It’s that time of year when the magical Archive of Our Own (AO3) statisticians release the Top 100, but people, we’ve got to have a conversation about this. I may have to yuck your yaoi and yuri ships. Here are my ins and outs for the 2026 shipping scene.
Crackshipping is in.
Looney Tunes
Never in my life did I think I’d see Looney Tunes yaoi, but Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner have been doing numbers on both TikTok and AO3. The ship, coined RoadRage, sits pretty at 796 of the 2,772 works in the Looney Tunes fandom on AO3, with 748 of them written post-Coyote vs Acme.
The ship is well-loved, so while RoadRage didn’t make it onto the top 100, it’s wild that the previously non-existent fandom cranked out 748 fics in less than two months. RoadRage, you’ve made the cut!
Project Hail Mary & Iron Lung
Another crackship taking the world by storm is BloodyMary. This ship takes Markiplier’s Simon from Iron Lung and pairs him romantically with Ryan Gosling’s Ryland Grace of another 2026 release, Project Hail Mary (PHM). If you like Stucky, you’ll love BloodyMary.
The origin of this particular crackship is mysterious, especially since the characters never meet and are both very stuck in space in their respective films, but it’s garnered over 6,000 fics and pages of fan art since PHM’s March release.
BloodyMary also escaped containment recently, with Markiplier himself bringing it up on stream. Is it totally bizarre? Yes. Am I subscribed to the tag? Uh, absolutely, I love a space meet-cute.
Marauders Era is out.
We’re over a decade removed from the last Harry Potter movie, so shipping Jegulus is aging you guys. Just because All the Young Dudes is getting rewritten and released as an original novel doesn’t mean we need to bring back Harry Potter ships in the big 2026. In fact, Manacled, an infamous Dramione fic, is also getting a print release under a different IP.
While I do think that there’s nothing J.K. Rowling would hate more than knowing people are getting her male characters pregnant on AO3, there comes a point where we must let it go, or at least stop recommending Jegulus fics in TikTok comment sections.
The Pitt Yaoi is out.
It’s over, guys. Noah Wyle has your number.
Hucklerobby, the ship between Wyle’s Dr. Robby and Gerran Howell’s Dr. Whitaker, has breached containment, with Wyle actually going as far as bringing up how he sends Howell fan art. The first rule of ship art is you don’t talk about ship art. Especially on camera during interviews with your castmates.
What pushed Hucklerobby over the line for a lot of people recently was Wyle actually kissing Howell on the neck at the Emmys. I wouldn’t claim to understand the dynamics between the members of the cast, but that might’ve taken it a bit too far.
Fear not, The Pitt fans; I have a solution.
The PITT YURI IS IN!
Do you enjoy the age gap and power dynamics of Hucklerobby? Do you prefer the old-man yaoi of Rabbot? Are you in the mood for some OT3 action with Hucklerabbot?
Broaden your horizons and venture into the land of yuri!
With big names like Garsantos, Mcvadi, and Garsanshimi, you can have all those things without that pesky parasocialism! Of the 33,912 works in The Pitt fandom, less than 6,000 of them are tagged F/F, and none of the lesbian ships broke the top 100, despite the actual canon ship in the show, and it’s time to fix that.
Byler is out.
I’m going to hold your hand when I say this; the last season wasn’t good.
The Duffers brothers executed queerbaiting the likes of which we haven’t seen since Destiel, and there STILL wasn’t a love confession? I wouldn’t be surprised if AI wrote the entire script, especially since some of the top Byler fics were busted for being AI-generated a couple of months ago.
While I don’t particularly trust Stranger Things fics to be AI-free right now, some other good ships to jump ship to (get it?) are Ronance and Harringrove. Ronance, the ship name for Nancy and Robin, even sounds like romance, and with a secondary pairing of Harringrove or Steddie, it’s like you won’t even remember that season five happened!
Vintage is back.
While some of us never let go of the ancient texts, others skipped the shipping discourse of the 2010s, but oh boy, are you in for a treat with these.
Destiel, which pairs Dean and Cas from Supernatural, is the most written ship of all time. It boasts nearly 130,000 fics and appears on the top 100 list annually, even though it’s been over five years since the finale. Sorting Destiel fics by kudos is like getting a box from your aunt full of her 20-year-old low-rise jeans and going-out tops.
“Kid me knew ball” is in!
Did the Zutara and Kataang ship war never interest you? Rediscovering old faves like Zukka, a ship between Prince Zuko and Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender, is sweet because 10 years later, all the kids who had unpopular shipping ideas then now have English degrees and AO3 accounts.
While vintage ships are old and reliable, revisited ships like Zukka, Klance, and Maxley are fine literature this decade. Voltron’s magnum opus, Klance, has a revival every few years, but Maxley, a ship from the 2000s movie An Extremely Goofy Movie, recently became popular again when a fan comic from 2024 made it big on TikTok.
Eventually, I think that the kids who grew up on KPop Demon Hunters will bring forth the Polytrix revolution, and I can’t wait for that to top the list.
Real person fiction is ouT.
I honestly don’t mind that Hudson Williams outlawed real person fiction (RPF). Does anyone else remember DreamNotFound? We probably should have learned our lesson about shipping real people when streamers started quoting “Heat Waves.” IYKYK.
While the Dream SMP is no longer a medium for RPF, F1 and K-pop RPF may be going in a similar direction. Not to yuck anyone’s yum, but RPF generally creates some unrealistic perceptions of real-life people. I understand that you like to write K-pop omegaverse, and that’s valid, but have you seen the cringe compilations of idols pretending not to know how to eat pizza? That’s a whole adult man.
Weird alternate universes are so in!
There are more AUs than just high school and regency. Why read about your one true pairing meeting at college for the 10th time when you could read about one of them running for president and the other running their campaign?
One of my favorite things about fans is how unique they are. Only a genius could’ve come up with a Caitvi The Accountant AU. Buddie Pacific Rim alternate universe (AU)? I’m so seated. Hollanov Apocalypse AU? Sign me up. Don’t be afraid to check the Alternate Universe tag!
Creativity is wonderful, and fans are the backbone of pop culture. While it’s ok to have opinions on ships, leaving authors and artists hate comments is not. It’s important to be respectful and help keep the community a positive place!
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