Most viewed posts published in 2013

2012’s data.

Thanks to everyone who read my blog in 2013.

What a year. I may or may not have more to say about 2013 (and 2014) tomorrow, depending on other responsibilities, but I want to thank you all for your attention.

Most-viewed posts in 2013

This is a list of the most-viewed posts I wrote over the course of the last year (not all-time most-viewed posts, which still looks fairly different, and which I’ll post on my blogiversary). I found it interesting that they reflect a variety of different emphases of the blog — its role as a mechanism to explore the roles of fandom and fantasy and writing in my life; as an examination of Armitage’s dramatic performances; as a place to look at Armitage’s professional development; as a place for fans to talk about their experiences and various forms of their creativity; and less importantly, as a source of information about Richard Armitage. For the first time this year, too, a joke post made it into the top ten.

1. Stripping Richard Armitage of his human dignity: A day in the life. March 1, 2013. How my concept and fantasy of Richard Armitage gets me through the day. Upsetting to some readers and probably read by more people who disagree with it than supporters, although there were a number of valuable comments in this thread, one in particular by a fellow professor who found it accidentally. I’m contemplating a second installment.

2. Richard Armitage: Two pictures, two fantasies. Fantasy 2. Armitage unaware? April 23, 2013. My fantasies about Armitage the moderate male slob and the meaning of failure to conform to certain cultural standards.

3. Richard Armitage home buying rumor. July 17, 2013. Wow, were we excited when Google Alerts informed us that he bought real estate in the U.S.!

4. Richard Armitage, Paul Andrews, and gender trouble in Between the Sheets. August 15, 2013. A discussion of Armitage’s work playing with gender in one of his more notorious roles. This was intended as part of a series that got interrupted when my attention was broken by the start of the semester and mom’s death at the end of August, but I plan to continue it this year.

5. me + Richard Armitage + Lee Pace, or: The ship that dare not speak its name, part 1. November 21, 2013. A discussion of the history and appeal of the fantasy relationship between Richard Armitage and Lee Pace as manifested in fan discussions and fanfic and its effect on me. This series got interrupted by the premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but I plan to continue it this year, too.

6. Armitage takes Australia: Goodbye to “precious” Richard? May 8, 2013. A comment on Armitage’s publicity appearances for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Sydney.

7. From an Armitage ambassador: “He’s smiling at you.” January 18, 2013. A report from a member of Team Thorin, who met Armitage on the red carpet in Wellington in December, 2012. Anna died slightly later in 2013, and I wrote a brief memorial here and a longer one here, when I had had a chance to think. I still think of her and miss her emails to me.

8. Places I would like to kiss Richard Armitage: A non-exhaustive list. February 21, 2013. One of the more fun posts I’ve written, and it’s been fun to see the graphics make their ways across the web.

9. Are Richard Armitage’s ears getting pointier? March 17, 2013. The first genuine spoof to make it to a top ten list, labeled as spoof, although still taken seriously by some readers.

10. What kind of bicycle for Richard Armitage? June 4, 2013. A post based on Armitage’s report that he used to bike to work in Wellington. This was just fun to write. A favorite among some German readers.

And this year, I can celebrate Guylty’s contribution — her most viewed post:

1. Emergency *ooof*: Iconic Antics. November 26, 2006. Was Armitage channeling Elvis or Michael Jackson?

Top twenty searches that led readers here

Ten most and least visiting countries

Interestingly, this year, a lot of places visited that I’d never heard from before. The blog is still untouched in the center of Africa and small segment of Central Asia, but every other place on the globe that wordpress notes has been here at least once or twice. It was neat to see Myanmar / Burma on the list for the first time.

As I said, I may have more to say tomorrow, so I’m not going to say anything elegiac about 2013 quite yet. Just some fun memories from 2013.

~ by Servetus on December 31, 2013.