Fan Interactions with Fan-Fiction

Both the distinction between angst and fluff and positive and negative diction utilized the way writers engage with fandom to try to determine how major plot points affect fans. However, reader interaction with these fan-works can be equally if not more important in understanding this dynamic. Within Archive of Our Own, there are several mechanisms to gauge how readers to interact with fan-fiction including hits, kudos, and comments. Hits show how many people clicked on a story, kudos are entirely positive feedback that display a reader's enjoyment of a writing, and comments are used to publish readers' opinions on a work. Additionally, using the tag "Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond Theory", one can study how audiences reacted to the correct prediction before it released when compared to how many writers were making correct predictions. Using these to study fan-fiction should reveal interesting insights on how fandom varies as the show approached the major plot twist in "A Single Pale Rose."

Data Analysis

Fan Interaction in Works Featuring Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond Tagged "Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond"

Based on this graph, the average amount of hits, kudos, and comments seems to vary relatively equally each month. Fan interaction with works containing Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond do not always depend on the release of major events in the series. However, it is interesting to note that the major hump in hits around "The Return" and "Jail Break" could be due to the first flashback episode, "Story for Steven" in the same month, which was one of the first major appearances of Rose Quartz. The amount of interaction on these stories seem to steadily decline across the board over time. This can most clearly be seen with kudos. The average kudos on stories from 2015 is generally between 100 and 200 whereas stories published in the first half of 2018 typically have fewer than 100 kudos on average on the story, meaning either there was a slump in the fandom or that Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond were unpopular during that time period.

Red spots, which indicate points at which the tag "Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond Theory" is used, seem to be most frequent right after Rose Quartz or one of the Diamonds appears prominently in the story. For example, red spots can be seen in January 2016 when "The Answer" was released, and one occurs during "Bubbled." The use of this tag does not seem to correlate with a high amount of audience interaction. However, similar to audience interaction the use of this tag seems to decline over time and is not popular by the time "Jungle Moon" reveals Pink Diamond.

Concluding Thoughts

Fan interaction on fan-fiction over time seems to correspond with major episode releases although it does not seem specific to Rose Quartz or Pink Diamond. While it is interesting to see how readers interact with fan-fiction, the overall quantity of kudos, comments, and hits are unrelated to the major plot twists that occur throughout the series, especially regarding Rose Quartz. Additionally, the correct prediction of the plot twist that Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond does not seem to affect audience interaction with the works. Although audience interaction is vital to fan-fiction writers, popularity does not seem to correlate with plot progression.