Here we are again, readers: October, and the second anniversary of Fashionable Tinfoil Accessories. It’s been an amazing year. I started working as a recapper and general contributor for The Mary Sue (Steven Universe and Rick & Morty, primarily, though with luck I’ll expand that list in future). I joined Twitter and Patreon, and finished the mammoth project that was The Consulting Analyst for Revolutionary Girl Utena. There’s even been a staggering amount of senpai-noticing: R&M writer Mike McMahan approved my Beginner’s Guide, Wander Over Yonder creator Craig McCracken retweeted the intro I did to the series recently, and Black Tapes co-creator Paul Bae left the sweetest message when I covered the podcast. And as the staggering cherry on top, the Mary Sue reprint of my article on the backlash against Pearl spent some time as the very first news result when you googled “Steven Universe.” (Right, that’s the end of the name dropping, I promise).

And of course, most importantly of all, I’ve been overwhelmed with the kindness and eagerness of a truly wonderful readership. Even when real life’s set the scheduling of this blog wonky, the thought of the lovely, intelligent human beings who come through here keep me up and working. I am so, so grateful for each and every one of you, whether you’ve stopped to say hi or lurked quietly, longtime or recent, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope we can go together into whatever the next year holds.

And now, stats!

The Ten Most Popular Essays in the Last Year

1. They Fought Aliens and Fell in Love: Why Samurai Flamenco is Important
2. How Much Canon is Good Enough? Korrasami and Where We Go From Here
3. The Consulting Analyst – An Introduction to Revolutionary Girl Utena
4. Queerness is Not a Gimmick: A Look at Persona 4’s Failed Representation, and How Persona 5 Can Fix it
5. Trauma and Sunshine: Re-Evaluating Night Vale’s Kevin
6. It’s Okay to Have Flaws (Except for You): Steven Universe and Fandom
7. Trauma Isn’t Sexy: Fanservice in Neon Genesis Evangelion vs Rebuild
8. The Terrifying Humanity of Cecil Palmer: Night Vale, Mob Mentality, and Fandom
9. The Consulting Analyst – The Rose Bride
10. The Boy Who Went to the Castle: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and Silenced Queer Narrative

Annual View Count

138,000

Most Readers By Country

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Australia
5. Germany

Most Popular Search Terms

(Putting aside the plethora of “unknown terms,” of course)

1. “samurai flamenco gay” (and “yaoi,” and “marriage,” variations on a theme I’m sensing here)
2. “vrai kaiser” (and my ego swelled three sizes that day)
3. “evangelion nudity” (I assume I’m a disappointing endpoint)

And, far more interesting, the top five weirdest search terms – my favorite metric of all

1. “marxist analysis of frozen”
2. “someone drink love”
3. “what is the consultant called who deals with women and their sexual bits”
4. “lovecraftian samurai”
5. “essay on the moon as she is tired for kids”