I read a lot of fanfiction. After watchingK-Pop Demon Hunterslast week, I was irrationally excited to jump into Archive Of Our Own (AO3) and finally read a bunch of Polytrix stories which I’d already seen countless pieces of fanart for. There’s something wonderful about taking a fictional universe and characters you’ve already fallen in love with and experiencing stories you’ve never seen before, all from the perspective of equally passionate fans.
Whether it’s She-Ra, Amphibia, Call of Duty, The Owl House, Yellowjackets, Final Fantasy, or myriad other franchises, chances are you’ll find some spectacular works of fiction on AO3. I personally pen fanfiction to not only practice my prose writing, but to grow closer with those in the same communities who will take certain pairings to their graves. Catradora ‘til I die.
What The Archive Of Our Own Top 100 Tells Us About Fandoms
Earlier this week saw Archive Of Our Own usercentreoftheselightscompile annual rankings of the top 100 overall ships for the year, top 100 of all time, and due to their severe lack of presence in said lists, top 100 femslash (two women paired together romantically) of 2025. There are some old favourites, some new additions, and some big surprises that both warm my heart and leave me feeling a little unsure.
There’s a major imbalance between gay and lesbian relationships, while it feels awfully hypocritical that we are still writing so much queer Harry Potter fanfiction considering how the property is viewed in wider culture right now. Especially considering so much of it is Marauders, which essentially makes it fanfiction based on fanfiction. I don’t care how much you ship Snape and James, cut it out.
Let’s start withArcane. The hugely popular animated show had its second and final season last year. As expected, it progressed two core relationships: Caitlyn/Vi and Jayce/Viktor. Only the former was a canon relationship within the narrative, a romance that was teased in the first season before being acknowledged in this one with several kissing scenes alongside a sex scene, which sent the online world into overdrive.
It was wonderfully done, and as many of us expected, the fandom reacted with fierce positivity. Caitvi fics, fanart, and more remain as daily occurrences in the online community. Although in the AO3 rankings the two girls top the femslash rankings, their impressive third-place finish in the overall list still trails behind Jayce and Viktor, who placed first. Buddie, the M/M pairing of Buck and Eddie from 9-1-1, sits between them.
I spoke with Arcane writerAmanda Overton about Caitlyn and Vi’s romanceafter the second season finished airing, and we went deep into how it all came together.
Jayce and Viktor’s relationship is core to the narrative of Arcane, but it is never confirmed to be romantic. They are brothers in arms, scientists who work alongside one another for years before the relentless hands of fate turn them into bitter enemies. By the end of the show, they have reconciled, working together to save Runeterra even if it means disappearing from the mortal realm as a consequence.
Their body language is deliberately intimate, with Jayce placing his hands on Viktor’s body with endearing nuance, while the idea that they’ll find each other in every universe, no matter what, is heart-wrenchingly beautiful. The shot of them floating in space, forehead-to-forehead, before fading into celestial nothingness is one that the fandom has justifiably clung onto. But they are not a canon ship, and outranking CaitVi underlines a major issue in the wider fandom world.
The Fanfiction World Has A Diversity Problem
I love both of these queer pairings, but the fact that Jayce and Viktor outrank what is canonically the most mainstream lesbian romance in animation history, possibly even mainstream television history, says so much about where the fandom is at right now. It’s a poor reflection of not just Arcane, but the fanfic world in its entirety.
In the top 100, only 6 are lesbian relationships, while the majority of characters featured in all these pairings are white. I understand that the most prominent characters and relationships will naturally float to the top,but the neglect of sapphic relationships by fans is not uncommon in official media either, with countless shows or relationships being ignored in favour of male equivalents. As a queer woman, I’m also eager for more stories reflecting my own experiences, instead of having to write them myself again and again.
Yucking somebody else’s yum isn’t a good look in the fanfiction world, but I will happily do it when it comes to the sheer number of Harry Potter pairings in the top 100. Queer or not, you can find dozens of them across Archive of Our Own with new stories being published daily. It speaks to an active community, but also an ignorant one that refuses to accept where such a property sits in the cultural landscape.
I’m not sure if you can call yourself an ally if you happily write queer stories within such a universe knowing where the original author stands. Seeing yourself in these characters at a younger age is one thing, but sticking with them years later when they stand against everything you should believe in is another. We can do better.
Fanfiction isn’t going anywhere, and this year’s AO3 rankings prove that the practice is more popular than ever. There will be countless online communities dedicated to whatever your favourite fandom is, and I bet they have entire sects dedicated to writing stories about their favourite characters.
But this list reflects fandom culture alongside the actual relationships - queer or otherwise - prioritised in the media we consume. Both show that we still have a long way to go when it comes to rep that feels balanced and worthwhile.
