Wenclair

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Pairing
Pairing: Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair
Alternative name(s): Wenclair
Gender category: Femslash
Fandom: Wednesday
Canonical?: Fanon
Prevalence: Popular
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Wenclair is the pairing of Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair in the Wednesday fandom.

Canon

Wednesday and Enid are roommates at Nevermore Academy.

Fandom

Pre-Release

Following the release of the first trailer and promotional images featuring Enid and Wednesday the two were quickly shipped together thanks to their highly contrasting aesthetics and status as roommates. Fanart and video edits on Twitter, Tumblr and TikTok continued to build interest in the ship during the following months,[1][2] with AO3 having 250 fics tagged the day before the series primiered.[3]

Early wenclair fans often leant into the enemies to lovers trope during this time as there still was not much known about Enid and Wednesday's dynamic. Some also favoured them as murder girlfriends thanks to the general vibes the Addams family has. This tended to make them prone to comparison to other sapphic pairings, such as Glinda/Elphaba from Wicked due to the similar setup of being two adversarial roommates with highly contrasting black and pink aesthetics. Iconic lines from the musical are often parodied in fanart.

Speculation over whether the pairing could be canon also began around this time. It was greatly fueled when Netflix hosted an event in Los Angeles to promo the series called "WednesGAY" where Drag Race icons took the stage dressed in Wednesday-inspired looks.[4][5] The name alone brought a lot of attention[6] but the event was also attended by several cast members including Hunter Doohan (Tyler) who shared a photo of himself to his instagram stories in-front of the "WednesGAY" sign with the caption "Out here fighting for #wenclair [if you know you know]".[7] Excitement continued to build when leaks from the first episode screeners quoted Xavier asking Wednesday "who's the lucky guy... or girl?" while she was waiting for Tyler at a fair. The speculation and general domination of the ship within fandom conversations lead some reviewers to inform fans it was not actually canon ahead of time.[8]

Post-Release

Following the primiere of season 1 the Wenclair fandom exploded in size and remained the most popular ship within the fandom at large. Fans built on the momentum and trends setup prior to release, though some of the earlier fanon surrounding Enid and Wednesday's dynamic was adjusted to fit with canon. Wenclair placed 61st in centrumlumina's AO3 Ship Stats: Year In Review, a review of the most popular relationship tags on AO3 from Jan-Dec 2022. By January Wenclair began appearing regularly in Tumblr's top 20 ships for Week in Review.[9][10]

The topic of queerbaiting was brought up repeatedly by fans and media critics in the months following the first season's release.[11][12] Those who believed queerbaiting had taken place often cited back to the "WednesGAY" promotional event Netflix held, several tweet the official Netflix account made, including "The opposites attract storyline we needed", despite hiding replies mentioning the words "gay" and "lesbian" in response to other promotional posts,[13] as well as the fact that Enid was featured far more heavily in trailers than Wednesday's actual love interests. There was push back to this however, with others pointing out that they had never excepted Wenclair to be canon in the first season, or at all, and that they were merely having fun shipping and speculating before the premiere. By December more fans began to agree that the showrunners may be queerbaiting after an interview was released that initially seemed supportive of the pairing, stating that, “We’re not gonna discount anything, and, obviously, sometimes characters reveal themselves, which is the fun thing we love about television […] So, we’re open to everything." While positive, many believed it was deliberately vague as to keep the vocal Wenclair fandom happy.[14]

Amidst this conversation was the broader topic of the Sapphic Show Cancellation Pattern of the 2020s which was being discussed across many sapphic fandoms in general. The cancellation pattern brought an additional element of distrust and fear over the possibility of Wenclair becoming canon. Many posts were made, either in jest or genuine, stating that were Wenclair to have happened in season one then the show would have been cancelled.[15]

Common Tropes & Fanon

  • Wolf birds - One of the interesting facts spread around the fandom was on the symbiotic relationships between wolves and ravens. Fan accounts began quoting blogs and articles on how ravens are sometimes called "wolf birds" and have been seen interacting with wolves and eating part of whatever they hunt.[16][17] The concept was not only used in discussion on why wenclair were a good match from one another but was also reflected in fanart and fics.
  • Full of Woe - In the series itself Wednesday explains she was born on Friday the 13th and Morticia notes she was named after a line from her favourite poem; "Wednesday's child is full of woe," this being a callback as to how the character's name originally came to be. While Enid does not have a canonical birthday as of season 1 the Addams Family wiki was edited to say it was June 28, 2006, which would have meant she was born on a Wednesday. Screenshots of the wiki were passed around the fandom and it quickly became accepted as fact despite being later removed from the wiki itself for not citing any sources.[18] Fans pointed to the line that corresponds to Wednesday's birthday, "Friday's child is loving and giving," as an interesting reversal to Enid's "woe" given that she is normally the sunshine to Wednesdays storm cloud, though again, Enid's date of birth is unconfirmed.
  • Addams Family Curse - Similar to a soulmate AU or Love at First Sight, the curse is used to explain the intensity in which some members of the Addams Family show romantic love once they meet the right person. Wednesday is often aware of this curse and tries to avoid falling in loves so that she does not end up like her parents, other times she warns Enid of it. It is sometimes portrayed as deadly should an Addamses feelings be unrequited. It has its own AO3 tag.
  • Gomezification - Wednesday's displays of romantic affection are sometimes depicted similar to her fathers, with over the top declarations of love laced in morbid metaphors as well as speaking Italian, French and/or Spanish. It has its own AO3 tag.
  • "Oh my god, they were roommates!" - Wednesday and Enid are indeed roommates, however this meme was also quoted by Emma Myers (Enid) when asked about Wenclair, thus making particularly popular in the fandom.
  • Meet the family - Many fanworks have Enid being officially introduced to the Addams family, normally by ways of having her visit Wednesday over a school break. She is often shown to find more acceptance with the Addams than with her own family.
  • Holidayfic - Season 1 was released on 23 November and so a lot of fanworks were set around Christmas, typically with Enid visiting the Addamses home for the holidays.
  • Fake Dating - Much of fake dating took place in the above holiday themed fanworks.
  • Red Duffle Bag Fear - Some portray Wednesday as having a fear or general dislike for the duffle bag Enid used to pack her things into when she temporarily moved out. Is often angsty, with Wednesday misunderstanding Enid wanting to leave again when she sees it, though it is also used for comedy.
  • Interspecies - Enid is a werewolf and Wednesday is (probably) human.
  • Omegaverse - Where there are canonical werewolves there will be omegaverse soon to follow.

Fanworks

Art

Fics

Fic Recs

Vids

Meta

Archives & Fannish Links

Archives

Communities

Twitter

Tumblr

Challenges

References

  1. ^ That's probably what Wednesday dating Enid is like for the Addamses. @LazuliBarbara. Nov 5, 2022.
  2. ^ not again… pov ur a clown too magicpotatomaster101. Nov 2nd, 2022.
  3. ^ there are 250+ wenclair fics written on archive of our own, before the show has even aired @dailywencIair. Nov 22, 2022.
  4. ^ Gottmik Parties on a ‘WednesGAY’ and Sylvester Stallone Is ‘King’: Must Attend Calendar Listings Nov. 9-15 Variety. Nov 9, 2022.
  5. ^ Tonight: WednesGAY, celebrating the upcoming series #Wednesday on Netflix. @Most @Variety. Nov 10, 2022.
  6. ^ WEDNESGAY WHAT @undercoverfren. Nov 10, 2022.
  7. ^ YOU GUYS I AM FUCKING GOING INSANE. THE ACTOR FOR TYLER, HUNTER DOOHAN, IS ONE OF US YOU GUYS ENKJDNWEKFJRNFKJE enolaholmess. Nov 10, 2022.
  8. ^ Last thing: Wednesday and Enid are not romantically involved in any way. They both have lots of male love interests. Just wanted to get that out of the way. Sorry, don't kill the messenger. @azalben. Nov 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Week in Review: Ships - Week Ending January 9th, 2023
  10. ^ Week in Review: Ships - Week Ending January 23rd, 2023
  11. ^ Netflix Wasn’t Queerbaiting With ‘Stranger Things’, But They Are With ‘Wednesday’ Junkee.com. Merryana Salem. 9 December 2022.
  12. ^ Wednesday Addams is a queer icon, but is she queer? Digital Spy. David Opie. 25 November 2022.
  13. ^ ‘Wednesday’ fans call out Netflix for hiding tweets suggesting titular character is queer NME. Emma Wilkes. 27 November 2022.
  14. ^ now this is queerbaiting @shpooks_alwyn. Twitter. Dec 24, 2022.
  15. ^ Guys they couldn’t make Wenclair canon in season one so Netflix doesn’t cancel them because we all know how Netflix feels about sapphics. @bellwood-qudditch. Tumblr. Nov 24, 2022.
  16. ^ Obsessed with this concept barb-l. Dec 4th, 2022.
  17. ^ “Ravens are sometimes known as ‘wolf-birds’ because they form social attachments with wolves. Where there are wolves, there are often ravens that follow” @dailywencIair. Dec 5, 2022.
  18. ^ the fact that enid was born on a wednesday just proves wenclair are soulmates @dailywencIair. Jan 10, 2023.
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