soc_puppet | (no subject)

So on the one hand, tag filtering being down at AO3 is a major pain, because there's a particular fic I want to read and I know how to get there via tags and don't particularly care to try and search for it otherwise.

On the other hand, tag filtering being down on AO3 is fucking awesome, because "# of works found in [specific tag]" no longer cuts off at 1,000. I methodically went through the entire archive by a particular 'ship when it was limited to 1,000, and it was fifty pages of potential deliciousness, and now there's a good fifty more pages for my current 'ship + fandom parameters.

On the other other hand, that's potentially disastrous, because I will totally spend more time than I have any right to going through all the pages of fic I haven't seen before and will regret it deeply when it comes time to measure my productivity levels.

*dryly* Clearly my life is fraught with tragedy and peril.

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From:

krait

Hahahaha now I am going to spend all of tomorrow night methodically ploughing through every pairing I read with >1,000 fics. I'm a pretty regular achiever of "check out every single one of the thousand returned" thing in the fandoms where it's applicable, so NOW THERE IS MORE? BRING IT ON! *makes mental note to recheck Sherlock pairings*

Can I ask which particular 'ship you were searching for? I need more popular pairings, because lately (ahem, Homestuck fandom!) I have been having the other problem, i.e. "I'm going to read all of the X/Y! ...What do you mean, 'nine works found'?! Welp, goal accomplished; that was easy."

From:

soc_puppet

LOL, I know, right? READ ALL THE FICS!

Oh hey, I just saw a Fanfic Flamingo for this exact situation! Yeah, I mentioned that Avengers had eaten my attention span? Steve/Tony is the popular slash pairing over there and has > 1900 fics. [Note: The following is pretty useless if you're already familiar with the comics. But Sam Explains is still pretty hilarious, so read it anyway; if you've already read it, it's still worth a re-read.] The great majority of the fics there predate the movie and are mostly based on the comics and related continuities; this is a handy guide if you're interested in learning more (though 80% of the pictures they had been using have since been replaced by pics of Steve's star-spangled butt). Also helpful: Sam Explains Comic Books, though don't read while doing anything that laughing would be hazardous to. (Also: Sam Explains Civil War (Marvel comics-verse story arc).) I've got a butt-ton of recs if you're interested, starting with EVERYTHING EVER by

scifigrl47, with a warning that Four (or Five) Reasons to Kidnap Tony Stark has left off on a serious cliffhanger, though at least This Act of Creation Will Be Your Salvation is at a really natural-seeming stopping point?

I was also somewhat briefly eaten by Arthur/Eames from Inception. Can you tell that I like snark? Because I totally like snark. Anyway, there's > 2300 fics for them. My general rule for AO3 is "If it's got more than 25 kudos, it's worth a look."

Edited Date: 2012-06-14 02:55 pm (UTC)

From:

krait

Confession: I am not even in comic books fandom, and I love Sam Explains Comic Books so much that I read them out loud to my friend over Skype. :D

(I say I'm not in comics fandom; I do binge-read Erik/Charles on occasion. And if Smallville, as a spinoff show about a comic book originated character, counts, well, sometimes I also binge-read Lex/Clark.)

I haven't seen the Avengers movie, or indeed any of the recent spate of DC/Marvel movies, yet. In general, superheroes don't grab my attention; X-Men, with its social justice vibe and wider array of characters (a schoolful!) might be the closest I come. ~~And that's mostly just because I like making up OCs and working out what their mutations should be.~~

Second confession: I've never seen Inception, either, but I read any Arthur/Eames fic that shows up in my tag searches. (Read a great asexual!Eames fic the other day!)

From:

soc_puppet

\o/ Oh Maude, I have been thirsting terribly for someone (perhaps even the someones involved!) to do a dramatic reading/recording of Sam Explains Comic Books so I can more easily expose other people.

(Okay, yes, those are more than easily justified. Anyway, I can easily imagine Erik/Charles having well over 1,000 fics, so it might be time for your next binge!)

I'd attempt a harder sell, but I don't want to get all Hype Backlash on you. I will say that I have a huge weakness for every fic in which Captain America fights for gay rights. (I can think of exactly three at the moment, one of which is indeed by scifigrl47. ...I'll stop now, really.) ~~I admit, I frequently amuse myself trying to come up with unconventional mutant powers, especially the sort that would give the mutant a non-intuitive tactical advantage in combat.~~

There's definitely some good stuff out there :3 I may have even read that fic? I know I've read at least one, and an Ace!Arthur fic as well. Anyway, I now have access to HUGE number of fics I haven't gotten to yet, especially since I only dove into the fandom a few months ago, which was well after its heyday.

From:

redsixwing

I really really need to set up an account there and read ALL THE THINGS.

From:

soc_puppet

Thankfully, most of the things are accessible even without an account, but the fact that some of them aren't (and also the mild desire to actually post some fic there) is a strong motivator for me actually trying to get an invite. Not that I'll stop procrastinating over it (I thought about doing that, but then I decided to put it off until later (*rimshot*)), but now I do have more than one reason, so that's me somewhat closer to actually doing it.

From:

inarticulate

I was so psyched when I realized that although the manual filtering might be gone, they added a freeform filtering system in the form of a second "search" thinger under the main one, because yes. ♥ ♥ And 1000 story limit is gone! uwah uwah ♥

From:

soc_puppet

Oooo, I may have to check that out after all! And yes, good riddance to the 1,000 story limit! I want to read the old fics I haven't had a chance to get to yet, dammit!

From:

inarticulate

Looking again, it looks like it only does that when you're searching tags to begin with (as opposed to clicking them), so IDK if it's at full capacity of usefulness, but hey! :3c I am really psyched by the possibility of major changes to the limitations of the filter system.

From:

soc_puppet

Hmm; well, I do appreciate no longer having to scroll through a ginormous list of options to find the one or two I want, and then being stuck in entirely the wrong place on the web page when I click "back" after I've gone through the search results (for some reason, I prefer to re-start at the beginning rather then from a prior search). Still, not being able to see all the options available has its own problems.

Someday, there will be a search engine that anticipates my whims. Today is not that day.

From:

inarticulate

Oh, yeah, it's definitely not anywhere near perfect! I really hope they don't keep the filter down forever. I'm just like… whee, I can still use AO3 even though they took this down, haha. (I experienced a massive upsurge in desire to read fic in fandoms I'm not even in just as the 502 errors started, so that's where I'm coming from.)

Honestly, what I'm hoping is that they take this and build a new search/filter functionality that's less weight on the servers (and hopefully sans limit). It's more that taking down the filters is letting me see what they're capable of doing and the directions they're capable of going; I definitely don't think this is in any way permanent.

On a personal note, I'd love something more streamlined or something along the lines of pinboard/delicious-- where you can click to add or remove tags you're filtering by, so that it's sticky without having to go through a massive user interface again every time you want to change something. But I suspect that would be a pretty massive undertaking code-wise, and it wouldn't necessarily work for things like screenreaders or mobile devices. :(a

…………Also I think you caught some of my massive Thoughts On AO3 Downtime babble, for which I am very, very sorry. /o\ O-oops.

(Also, I don't know when invites come back into play, because they took them offline until the server issues are addressed. But once they're back, if you're still interested and don't have one already, I do know I have one available!)