I want to ask the same question to you as well inherent in why the Wenclair ship has become so famous.

How did it get so much popularity?

I ask this apolitically so don't worry ahahah

Hey hello!

Don't worry!

I'll be happy to answer you and I also want to take this opportunity to deny a couple of things.

Let's start with your question.

One of the most obvious indicators of Wenclair's popularity is the number of dedicated fan fiction on platforms like AO3. 

Let's remember that even before the series premiered on Netflix, on November 23, 2022, there were already 250 stories with the Wenclair tag, signaling early interest from fans.

(https://fanlore.org/wiki/Wenclair)

As of 2023, the Wenclair ship has become the most written about ship for both the Wednesday and Enid characters, with over 5,800 works published on AO3.

(https://shipping.fandom.com/wiki/Wenclair)

This exponential growth has shown how much the couple has created enthusiasm and creative investment from the fandom community.

But there is also another factor that should not be forgotten.

The production of fanart is another key indicator of the popularity of a ship.

The massive presence of these fanarts on platforms such as Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram testifies to the artistic interest of fans.

The aesthetic combination of the two characters, with their contrasting personalities and styles, offers fertile ground for creativity, making the couple particularly attractive to artists.

Just look at the fanarts that come out every week on X, Tumblr, Instagram etc.

Unfortunately some Wenclair artists have either retired or stopped temporarily but this has not stopped the wave and even today the largest number of fanarts related to the Netflix series are Wenclair-themed.

Wenclair’s popularity is also reflected in social media trends. 

On Tumblr, the ship has achieved notable positions in the weekly charts, ranking #2 on January 9, 2023, #3 on January 16 and February 13, and maintaining a steady presence in the following weeks.

[https://shipping.fandom.com/wiki/Wenclair]

Finally, let's not forget that, after a long sleep lasting a year, the fandom woke up thanks to the Novelisation of the first season which, for better or for worse, offered a lot of material for us fans of the couple.

But now that we have the data, we still ask ourselves, why was it so successful?

• First and foremost, the "Opposites Attract" Trope

The dynamic between Wednesday and Enid embodies the opposites attract trope, with Wednesday's dark and introverted nature contrasting with Enid's vivacious and extroverted nature.

This contrast has historically fascinated audiences, making their interaction intriguing and worthy of narrative exploration.

It is extremely inspiring to draw this pairing even on an artistic level, with plenty of fan art depicting a bright and cheerful Enid alongside a darker and stoic Wednesday (the most obvious example being the black cat energy x golden retriever energy dynamic).

[artist: https://x.com/sarishtks/status/1597683048094760960?t=P3kTp27IWnyUt77L-nXnpw&s=19]

[artist: https://x.com/fulvarrr/status/1605453010465062913?t=LEnrOMnIAqvAKs_GbkjPNA&s=19]

[artist: DSInsectes]

• Then there is of course the LGBTQ representation.

I have already touched on why Wenclair makes sense and I refer you to that post.

But without going into too much detail, the lack of explicit queer representation in the series has led fans to seek out and create narratives that reflect their experiences and desires, finding in Wenclair a possibility for meaningful representation.

But above all, another factor was fundamental, which was the failure of the Wednesday love triangle that was in the middle between Tyler and Xavier.

Many of us found this subplot so atrocious that we came to the final thought that, if Wednesday were ever going to have a romantic partner, it would absolutely be Enid.

Above all, let's not forget how very queer core the two girls are.

(Enid in particular and the subplot with her mother is a clear example of this)

Where on one hand we had a Tyler who, through deception and gaslighting, tried to get closer to the protagonist, then there was Xavier who was really a guy who perhaps tried to seem like a good guy but was just a pretty slimy guy (the phone scene is really senseless).

{not only for this but also for what I will write later, if you are a fan of Weyler or Wavier, this is nothing personal, peace and love, I'm just looking at the data and the reasons why Wenclair has grown}

Then there are the promotional events, such as the "WednesGAY" organized by Netflix, and statements by the actors have fueled speculation and enthusiasm around the ship, contributing to its spread.

Let's say that this is more of a sore point for some because there has actually been some queerbaiting by Netflix.

But anyway, even through interviews of the actors and actresses who worked on the series, the Wenclair ship has managed to become more and more popular even if some of those statements were even joking ("They were roomates". by Emma Myers).

• Finally their relationship in concrete in the series.

Let's be clear, the best scenes of the series have the 2 of them as protagonists (at least for me).

They argue, they compare, they help each other and when Wednesday makes a mistake, Enid feels betrayed and Wednesday feels bad for it.

Let's remember that Enid first went to ""die"" for Wednesday in the final episode.

For Sinclair there were no plans other than finding Wednesday, there was no possibility of transforming in her head.

Every time an exchange of dialogue occurs between the 2 of them there is always a significant stimulus.

But most of all, Enid is one of the reasons why Wednesday is growing both emotionally and mentally.

Wednesday has learned so much thanks in large part to her roomate.

It is no coincidence that, recently that pic of Wednesday and Enid shown on a card was also released, or simply that many fan art on Wednesday also feature Enid.

Emma Myers and Jenna Ortega were so close on that set that you could feel how committed they were to their roles and how they interacted.

Before concluding, I would like to be able to add further information, denying a very specific piece of information.

"Wenclair are not so numerous, but they are justw noisy".

Here, let's debunk this falsehood once and for all.

It's true that we are noisy, but we are ALSO NUMEROUS.

The popularity of the Wenclair ship is not the result of simple redundancy across multiple platforms, but is supported by real numbers that demonstrate a higher level of engagement and diffusion than other ships in the series.

• AO3 (Archive of our own)

In the most famous fanfiction site we have the first proof that we are not "just noisy".

In fact, at least until today, the number of fanfictions is equal to about 7605.

On the contrary, the Weyler ones are just under 1200, even worse that Wavier is under 1000 (811 to be exact).

• Wattpad 

Here it is extremely more difficult to understand, but it is noteworthy how Wenclair fanfiction have extremely gigantic numbers.

With truly enormous views, even more than you might think.

• Reddit

The subreddits dedicated to the Wednesday series are 2, r/Wednesday (with about 790 thousand members) & r/WednesdayTVseries (with about 40 thousand members).

Now that we know the number of fans of the series, we must think that we are a minority (?)

Well, almost.

The subreddit dedicated to the Wenclair ship has reached a significant number of members, that is, just over 10 thousand members (I read 12 thousand but I don't trust it because sometimes it changes very little).

And there are many intentions in there.

AT LEAST 4/5 posts per day, with additional comments.

With positive votes that reach at least 30/50 up to 800 even (but also 1000) in the space of a few days or weeks.

On the contrary, the Weyler one, with just over 1000 members, you can see the most voted posts that tend to get around 50 or a little less (maybe this is where we can talk about noisy fans at the expense of the low number?).

The Wavier one lmao let's not even talk about it, it's a dead horse.

In the r/wholesomeyuri subreddit, I'm not the only one who posted Wenclair stuff and the results have proven to be extremely positive with posts that had between 109 up to 2 thousand positive votes.

16 hours ago I reached about 950 positive votes, so here too the feeds are not few.

X, Instagram and Tumblr

X, Instagram Tumblr

Well, here we have perhaps the biggest evidence to deny the accusation.

The hashtags related to the Wenclair ship (or Wednesday X Enid) are huge.

Let's start with Tumblr, here the number is around 68,962 with a much more active fan presence than you might think.

Wednesday X Enid has 4743, while the #Wenclair fanart (remembering that it is very often linked to that #Wenclair) has 1293.

The Tumblr community has 578 members (and it's a lot considering that Tumblr communities are a bit of a niche), with at least 2 posts per day.

While some posts?

Wenclair themed posts (mostly fanart) reach a number that reaches from 20 notes up to 3/4 thousand).

A recent one, that of Leodraws3 dated October 31, 2024 reached 3822 notes.

So even on Tumblr we are not just ""noisy"".

• X (or Twitter)

Here things get really funny.

We don't have a precise number, but looking at the likes and shares, the numbers go really high.

The community is increasingly alive, the fanarts reach between 50 likes up to a figure like 5 thousand likes.

Without even excluding the reposts that reach an average of between 100/120 reposts up to even 500 reposts.

They are not few.

• Instagram

Instagram, similarly to X, has fanart or pics in general that revolve around very satisfying results.

From 80 likes up to 2 thousand likes.

One of the arguments often used to belittle Wenclair is that the fandom is mostly made up of extremely young users and therefore "not representative" of the entire Wednesday audience. 

However, this claim is not supported by the data. (Besides being pretty bad as a thing to say as if, only adults can appreciate nice but ok things.)

Research shows that LGBTQ+ ships in mainstream media tend to generate the most engagement among 18-34 year olds, who are also the most active age group on fan content platforms like AO3 and Tumblr. 

Additionally, TikTok, one of Wenclair’s biggest outlets, has a user base that extends well beyond the underage audience.

TikTok has amassed a slew of video edits and especially fan art videos about Wenclair, garnering hundreds to thousands of likes and shares.

According to data shown by Fandom.com, over 70% of users who interact with LGBTQ+ content in Wednesday’s fandom are between the ages of 18 and 30.

(https://www.flowjournal.org/2023/02/fan-demographics-on-ao3/)

AO3 and Tumblr, the main platforms for fanfiction and fandom discourse, have an average user age of 25 to 40.

(https://ao3demographicssurvey2024.tumblr.com/post/743125699288842240/in-the-ao3-demographics-survey-2024-an)

The Wenclair phenomenon is not just a passing trend: the ship has been the most discussed on Twitter for several consecutive months after the release of the series, maintaining a constant engagement even in 2024 (especially thanks to the Novelisation)

And when the 2nd season comes out, get ready because fan art and fanfic will return to their prime.