Ace of Spades

For anyone who hasn't seen them before, Hidden Search Operators are handy tricks you can use when you're either searching or filtering AO3.

summary: string is a generic way of explaining that you can search AO3 for a specific word that appears in a summary. You can do this from the search bar in the header, from the Any Field box at the top of the Advanced Search form, or from the Search Within Results box at the bottom of the filter menu.

Examples:

You need to put quotation marks around your search term if it is more than one word. The quotes make sure that the site searches for those two words together.

The other two operators listed work best in the Search Within Results box.

expected_number_of_chapters: 1 will return results where every fic has only 1 chapter currently posted.

You can use expected_number_of_chapters: -1 if you want results where every fic has more than 1 chapter currently posted.

otp:true will return results where there is only 1 relationship tag on the fic. If you want results where there are 2+ relationship tags (and no fics with only 1 relationship tag) then you can use otp:false

This page is so beautiful and honestly I hope it reaches and helps any new people that are just starting out on Ao3 because it's helping me and I’ve been using the site for 5+ years now

I saw your tags @jackdaw-sprite and I figured I could offer you some help? You've got a few options to find fics that are actually about your fave who is often sidelined.

My own personal go-to is to use the Search Within Results filter. You can find the filters by clicking/tapping on any tag. If you're on a wide screen like a laptop, they'll be on the right hand side of the screen. If you're on a narrow screen like a phone, you'll need to press the Filters button at the top of the page to open up the menu.

In that menu, scroll down until you're near the bottom. That's where you can find the box labelled Search Within Results. In that box, you can type

summary: Renhardt OR summary: Rendog

When you filter for that result, you'll get 19 fics with that name mentioned in the summary, and if the name is in the summary you've got MUCH higher chances of them being central to the fic.

There's also a way to find fics with a tag in the X position. Fan coders have had this same issue, and so they've created userscripts that you can add to your web browser (like an extension). Here are a few that might be helpful for you to try:

Editing to add: this version of the post has a syntax error in it. To remove oneshots with a filter, use

-expected_number_of_chapters: 1

I thought Kris looked super cute in the school outfit in Chapter 5 ^_^

gate agent said “infants under 2 now welcome to board” and then after a pause said “but please bring your parents with you” and i’m so sleep deprived i can’t stop giggling

I'M THE #1 DEFENDER OF SEASON 5 MARTIN BLACKWOOD.

sometimes when two people love each other very much something bad happens

sometimes when two people love each other very much something bad happens

LET THE FREAKS HAVE THEIR ONE THING

jonathan sims and how men aren’t taught to express any of their emotions apart from anger. jonathan sims and how men are taught to never be emotionally vulnerable with anyone. jonathan sims and how men are taught to be anchors who keep things stable without being supported. jonathan sims and how brown second gen immigrants are taught to to mold themselves to fit into boxes that were never made for them to even have a chance at being remotely successful in their lives. jonathan sims and how brown boys are expected to be so much tougher than white boys— how the only representation brown men get in media is when they’re tough and emotionally unavailable. jonathan sims and how men are excused from accountability when they do some horrendous fucking bullshit because “boys will be boys,” and it isn’t until everything has fallen apart around him does he truly think about what he has done. jonathan sims and running away from all his emotions. jonathan sims and the way societal expectations molded him into becoming the type of person who would make the decisions necessary to end the world. jonathan sims and the horrors of wanting to love and be emotional in a world that doesn’t want someone like him to do any of that. jonathan sims and the horrors of hiding who you are and how that can lead to you doing some horrendous fucking bullshit to those around you. jonathan sims and maintaining the status quo or what little you have left of it even when it hurts. jonathan sims and the horrors of being a brown boy

sometimes that character just wouldn’t hide an injury. it’s a great trope but only if they would do that.

and sometimes the character wouldn’t try to push through sickness and do their day job or whatever. again i see what you’re going for but sometimes in these fics something else can happen. open your hearts and minds to scenarios such as “the character is actually pretty expressive about their needs and is willing to complain a lot but the other characters still don’t take it that seriously for whatever reason and have to deal with the guilt and quencies after”. or “the character takes a rest at the appropriate time (or earlier!) but then faces punishment/being ignored/hostility for doing so and that is what worsens their condition into a serious one.” or “the character is a practical one who informs people sensibly and takes every necessary step, yet to their distress their condition still spirals out of the control.” or whatever else but just do you see what i’m saying not every character is a silent sufferer and that isn’t the only way to put them in a situation . we can innovate

Every day I love AO3 more and more

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

"what am i looking for? gerard keay after he faked his death" jon why would that be your first thought you fucking homo

"Is it a sin to feel superior to an imbecile?" is one of those things I need framed on my wall.

dont like? DONT READ

It’s still fucking crazy to me that c!Thomas was genuinely starting to believe that he was secretly a dishonest selfish ungrateful person who didn’t love his friends for a little bit because he didn’t really want to go to their wedding and instead wanted to go to a callback that could change the trajectory of his career forever and thought simply just Feeling that feeling could mean he was irredeemable and too far gone. Denial is a river in Egypt your core has moral ocd