2020 Year-End Round-Up

Though retrospectives of 2020 itself may not be exactly welcome in all quarters, I am proud to review the year in Metabods. It’s been a strong year for the site, with yet another a new crop of talented, envelope-pushing writers joining the site and adding in their stories alongside authors who’ve been bringing us about hot guys made hotter for years. The site boasts over 1,700 stories and over 5,000 story chapters from 500-plus authors. The number of story views is averaging around 12,500 per day and 350,000 per month, sometimes spiking over 400,000. What that means to me is lots of smiling faces sharing stories you might not find someplace else: that’s what I’m here for.

I’m very happy with my own writing this year, and the overhaul of the site coding and design that I instituted in October, slashing page load times and simplifying the look and feel of the site. My involvement with Metabods, as a writer, a coder, and an editor, is important and gratifying enough for me that the change of year comes with two important experiments. First, I’m commemorating five solid years of regular, biweekly updates by shifting to a new weekly schedule, with new stories by me and by site contributors posted every Saturday. Second, I’m trying out direct commissions by PayPal alongside the tiered monthly patronage on Patreon. I don’t know if these innovations will last long enough for me to be still doing them by the next year-end review. I have a real life, too, and occasionally the time I make for Metabods and the time required by my other careers conflict. I might have to go back to the old system. But I want to give it a shot. Knowing there’s new stuff every week removes that “Is it an update week?” question visitors sometimes ask when they’re thinking about the site, and may increase exposure to new visitors who’d appreciate knowing a site like this exists. It may also even out my own personal weekly routines; I’ll have to see how that goes.

As I did for 2018 and 2019, I’ve put together lists of the top stories on the site in 2020 according to the votes and views received during the last 12 months, which are shown below. There aren’t too many surprises, so think of it as a Golden Globes where you already know who’s been talked about so much they’re bound to be up on stage with a goofy smile and a weird-looking tux.

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Last year’s most-viewed list was not just a straight view count, but gave weight to stories with views from more discrete IP addresses, giving stories with broad appeal some priority over ones that looked at more often by a smaller group within the overall cascade of views. I did the same thing this year. The list contains a number of evergreens that always get a lot of hits, of course, but I’m very glad to see new stories, some from authors brand new to the site, occupying a significant proportion of the list.

Most Popular Stories by 2020 Views

1. Be careful what you wish for by Tereshky
2. An unexpected inflation by UberPump
3. Justin (the bigger the better) by Giant Worshipper
4. All good things by Anon Amon
5. Above average by Ziel
6. Jason's big problem by Joven
7. Under control by Alakazam1988
8. Spice by Mr. X
9. The Benefactor by Proteus
10. The perfect fit by TheSizeKing
11. Best birthday ever by TheSizeKing
12. Altered by Dream Big
13. Max's wish by Bulge101
14. One hot summer by BRK
15. Chuck, the size thief by spacevlad
16. Bull's strength by muscl4life
17. Coach's big surprise by MuscleMike
18. Mind and body by BRK
19. Big changes by Ziel
20. Transform: Muscle City by Also Known As
21. Just a little bigger by Dream Big
22. The pills by LordTronimator
23. Damien by bulkscribe
24. A fucking god by Jerkoffcentral
25. What a little confidence can do by TheSizeKing
26. Side effects by TheSizeKing
27. The brothers by FanTCMan
28. Medicine show by Fafhrd
29. Alpha product series by Chet Boner
30. My roommate by LenZelig
31. Acclimating by Dream Big
32. Skin tight by Dream Big
33. My brother's boyfriend by Richard Jasper
34. Second puberty by JayPat
35. Sam and Bolt by Alakazam1988
36. Basically a god by CurlyJin
37. No limits by Corwin
38. Mutant by Marquis de Rent
39. A.I. by Corwin
40. X-mass by Ziel
41. What's yours is mine by Ziel
42. His brother drains his manhood by Ballmeat
43. 10th anniversary by Richard Jasper
44. Finding Owen by BRK
45. Gym maniac over his head by MuscularEmperor
46. Hard body by Also Known As
47. The Tank by Tereshky
48. Tank the bouncer by spacevlad
49. Big Dick Energy by Ziel
50. Ben's escapades by Kaelan

A view-count list like this tends to favor stories that keep getting updated with new chapters, so a story that was already a hit such as “An Unexpected Inflation” kept getting boosted (appropriately enough) by the frequent addition of new chapters. My own writing tends toward starting new stories over continuing old ones, which tends to limit my presence on the year-end tote board; the exceptions mostly are stories like “One Hot Summer” that I updated repeatedly thanks to ongoing Patreon commissions—but “Mind and Body”, one of my most popular stories and one I’ve been meaning to get back to, is in there too.

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For the top-rated stories, I again weighted stories with votes from a wider range of IP addresses to goose those stories that had wide appeal. This list is based on votes cast in 2020 and includes stories with the highest star ratings that had at least 5 votes during the year. In both lists, IP addresses banned for abuse of the star system were excluded.

Most Popular Stories by 2020-Cast Votes

1. An unexpected inflation by UberPump
2. Best birthday ever by TheSizeKing
3. Abyssus Abbey by Pen Darke
4. All good things by Anon Amon
5. Under control by Alakazam1988
6. Make the fur fly by LordTronimator
7. Side effects by TheSizeKing
8. Damien by bulkscribe
9. grUV by quickquezzed
10. Acclimating by Dream Big
11. Jock Pussy Syndrome Information Video #1 by SC Walker
12. Alpha Luke goes camping by Eric Aaldersen
13. What a little confidence can do by TheSizeKing
14. The pills by LordTronimator
15. The blue smoothie by BRK
16. My roommate by LenZelig
17. Alpha Dave returns home by Eric Aaldersen
18. Alpha Dave goes camping by Eric Aaldersen
19. Be careful what you wish for by Tereshky
20. The blue pumpkin by BRK
21. Beta Logan and his big brother by Eric Aaldersen
22. Altered by Dream Big
23. Don't talk about me! by jewelbee
24. Click bate by Dream Big
25. Little plant of horrors by PiggiestJ
26. My roommate: The next generation by LenZelig
27. Alpha Luke saves the party by Eric Aaldersen
28. Alpha Luke grows his circle by Eric Aaldersen
29. Alpha Coach and Mike by Eric Aaldersen
30. Peter and the magic forest by Shamash
31. Tips welcome by TheSizeKing
32. Alpha Jamie and Alpha Jordan spread their seed by Eric Aaldersen
33. Field agent by BRK
34. Pholus reborn by Absman420
35. Metatation by BRK
36. Empire by LenZelig
37. Brotherly love by TheSizeKing
38. Pollination by Absman420
39. The CVN link by BRK
40. Reality Pack by Thorn
41. One hot summer by BRK
42. Anomalous Materials Research Facility 3‑DL by Mad Dog
43. Hey, buddy by Dream Big
44. Induced transformation: a brief history by BRK
45. Alpha Luke and the wrestling team by Eric Aaldersen
46. Vice (Sometimes drugs offer more than a high) by Tereshky
47. Mandemic by Ziel
48. Alpha Dave and Alpha Luke reunite by Eric Aaldersen
49. From the files of the Magic Misuse Office by BRK
50. Finding Owen by BRK

The ranking by votes, in contrast to the ranking by views, tends to highlight new stories that got a lot of attention and positive reaction during the year. My own presence on this list is stronger (and some of the BRK stories appearing here surprised me), but this list also calls out a lot of new authors who have made some valuable contributions to the site, and whose hard work is much appreciated by me and the Metabods visitor community.

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More changes will come in 2021. In the near term, I will definitely be adding a login so that you can bookmark your favorite stories and watch your favorite authors. Most of all, I’m going to keep writing, and I’m going to keep sharing the stories that you come to Metabods to find. Have a safe and healthy 2021, and may all you good wishes come true.