The Mathematics of Fandom.

saucefactory:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which is the liveliest fandom of all?

Well, according to AO3, Teen Wolf is the most active fandom of all. Specifically, Sterek is the most active fandom of all.

I’m not kidding. On AO3, Teen Wolf now has 5486 stories, with the first story posted on 26 June 2011. And nearly two-thirds of those stories? Are Sterek stories. 3614 stories, to be exact.

Let’s compare that to other popular pairings, shall we?

Sterek far outstrips Spirk (Spock/Kirk), which clocks in at 1655 stories. Now, granted, perhaps AO3 became more active after the Reboot movie, but still. That’s impressive.

Sterek also outstrips Arthur/Eames, which has a total of 2673 stories on AO3. With the first Arthur/Eames story being posted on 10 September 2009, that’s quite a stunning upset, since Sterek has only been around since mid-2011.

What about Johnlock? Possibly the most popular pairing on AO3, Johnlock has an amazing 9636 stories - but that includes all Johnlock stories, from Sherlock BBC to Arthur Conan Doyle’s original works to Robert Downey Junior’s movies. And that combines all the Johnlock stories written since 27 December 1993. 1993! That’s almost 20 years ago! Again, AO3 only went into popular use since Sherlock BBC, so most of those stories are likely Sherlock BBC stories, but still. Sterek has produced more stories overall per year (or per month) than Johnlock, and that’s despite the fact that AO3 closed down to new members/invitees soon after Teen Wolf took off. (There are more than 29,000 people on the waiting-list, currently unable to post to AO3.) Despite that disadvantage, Sterek is still more active, on AO3, than Johnlock ever was.

What about Destiel? My other beloved OTP?

With the first Destiel story having been posted on 8 September 2008, Destiel now has 5242 stories on AO3. That’s an impressive count and is far greater than Sterek’s, but, again, less active than Sterek’s, because Destiel has produced 5242 stories over four years, which is around 1310 stories per year and 109 stories per month, whereas Sterek has produced 3614 stories in less than two years. With the first Sterek story (incidentally, also the first Teen Wolf story) posted on 26 June 2011, Sterek has only had fourteen active months, and has, in that time, produced a whopping 258 stories per month.

HOLY SHIT.

And let’s not forget that Sterek fans have, in fourteen months, achieved what no other slash fanbase ever has: 1) two appearances on national television (John Barrowman introducing Sterek on G4; MTV showcasing Sterek fanart), 2) victory in an AfterElton poll that pitted it against all the other popular slash pairings of all time, 3) an official video about Sterek, released by Teen Wolf and starring the two leading actors playing the characters in the pairing, 4) a statement from one of those actors that there is a 50% chance of the ship becoming canon, 5) a statement from the network that the ship may become canon, and 6) a statement from an independent television channel that it ships the pairing (VH1 said that it shipped Sterek).

All this goes to show that Sterek didn’t just win the AfterElton poll because of some sort of fluke; it didn’t beat so many of my other ships, such as Johnlock and Destiel and Spirk, because of some freakish glitch in the universe.

Sterek won because it is the most active slash fandom on the Internet. We haven’t been around that long, but we’re already a force to be reckoned with; we produce more stories per month than any other slash pairing from any other fandom, and we’re more vocal and more devil-may-care than any other fandom. Many of us (including, I ought to say, myself) believe that our pairing is poised to become canon, not only because of the many official hints in that direction, but because we are the first slash fanbase to be taken seriously by the show’s creators, and to be treated with respect and genuine affection by the powers that be.

Put together all those stats, and what you get is one hell of a phenomenon, indeed. More than 250 stories per month? Jesus Christ. And while that might appear to be partially discounted by the fact that this is a new fandom in its heyday and that it will naturally produce more stories, one must still bear in mind that AO3 has also been around for the heyday of other slash fandoms (such as Arthur/Eames), none of which have outperformed Sterek in terms of overall mileage.

Jeff Davis wasn’t kidding when he called Sterek fans the Alphas of fandom. Hot damn.

(via kyrandis)