readers. I never, ever expected the kind of reception Mood Wings got. My jaw is hanging on the floor somewhere...
Just a few numbers:
Those Blue Wings has 1022 thumbs up, 23 thumbs down, and has 1834 favorites. First chapter was posted 41 weeks ago.
Mood Wings has 1046 thumbs up ( 
) 15 thumbs down, and 1155 favorites. And is 5 days old.
I'm somewhat conflicted that the newer work has passed Blue Wings on thumbs so quickly XD
I figure part of this is that fimfic now has a much larger audience, and that people tend to prefer a comedy tagged story. Still, the difference is just staggering.
Anyway! Enough of that.
My next plan is to rework early chapters of Those Blue Wings. The quality difference between those and the current ones is huge, and I must rectify it.
After that, well....
...I have a story idea that, according to fellow authors I've mentioned it to, is "adorable beyond words".
We'll see how that goes 
I shall be waiting for your next story good sir
here have a rainbow dash for motivation.
"adorable beyond words" YES YES
I'll wait here for that.
i.imgur.com/71PLg.jpg
Or it was likely the fact that the large following you gained from "Those Blue Wings" latched onto your newest story rather quickly. As I personally would read anything that you write, knowing the quality of TBW, and having no reason to expect any less of your other stories.
278093
Possibly! Though I "only" had about 200ish watchers before mood wings. I now have closer to 500. So I'm not entirely sure that's where my readers came from.
Mood Wings has 7800 views. I can't compare it to Blue Wings as the individual chapter views are cumulative (so chapter 1 at 16000 is 16000 over the course of 41 weeks...) but on its own, that's an insane amount of views!
I'm not surprised. The story was definitely humorous, but in an inteligent manner if I'm one to judge.
Actualy, expect a thumbs up and fav from me soon. Insomnia makes for an excellent reading companioin, but I would not be able to fully appreciate your other story. To sleep!
Congratulations on your accomplishment!
Grats on the great reception for a great story.
I'm honestly not surprised that it got the response it got. Funny oneshots tend to be pretty popular since they have such a low cost of entry, so to speak, and the new way the featured box works seems to be doing a good job of promoting new stories that are at least reasonably high quality.
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lulxgpocCT1qbpugx.bmp
I find this picture relevant to the situation we're currently occupying.
)
Can't wait for new story!
(I'd give you a complex algorithm why Mood Wings was more popular, but I'm not doing that in a response
278168
I actually would want to see that! Not that I'd really understand it, though :P
278170 Give me a minute, it'll be there
hehe, just be happy about all the fan's you have now ?!
do you give us an info if you're finished the update of "Those Blue Wings" ?
Ooooookay...here we go. Brace thine self for infos and such
.
Mood Wings. It was a revolutionary story which not only amused the minds of all readers, whether they be young (The comedy) Older, (The comedy plus the scientific spin)
Or somewhere in-between. The story could interact with each and every reader in one way or another, so therefore, everyone read it.
Things that would tack on more readers subconsciously~
1. The first picture you had of Appledash. It intrigued a specific group, large enough to garner you several hundred thumbs up. This, by and large, was your hypothetical 'rocket fuel' and launched you to the popular stories list.
2. The title. On it's own, 'Mood Wings' sounds entertaining, interesting, and informational all in one perfect package. People love to learn more about themselves, whether it be via the id, ego, or super-ego. And you my friend, related perfectly to all three of these subconscious factors. Think of this as your rocket's 'Navigational Interface'.
3. The tags. Comedy was present, so bonus points right off the bat. Everyone loves a good laugh, and you delivered perfectly. Even if some people who read your story didn't learn anything, they sure as hell laughed! Think of the tags as the 'Ignition' in your rocket to stardom.
4. The newer, younger generation. Since TBW the popularity of the Ponies as grown six fold. With this sudden influx of (lack of better word) virgin readers, they'll get excited whenever something popular starts up. Wanting to fit in, they read what everybody else is reading weather it be to fit in, comment on how popular it is, or (in extreme cases) actually read for the sake of reading. The moment you got that spot on the feature box, people who didn't have the energy to scroll down clicked on 'Mood Wings'. Some may not have even read it, even though it was genuinely a fantastic read, and just wanted to see what people were commenting about. Yes, there are people who do that. I may or may not do that too occasionally
5. The timing of the story. If I remember correctly, it was on a Saturday? Maybe not, but I think it was a weekend. Anyway, since it was accepted on (insert weekend date here) it's chances of being featured doubled. Why double you may ask? Because there's twice as many people on over the weekends. Who wouldn't want to read about ponies over the weekend? I read it when it first came out and loved it. I doubt many others didn't. Think of this as your 'Coolant' to your rocket. Keeping a stable heat throughout the duration of the main page.
6. You responded to the audience via comments. Take me writing to you right now. That's because of your willing to respond to my comment on your page. A great author doesn't shut him/herself in, ignoring the world at large. A good author is constantly learning about the world and stories around them, feeding off the knowledge they gain from their peers.
And with that, we're...done. I think. I could go on for hours about this sort of thing, and if you ever need some marketing advice for your stories, you know who to ask.
Hope you continue your tirade of awesomeness!
TL;DR ~ Reasons for stories popularity.
One thing that I would love to see this site do an analysis on is reader story length clustering. Does a large portion of the reader base avoid longer stories.
278228 Sadly, yes. Attention spans vary drastically on fan fiction websites. Unfortunately, stories over about 4,500 words will deter many a potential reader, unless written exceptionally well and/or written by a well known author.
Sad, but true.
278093
Yeah I usually have authors of favorite stories set on the watch list so I can keep up with anything new posted. And there are several authors that I'll read anything they write.
Some stories have readers, some stories have fans.
You've got fans
278220
Not all authors seem to pay so much attention to comments sections, but yeah I enjoy seeing specifically directed responses from the author.
I know you care what we think about your work very much, and I'm glad that you do.
278232
I can appreciate this mentality though, if I wanted to read something longer I'd read a novel.
See, I read this stuff at work
hey I'm a slacker, what can I say
But I really don't have time for the longer stories, a 15-30 minute read isn't so much that I can't get through it during the day.
I do read some stories that have 10,000 - 15,000 word installments and it usually takes me several days to get through them.
And I imagine a lot of people read this stuff when they have some downtime, but not like 2 hours of time.
It was great to see a different story from you
looking forward to seeing more Those Blue Wings, as well as this other new story idea
278092
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/24189152.jpg
278092 Reggie meme became pony meme...I'm OK with this.
I should probably actually read Mood Wings at some point. It's in my Read Later queue.
278416
Do it! Do it now!
I mean... please?
278417 But I was gonna go back to playing Metroid Other M! But since it's you, I guess I could do it right now
278425
Trust me, I haven't even read Mood Wings yet and I already know you'll have a better time reading it than playing Other M.
Happy reading!
278525 >Implying I didn't love that game and this isn't my third play through.
from my sample of one I'd say that sometimes people wait until a story is finished to read it, and more often wait until the end to put a like on it.
Nothing I hate more than starting an epic story only for it to stop updating 3/4 of the way in.
I have stories in my read it later folder that have not updated for months.
I am personally much more likely to read a completed one shot on the train to work than part 6 of something I started reading 6 months ago and have to reread to remember what happened.
well was great! and Incredble awesome!
but..I really like more those blue wings =), is a long great shipping story and I love those XD
I will look for the next chapter!
278529
Oh. Well, differing opinions, I guess. Happy playing, then!
Comedy tends to automatically be more popular than, and boost the popularity of, shipping/romance, in the vast majority of cases.
Reminds me of what happens to AbsoluteAnonymous' 'The Games We Play'. Ended up joining the group 'Victims of Magnum Opus Dissonance' when a latter story of his ended up getting more thumbs up.
A story about Pinkie Pie watching paint dry.
