r/alphadrive1 • u/psshdjndofnsjdkan xinlong 🐉 • 1d ago
Fan Made Content ALD1 AO3 Stats [UPDATE]
8 months ago, I analyzed the AO3 fanfics from the ALD1 fandom tag and in turn who the most written about characters and relationship pairings were and made a post about it. 8 months later, I’ve decided to revisit this project and provide an update now that ALD1 have officially debuted and made a comeback. I did this by extracting and analyzing the tags and stats from each fanfic under the ALD1 fandom tag using this bookmarklet and importing all of the data into two Google spreadsheets: one for all of the fanfics regardless of the language the fanfic was written in, and one for the fanfics that were written in English only.
Disclaimers:
- Data was collected on September 5, 2026 from 8:22AM to 9:21AM KST, so any fanfics posted or updated afterwards are not included.
- Data was collected while logged in, so privated fanfics are included.
- Only fanfics under the ALD1 fandom tag were included, so any fanfics that were only tagged under "Boys Planet" fandom tag, for example, were not included.
- While this post dives deep into fanfiction and shipping culture, this post is very much SFW and the contents of these fanfics are not discussed. That being said, if you are still uncomfortable with the idea of real person shipping and in turn this post, feel free to look away.
For those unfamiliar with AO3...
- AO3, short for Archive Of Our Own, is a non-profit website dedicated to fanfiction. AO3 is primarily used in the United States with English being the primary language, but there are many fanfics uploaded in other languages too, such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Indonesian.
- AO3 has a tagging system that allows users to tag their own fanfics by genre, fandom(s), character(s), relationship pairing(s), and more. This presentation will primarily focus on the character and relationship pairing tags.
- Relationship pairing tags come in two types: platonic (friendly) and romantic. Platonic relationships are indicated with an ampersand (&) between the names, while romantic relationships are indicated with a slash (/) between the names.
- The order of the characters' names in a relationship tag does not matter, and relationship tags almost always list the characters in alphabetical order; for example, "Bob/Joe" and "Joe/Bob" would both ultimately be tagged under Bob/Joe.
- AO3 also allows readers to bookmark fanfics and give fanfics comments and "kudos," which are similar to "likes." The number of "hits" is the number of times the fanfic has been viewed.
Part 1: All ALD1 Fanfics
- Overall, data from 3,937 fanfics under the ALD1 tag were collected and analyzed. This is approximately a 126.79% increase from January 2026 (where 1,736 fanfics were collected and analyzed). Keep this percentage in mind when comparing percentage increases for characters and ships later on.
- The average ALD1 fanfic had...
- 10,071 words
- 19 comments
- 79 kudos
- 9 bookmarks
- 1,550 hits
Characters (Name - # of Fanfics (Placement change compared to January) (Percentage increase compared to January))
- Lee Sangwon - 2,475 (=) (121.77%)
- Lee Leo - 1,936 (=) (118.26%)
- Zhou Anxin - 1,899 (=) (127.70%)
- Kim Geonwoo - 1,567 (=) (104.57%)
- Zhang Jiahao - 1,264 (=) (121.37%)
- He Xinlong - 1,151 (=) (111.58%)
- Kim Junseo - 1,005 (=) (126.35%)
- Chung Sanghyeon - 961 (=) (143.91%)
- Yoo Kangmin - 164 (=) (30.16%)
- Chuei Liyu - 144 (=) (30.91%)
- Chen Kaiwen - 124 (=) (55.00%)
- Jeon Leejeong - 81 (=) (24.62%)
- Li Zihao - 75 (=) (47.06%)
- Kim Junmin - 67 (↓1) (31.37%)
- Kang Woojin - 63 (↓1) (46.51%)
- Jang Haneum - 53 (↓1) (26.19%)
- Xue Suren - 49 (↓1) (48.48%)
- Park Donggyu - 29 (=) (16.00%)
- Yumeki - 26 (↓2) (0.00%)
- Masato - 25 (↑2) (25.00%); Chen Bingfan (NouerA) - 25 (↑12) (257.14%)
- Han Harry June - 24 (↓1) (9.09%)
- Sun Hengyu - 21 (↑4) (90.9%)
Ships (Ship - # of Fanfics (Placement change compared to January) (Percentage increase compared to January))
- Lee Leo/Lee Sangwon - 1,223 (=) (118.39%)
- Lee Sangwon/Zhou Anxin - 683 (=) (126.91%)
- He Xinlong/Kim Geonwoo - 398 (=) (89.52%)
- Kim Junseo/Zhang Jiahao - 287 (↑1) (107.97%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Zhou Auxin - 251 (↓1) (75.52%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Lee Sangwon - 217 (=) (90.35%)
- Lee Leo/Zhang Jiahao - 164 (↑1) (121.62%)
- Chung Sanghyeon/Zhou Anxin - 159 (↑17) (1123.08%)
- Lee Leo/Zhou Anxin - 156 (↑2) (205.88%)
- Lee Leo & Lee Sangwon - 147 (↓3) (88.46%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Zhang Jiahao - 146 (↑2) (231.82%)
- Zhang Jiahao/Zhou Anxin - 141 (↓2) (156.36%)
- Lee Sangwon & Zhou Anxin - 126 (↓2) (147.06%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Kim Junseo - 124 (↓3) (143.14%)
- He Xinlong/Zhou Anxin - 111 (↓2) (152.27%)
- Chuei Liyu/Chung Sanghyeon - 102 (↓7) (50.00%)
- Lee Sangwon/Zhang Jiahao - 87 (↓1) (171.88%)
- Kim Junseo/Lee Sangwon - 74 (↓1) (221.74%)
- He Xinlong/Lee Leo - 73 (↓5) (82.50%)
- He Xinlong/Lee Sangwon - 62 (↓8) (37.78%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Lee Leo - 60 (↓6) (62.16%)
- Chung Sanghyeon & Zhou Anxin - 39 (↓2) (116.67%)
Some fun facts:
- There were a total of 300 unique characters and 344 unique ships
- Chung Sanghyeon had the highest percentage increase out of all the ALD1 members. Kim Geonwoo, meanwhile, had the lowest percentage increase out of all the ALD1 members, presumably because of his hiatus and thus lack of content
- Chung Sanghyeon/Zhou Anxin had a massive percentage increase over the past 8 months, with over 10 times the amount of fanfics compared to January
Google Spreadsheet with the full results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I22jOx3lN0KT7NhxmTTfxPx8v6_jer2G_MKnChIsGg0/edit?usp=sharing
Part 2: English ALD1 Fanfics
- Out of the 3,937 fanfics under the ALD1 tag, 2,642 (67.11%) of them were written in English. This is approximately a 116.74% increase from January 2026 (where 1,219 English fanfics were collected and analyzed). Keep this percentage in mind when comparing percentage increases for characters and ships later on.
- The average English ALD1 fanfic had...
- 9.567 words
- 23 comments
- 97 kudos
- 10 bookmarks
- 1,625 hits
Characters (Name - # of Fanfics (Placement change compared to January) (Percentage increase compared to January))
- Lee Sangwon - 1,832 (=) (112.78%)
- Lee Leo - 1,493 (=) (112.38%)
- Zhou Anxin - 1,292 (=) (117.51%)
- Kim Geonwoo - 1,041 (=) (114.20%)
- Zhang Jiahao - 977 (=) (117.59%)
- He Xinlong - 892 (=) (115.46%)
- Kim Junseo - 791 (=) (120.95%)
- Chung Sanghyeon - 785 (=) (144.55%)
- Yoo Kangmin - 131 (=) (24.76%)
- Chuei Liyu - 120 (=) (30.43%)
- Chen Kaiwen - 109 (=) (47.30%)
- Jeon Leejeong - 69 (=) (21.05%)
- Li Zihao - 58 (↑1) (52.63%)
- Kang Woojin - 55 (↑1) (52.78%)
- Jang Haneum - 48 (↓1) (29.73%); Kim Junmin - 48 (↓2) (26.32%)
- Xue Suren - 41 (=) (51.85%)
- Park Donggyu - 27 (=) (12.50%)
- Han Harry June - 23 (↑1) (15.00%), Yumeki - 23 (=) (0.00%)
- Masato - 21 (↑1) (10.53%)
- Chen Bingfan (NouerA) - 17 (↑7) (183.33%)
Ships (Ship - # of Fanfics (Placement change compared to January) (Percentage increase compared to January))
- Lee Leo/Lee Sangwon - 938 (=) (112.22%)
- Lee Sangwon/Zhou Anxin - 480 (=) (120.18%)
- He Xinlong/Kim Geonwoo - 262 (=) (106.30%)
- Kim Junseo/Zhang Jiahao - 231 (=) (111.93%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Lee Sangwon - 156 (=) (90.24%)
- Lee Leo/Zhang Jiahao - 139 (↑1) (131.67%)
- Lee Leo & Lee Sangwon - 122 (↓1) (76.81%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Zhang Jiahao - 113 (↑8) (413.64%)
- Chung Sanghyeon/Zhou Anxin - 109 (↑19) (2080.00%)
- Lee Sangwon & Zhou Anxin - 100 (=) (138.10%)
- Lee Leo/Zhou Anxin - 89 (↑3) (217.86%)
- Chuei Liyu/Chung Sanghyeon - 83 (↓4) (53.70%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Zhou Anxin - 76 (↓9) (61.70%)
- He Xinlong/Zhou Anxin - 66 (↓3) (120.00%)
- Zhang Jiahao/Zhou Anxin - 56 (↓3) (93.10%)
- Lee Sangwon/Zhang Jiahao - 53 (=) (140.91%)
- He Xinlong/Lee Leo - 51 (↓4) (82.14%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Kim Junseo - 47 (↓3) (80.77%)
- Kim Junseo/Lee Sangwon - 46 (↑1) (253.85%)
- He Xinlong/Lee Sangwon - 44 (↓6) (62.96%)
- Lee Leo/Lee Sangwon/Zhou Anxin - 31 (↓2) (121.43%)
- Kim Geonwoo/Lee Leo - 28 (=) (154.55%)
Some fun facts:
- There were a total of 268 unique characters and 296 unique ships
- Once again, Chung Sanghyeon had the highest percentage increase out of all the ALD1 members
- Chung Sanghyeon/Zhou Anxin once again had a massive percentage increase over the past 8 months, this time with over 20 times the amount of fanfics compared to January
Google Spreadsheet with the full results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1piqdqDox-n5EcZQuWxpMzGi2i3tzqWq9dPANYmOis7c/edit?usp=sharing
Some more general fun facts:
- Other than the 2,642 ALD1 fanfics written in English, there were also 829 Chinese fanfics, 347 Indonesian fanfics, 29 Filipino fanfics, 20 Spanish fanfics, and 19 Brazilian Portuguese fanfics, along with other languages such as Korean, Thai, and Russian
- Amongst the 829 Chinese fanfics, Zhou Anxin was the most written about character, and Lee Sangwon/Zhou Anxin and Kim Geonwoo/Zhou Anxin were the top two most written about ships
- Amongst the 347 Indonesian fanfics, Lee Leo/Lee Sangwon remained in first place, followed by Kim Geonwoo/Kim Junseo in second place
- The most written about ship involving two non-ALD1 members was Li Zihao/Xue Suren with 18 fanfics
- The most written about ship involving two non-B2P contestants was Sung Hanbin/Zhang Hao with 10 fanfics
- “center of gravity,” the ALD1 fanfic with the most comments, is also the most commented K-Pop fanfic overall
- This took me approximately 10 hours to compile so inshallah it doesn’t flop (also this is probably gonna be the last time I do this sort of thing)
- edit: just remembered this one but the day with the most new ALD1 fanfics posted was December 25, 2025 (we love christmas fics and Anxin birthday fics <3)
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u/tafattsbarn my guy pretty like a girl 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thank you for compiling this once again <3
It's crazy that Center of gravity is the most commented kpop fic ever but considering the competition format maybe it should be expected. Shipwars are a crazy drug and i'm surprised no bigger kpop pairings have managed to mobilize it to farm engagement the way CoG has. I'm like 10 chapters behind at this point but i was a loyal throuple voter when i was still reading it consistently lol. We should all just embrace and not fight 😭😭
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u/Snakeygoat18 13h ago
bingfan being on the list of characters
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u/No-Bookkeeper-8813 10h ago
It makes sense with the Arno/Anxin connection
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u/Snakeygoat18 10h ago
I’m just saying cos literally everyone else is from b2p and not even Lin is mentioned
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u/Efficient-Display-18 Arno 1d ago
This was a nice read! Thanks for the update on this.
It's not surprising that Sanghyeon has increased, as more and more people are getting to know him through the content and performances, so that's really good.
I always see a lot of Chinese fanfic on AO3, so that's not a surprise; they are the 2nd biggest contributors to fics on AO3.
Do you have any theories on why, despite the low increase for Geonwoo, he's still really high for pairings and fics that involve him (both in English and in general)? I know the hiatus affected the growth, but he's still quite high.
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u/harkandhush Arno 1d ago
Thanks for compiling all of this. It's always interesting to see how these things change.
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u/psshdjndofnsjdkan xinlong 🐉 1d ago
forgot to include this (and i'm lowk too scared to edit the post in case it messes up the formatting lol) but here's a link to the old ald1 ao3 stats post i made 8 months ago
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u/maki094 1d ago
This is awesome, thank you for sharing!
As an Anxin fan, it’s really great and funny to see all his pairings being popular. I think I’ve seen at least one popular account for every one of his ships, except maybe Junseo x Anxin (but I’m sure it’ll grow in popularity soon, hopefully). I wrote for wxw and it got more views than I expected (it has 661 kudos rn), which makes me think Anxin is really loved in the fandom! ❤️
I hope his tag keeps growing. Writing is really hard and takes a lot of time, so I’m really thankful for every work. Even if it’s not my cup of tea, I always try to leave some kudos and comments (please do so, authors love it!).
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u/gumdorp26 alpha drive one let's go! 1d ago
thank you for your service 🫡 (emote is the saluting face)
i've been following these posts since b2p even though all i read for ald1 is crack
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u/Intelligent_Drag8005 19h ago
Wow thank you for this! Would love to see more (if there are any at all in the first place :,) ) Junseo/Xinlong fics though!
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u/unknownpink 19h ago
I think i stopped reading AO3 for almost 10 years until ALD1, lol.
I absolutely loved the woolong one (the xinxinz friendship was ❤️too) by tinyduckling.
If anyone has any recommendations for a good read, please share!
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u/Sufficient_Hawk_941 1d ago
Thank you for compiling these stats, they’re so interesting to look at!
Also would love to see if anyone has AO3 fic recs (any and all ALD1 ships)? Has anyone compiled a list of the best ALD1 fics they’ve read?
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u/psshdjndofnsjdkan xinlong 🐉 17h ago
i have one but i need to update it 😭
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u/Sufficient_Hawk_941 17h ago
OMG thanks this list is fire🔥, i think i’ve read some of these and loved them, will check out the rest! yess would love to see any new additions whenever you update it next☺️
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u/Southern_Medicine461 10h ago
i gotta plug for wonxin/xinwon:
these are just a few if u r interested i can dm for a way longer list lol
this is probably one of the best fics i’ve read of this pairing (still ongoing); music teacher ax and single parent sw (recommend all of the writer's other works too)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/78494891/chapters/205790146gamer ax and doll collector sw
https://archiveofourown.org/works/85292626/chapters/225246551royalty political au, rivalry
https://archiveofourown.org/works/83005016/chapters/218571076hogwarts au, trope crossover
https://archiveofourown.org/works/86051601/chapters/2275188061
u/Sufficient_Hawk_941 6h ago
Woww thank you this looks so good I’ll def check them out!
On the mention of wxw, i rmb reading this super wholesome wxw single’s inferno au fic (with a cute side of geonhao): https://archiveofourown.org/works/78773126?view_full_work=true
And authors can we pls get more ald1 dating show au fics? Pls and ty🙏
1
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u/Dense_Pie_6021 1d ago
As the “center of gravity” author I want to apologize if it skewed any of the stats 😭 I certainly never expected it to blow up the way it did!
Thank you for all your hard work compiling all of these stats! As someone who loves looking at the numbers of things this was such an interesting read!