today on ao3 tips, here's a quick follow up to this post about the ao3 "mark for later"/TBR/save for later function! ive seen some stuff going around lately lamenting that there's no easy way to filter out "character x reader" or "character x OC" fics from search results, but there absolutely is!
very quick and simple fix, just add "-reader" and/or "-original*" to the "search within results" bar (not "other tags to exclude", which might be where the confusion is coming from). it looks like this:
here is what it looks like with both filtered out:
the "*" after original is an indicator for the filters to catch the "original female--", "original male--", and "original character" tags, which is why is should be included! as a caveat, this also removes anything that has the word "original" in the summary or tags, so do be aware of that. (meaning this will also grab anything that has original characters tagged even if they AREN'T in a pairing, plus anything that uses the word "original" in the normal sense)
also, || designates "OR" for the filter search, so it is optional (and can be replaced with just a simple space) but i like to include it to be extra sure. i have checked and both results work.
Always rooting for the Anti-Hero ~ Happy Birthday, Professor Snape
~
A new phoenix-themed robe design for AU postwar/headmaster Snape. After the snake theme, the phoenix theme is my favorite one to include into any robes I draw for him. I think it’s kinda fitting, like one big „f*** you“ directed at the ones who made his life miserable, including the late Dumbledore;
„See this? You were the one with the pet-phoenix, but I’m the one who survived your bullshit-schemes, got your job, my freedom, and the trust and gratitude of the boy you deceived and raised to die.“
Ah yes. The power of fanfiction.
Fun fact: The robe is inspired by a dress Taylor Swift wore for the Reputation stadium tour.
welcome the the first fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.
1. Blast Zone by @mareepicurean
In the middle of a mission, a bomb going off leaves Lance unable to hear. Still, while he’s deaf, the rest of his team are the ones that won’t listen.
This is one of my voltron fics ever. I’ve read it regularly since it came out in 2017, and it was one of the big inspirations of my deaf lance fic. The fic does a really good job of team hurt/comfort and Lance’s insecurities without making the team weirdly evil. An awesome fic that I highly recommend. (Also, there’s some excellent Shiro & Lance!)
2. Perishing Pearls by @ohcontrary
A training session with the team goes awry when Lance has to spar against Allura, who’s wielding her new whip. The mere sight of it raises ghosts he’d much rather forget.
This one is also heavy on the angst, although fair warning: it mentions past child abuse, so tread carefully. The fic is handles complicated family dynamics and grief really well. It is a great established klance hurt/comfort fic.
3. How To Train Your Galra by magisterpavus [EXPLICIT]
“Shiro, I fucked up,” Keith blurted, wringing his hands.
Shiro paused mid-punch, shooting him a quizzical look. “What? What happened?”
“I think,” Keith whispered, “I think I accidentally roofied Lance. With my dick.”
This series is the walking proof that 2016 fics hit different. Should 14 year old me have been reading it? Probably not. It’s hugely NSFW, so definitely proceed with caution, but it’s a banger and has a lot of good banter, team as family, enemies to lovers, exes to lovers, and more. Honestly a lot of fun and a lot of face-palming, just remember to heed the tags.
4. If It Ain’t Broke by @overlymetaromantic
A 5 plus 1: Five times Lance takes a hit for the team, and one time the team takes a hit back.
There’s this specific scene in this fic (it’s a bit of a spoiler) where Lance is getting shit from a worried team, who’s upset about him continually putting himself at risk, someone asks “Even if it means putting yourself at risk?” and Lance doesn’t even hesitate before saying “Yes!” It’s such an easy description of Lance’s character that it makes me emotional every time.
5. Medic Lance by Fullmetal_Bitch
Multi-chap ft. my headcannon that Lance is the team’s unofficial medic. Basically, it’s a 5 + 1 of Lance helping the others when they’re hurt and them helping him, just with a couple extra chapters. Story is so much better than this summary, I swear.Story is complete but the chapters did get revised so let me know whether you reckon it reads smoother now!
Medic Lance my beloved, truly. I feel like it fits him so well, especially as the Blue Paladin. This also has really good BAMF Lance, and Lance interacting with all the lions! Amazing, longer story.
that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!
Sometimes I think about this fun little AU I have where Snape somehow ends up on the horcrux hunt with Harry, Hermione, and Ron for whatever bullshit plot reason. And the three of them are just like "Merlin he's an asshole, I can't believe we're gonna bully him into being our weird grumpy uncle figure" and then there's Snape being all disgruntled and trying to beat them off with a stick and the trio just doubling down harder out of spite.
Can you imagine Malfoy Manner with Snape being there, it would be a shitshow of epic proportions. Snape has really no idea that the three of them had grown on him like some kind of obnoxious fungus because he's absolutely terrible at handling his emotions right up until they're being threatened by torture to hand over the sword of Gryffindor and having that italicized "oh" moment right there. Which of course leads to him trying to goad Bellatrix and the rest of the Death Eaters into redirecting their attention on him because fuck those are kind of his kids now. And then the Golden Trio having their moment of realization with concrete proof that there's real emotions and feelings hiding underneath all that snark and snarling.