AO3 Ship Stats 2023

AO3 Ship Stats 2023 is part of the AO3 Ship Stats project by centrumlumina.
There was a lot of discussion in the comments and on social media platforms, such as Tumblr, Twitter and Reddit about confusion in the numbers. For example, many of the overall top 20 dropped in numbers in 2023 compared to 2022 according the AO3 Ship Stats series. 
centrumlumina suggested these findings were likely either due to a larger number of authors locking their works to users only due to the news about AO3 being scraped for generative AI, or deleting their works.
Another fan, 5ummit, wrote a critique of the AO3 Ship Stats methods and presentation after the 2023 statistics were published, entitled AO3 Ship Stats: Year in Bad Data. This prompted significant discussion and discourse about the AO3 ship stats and fandom statistics in general. centreoftheselights responded to the criticism directly, defending their methods and offering explanations for why they had chosen to gather and present the data in the way they did.
==Overall Top 20==
The top 20 pairings on AO3 as of August 2023. See the rest of the results on AO3.
No.	Pairing 	Canon 	Type 	Race 	Works 	Change
1 	Castiel/Dean Winchester 	Supernatural 	M/M 	White/White 	102783	
2 	Sherlock Holmes/John Watson 	Sherlock (TV) 	M/M 	White/White 	63386 	
3 	Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski 	Teen Wolf 	M/M 	White/White 	63333 	
4 	Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter 	Harry Potter 	M/M 	White/White 	59048 	
5 	James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers 	Captain America (Movies) 	M/M 	White/White 	58160 	
6 	Aziraphale/Crowley 	Good Omens (TV) 	Other	White/White 	45362 	
7 	Steve Rogers/Tony Stark 	The Avengers (Marvel) 	M/M 	White/White 	42239 	
8 	Sirius Black/Remus Lupin 	Harry Potter 	M/M 	White/White 	40881 	
9 	Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson 	One Direction 	M/M 	White/White 	39028 	
10 	Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku 	Boku no Hero Academia 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	38415 	
11 	V 	BTS 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	35024 	
12 	Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian 	Mó Dào Zǔ Shī 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	34632 	
13 	Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng	Miraculous Ladybug 	F/M 	White/Asian 	33169 	
14 	Keith/Lance 	Voltron: Legendary Defender	M/M 	Ambiguous/Latino	32035 	
15 	Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester 	Supernatural 	M/M 	White/White 	30257 	
16 	Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood 	Shadowhunters 	M/M 	Asian/White 	29501 	
17 	Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou 	Boku no Hero Academia 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	29316 	
18 	Merlin/Arthur Pendragon 	Merlin (TV) 	M/M 	White/White 	27082 	
19 	Peter Parker & Tony Stark 	Marvel Cinematic Universe 	Gen 	White/White 	26868 	
20 	Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin 	BTS 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	26868 	
==Top 20 in 2023==
Top 20 pairings that produced the most fanworks in 2023.
No.	Pairing 	Canon 	Type 	Race 	New Works	Total	Change
1 	Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson 	Stranger Things 	M/M 	White/White 	13273 	19870	
2 	Sirius Black/Remus Lupin 	Harry Potter 	M/M 	White/White 	8453 	40881	
3 	Alhaitham/Kaveh 	Genshin Impact 	M/M 	MENA/MENA 	6837 	6837 	
4 	Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya 	Bungou Stray Dogs 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	6329 	24005	
5 	John "Soap" MacTavish/Simon "Ghost" Riley 	Call of Duty (Video Games)	M/M 	White/White 	6321 	6321 	
6 	Regulus Black/James Potter 	Harry Potter 	M/M 	White/White 	6047 	9178 	
7 	Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet 	Our Flag Means Death 	M/M 	Indigenous/White 	6021 	13595	
8 	Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku 	Boku no Hero Academia 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	5801 	38415	
9 	Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit 	Minecraft YouTube 	Gen 	White/White 	5041 	20602	
10 	Will Byers/Mike Wheeler 	Stranger Things 	M/M 	White/White 	4921 	9846 	
11 	Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair 	Wednesday (TV series) 	F/F 	Latino/White 	4808 	4808 	
12 	Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy 	Harry Potter 	F/M 	Ambiguous/White 	4710 	24827	
13 	Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson	Minecraft YouTube 	Gen 	White/Asian 	3961 	19889	
14 	Han Jisung/Lee Minho 	Stray Kids (Band) 	M/M 	Asian/Asian 	3880 	11772	
15 	Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler 	Stranger Things 	F/F 	White/White 	3767 	6195 	
16 	Dream of the Endless/Hob Gadling 	The Sandman 	M/M 	White/Asian 	3562 	3562 	
17 	Daemon Targaryen/Rhaenyra Targaryen 	House of the Dragon 	F/M 	White/White 	3488 	3488 	
18 	Amity Blight/Luz Noceda 	The Owl House 	F/F 	White/Afro-Latino	3396 	10722	
19 	Aziraphale/Crowley 	Good Omens 	Other	White/White 	3296 	45362	
20 	Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington 	Stranger Things 	Gen 	White/White 	3248 	5815 	
For a list of all 100 ships, see here or on AO3.
==Overall Top 20 Femslash==
The top 20 femslash pairings on AO3 as of August 2023. See the rest of the results on AO3.
No.	Pairing 	Canon 	Race 	Works	Change
1 	Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor 	Supergirl (TV 2015) 	White/White 	19455	
2 	Regina Mills/Emma Swan 	Once Upon a Time (TV) 	Latino/White	14632	
3 	Clarke Griffin/Lexa 	The 100 	White/White 	12568	
4 	Amity Blight/Luz Noceda 	The Owl House 	White/Af Lat	10722	
5 	Adora/Catra 	She-Ra and the Princesses of Power	White/Latino	10525	
6 	Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long 	RWBY 	Asian/Asian 	6945 	
7 	Korra/Asami Sato 	Avatar: Legend of Korra 	Indig/Asian 	6579 	
8 	Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes	Harry Potter 	White/Black 	6243 	
9 	Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler 	Stranger Things 	White/White 	5841 	
10 	Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer 	Supergirl (TV 2015) 	White/Latino	6024 	
11 	Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo 	Boku no Hero Academia 	Asian/Asian 	6023 	
12 	Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught 	Wynonna Earp (TV) 	White/White 	5853 	
13 	Caitlyn/Vi 	Arcane: League of Legends 	Asian/White 	5671 	
14 	Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee 	RWBY 	Asian/White 	5165 	
15 	Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam 	Homestuck 	Ambig/N.H. 	5069 	
16 	Laura Hollis/Carmilla Karnstein 	Carmilla 	White/White 	4960 	
17 	Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair 	Wednesday (TV series) 	Latino/White	4808 	
18 	Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell 	Pitch Perfect 	White/White 	4688 	
19 	Alphys/Undyne 	Undertale 	N.H./N.H. 	4395 	
20 	Historia Reiss/Ymir of the 104th	Attack on Titan 	White/White 	4180 	
Category:Statistics
Category:2023 Meta