cashew | My hate for fandom is overwhelming (Reply)

I mean I know AO3 isn't the most representative sample, but since it's the easiest way to quickly tally and sort through the tags, it's what I'm using to measure fan engagement. And it's immensely annoying to find that Blade is the most used character tag in HSR fic (after filtering for CN language). And unsurprisingly, Blade takes the top 3/4 pairing tags (刃/丹恒，刃/丹枫，刃/景元). I'm mildly offended that 刃/丹枫 is more popular than 刃/景元 when 丹枫 is dead. WTF.

Also, it annoys me that poor 景元 is tagged in 1729 fics, but his main ship (刃/景元) only has 668 uses. Even adding in the second highest ship (景元/丹恒, 345 uses), that's still nowhere near his total tag. The fact there are 334 uses of 景元/彦卿 frustrates me to no end, because who even likes 彦卿, why do these people exist?!

Meanwhile, when looking into 景元/丹恒, 103 of those are simultaneously tagged with 景元/丹枫, and 61 are tagged with 刃/丹恒. So a good half of 景元/丹恒 is actually just a vehicle for another ship. I've also noticed that as soon as Blade shows up in any 景元/丹恒 or 景元/丹枫 fic, 景元 gets sidelined, because the main ship will always revolve around 刃/丹恒(应星/丹枫).

And my feeling is backed by the numbers. Under 景元 tag (1731), Blade shows up 872 times. 刃/景元 accounts for 639 of those fics. 丹恒 shows up 208 times in fics featuring both 景元 and 刃, and 127 of those appearances is 刃/丹恒 with only 78 appearances involving 景元/丹恒. Meanwhile, 丹恒 shows up 502 times under 景元 tag and of those, Blade shows up 208 times. Yet, 刃/丹恒 ship accounts for 116 of those 208 appearances, while 刃/景元 features a paltry 58 times. In other words, when 丹恒 appears in fics featuring 景元+刃, it's to predominantly pair up with Blade; when Blade shows up in fics featuring 景元+丹恒, it's to predominantly pair up with 丹恒. 景元 is basically an after thought.

My hate for Blade is reaching stratospheric levels.