fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #6032 + 6033 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6032 + 6033 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Master Detective Archives: Rain Code]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 07 secrets from Secret Submission Post #862.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Another anon mentioned sorting by length. I have a friend that sorts by rating. I like to put whatever tag I'm feeling at the moment and then sort by bookmarks. I also happily and liberally use the "exclude these tags" feature.

I go by character or pairing. If the fandom has less than 50 pages, I'll just go through them all. If it is a huge fandom, I usually search by kudos and read the most popular fics. Sometimes I'll add a tag I am interest in (usually hurt/comfort).

I use the exclude tags A LOT. I choose pairing and rating, then sort by oldest to newest. Depending on the fandom, I may set a minimum word count. And I may filter out WIP but not always. Some of my ships get tagged in NOTPs or because my ship is mentioned once in a 55k word fic about another pairing so I’ll filter out those ships.

I use an extension to blacklist, so I don't use the exclude option much. Mostly I filter first by pairing, then by completeness, language, and length, newest on top.

I filter by character and then pairing/other and make heavy use of the exclude tag.

I typically sort by "new" if it's something I've searched before and either comments or kudos if I'm new to it.

Most recent search was by pairing, fandom, preferred language (because I'm not always in the mood to spend time fiddling with DeepL and a dictionary), and it excluded crossovers.

It would be nice if they'd let you put several languages you'd like to search in. Of course, it's not the sort of thing I plan to ever mention within earshot of the people running the AO3 because they've got more pressing things to worry about.

Exclude exclude exclude. My favorite function. I don't how I was surviving before it.

If it's a big fandom I sort by likes. If not I sort by date.

One HUNDRED percent I go by tags. Hits and kudos are pretty meaningless, but if there's a tag I'm in the mood for I'll filter to specifically get that thing, and then I also liberally exclude tags. Sometimes stuff will show up in a fic that isn't tagged for, or the tags will change on a WIP I'm following to reflect changes I'm not into, but it's a pretty good system that at least weeds out 90% of billy hargrove.

Search for a fic using google. Try the main category. Give up. Open a new tab to to search for tips on searching AO3, open another tab to try various ways to tweak the search string. Give up. Click on the character tag. Read through fifteen pages of Supernatural crossover drabbles all by the same person. Give up. Just give up. Go to Fanfiction.net, click on the category, find a fic that is vaguely relevant from the first page of results, sorted by chronological order, read that fic instead. Close the approximately fifteen hundred tabs from AO3 containing dead end results, most of which are goddamn Supernatural crossover drabbles still by that same bloody fucking person which seem to get updated about three hundred pages every hour. Jesus, but Twisting the Hellmouth site doesn't even have that many Buffy crossover drabbles as AO3 gets Supernatural crossover drabbles does in an hour.

It depends on the fandom, but in the one I am now I go through:
> SELECT "pairing tag" > EXCLUDE "minor pairings that make no sense to me" > EXCLUDE "AUs that I don't like" > "minimum lenght: 5.000 words" > "complete work only" > SORT BY "kudos / bookmark / date updated / word count" depending on my mood
Sorting by kudos or bookmarks is not very reliable for me in this fandom because I like things of that couple that evidently not a lot of people in the fandom enjoy. It is what it is.

This is a very big fandom with a lot of fics, so I have a very vast selection of stories to choose from. I can be picky, so I exclude a lot and go exclusively for completely and somehow lengthy works.

Other fandoms I just do through the pairing tag and then pray there is something new. ANYTHING. PLEASE. ANYTHING!!!

[ SECRET POST #6032 + 6033 ]

Ao3 sorting/searching habits

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Re: Ao3 sorting/searching habits