What is AO3?
Archive Of Our Own, shortened to AO3, is a fanfiction hosting website created in 2008. It is under the parent The Organization for Transformative Works, which is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving fanworks. AO3's tagging system is iconic. The 4 squares that indicate the content rating, orientation of relationship, warnings, and whether or not it is finished. Apart from these main categories, each author is able to add additional tags to indicate the content of the fic and the pairings and characters. An author can additional tag to their heart's content (to a maximum of 75...). Volunteers manage these additional tags to "manually connect synonymous tags to bolster the site's search system".
I would say AO3 is its most popular child. OTW is so important to the conservation of not only millions of fanworks but of the ethos of the old internet. The lack of advertisements and of algorithym is very important to me. I sometimes find fics through Tumblr recommendations, through searching a ship (always with completed work checked, I don't want to be saddened by a forever incomplete fic), or looking at an author's page. Similarly, the forms of interations are limited. You can leave a Kudos, like the fic, or you can comment. These two ways of showing appreciation are very different. It is easy to Kudos, it takes effort to comment. Yet that effort is necessary! Like all interactions with artists, you should comment on artists' work! Directly thanking someone for there work is vital to the continued production of art. I could write a whole essay on why people should be active internet users...
My Fanfiction History
I started reading fanfiction when I was 11 and had entered the Phandom (Dan and Phil fandom). I hate to say that RPF (real person fiction) was my introduction to the world of fanfiction, but we all start somewhere. In those days, RPF didn't have the in-fandom stigma it does now. The fics by @phanci on Wattpad were instrumental to my brain development. Bad Boys Don't Smile made me cry. It was the first fic that I was emotional over due to the ending and it being one of the first fics I ever read, I was spoiled by such good writing (I don't know if it holds up, but it's popularity in the phandom is a good sign). Her other fic Moods has really strong visuals I remember. I appreciate these early fics and the AUs (alternate universes) I was able to escape to.
The biggest thing these early readings introduced me to was smut... and mpreg which I didn't know what it was until I was balls deep into a kidnapping mpreg phanfic that was crazy to read as a child. I feel grateful to that the largest amount of erotic content I've consumed has been smut. Honestly, there is a lot of creative stories out there and a few of which have helped enlighten me. Smut, and erotic content in general, gets such a bad reputation but we should be all be thankful that there are people who are willing to spend so much time to create such compelling or simply smutty stories. I've read a lot of kinds of smut. ABO being a big one. I don't want to divulge too much about my person tastes but iykyk.
My Favourites
The titles are links to the fic, and the ✓ or ✗ indicates whether or not the fic is complete! Ordered by Fandom, Rating, Length. The grid should now be mobile compatible.
I update this page every time I read a stellar fic! And try to stay on top of word count and completion status when a fic is updated.
This icon symbolises that the fic is an ultimate favourite!
Miscellaneous
| Title |
Summary |
Fandom |
Rating |
Length |
| dragonfly year |
Caduceus is at college as a textiles student, he moves in with the M9 and navigates his disability and family relationships. |
Critical Role |
Teen |
53K / ✗ |
Interview With the Vampire
| Title |
Summary |
Ship |
Rating |
Length |
| Our Gentle Sin |
Armand and Daniel go clubbing. |
Armand / Daniel |
Explicit |
3K / ✓ |
| triangulation is when there's three of something |
Loumandaniel with "Daniel, out of cash and out of options, [he] takes up an offer to be a vampire blood bag." |
Armand / Daniel / Louis |
Explicit |
8K / ✓ |
| Retro Nasty |
"In which Daniel is given full jurisdiction to be a 70s sleazebag." |
Armand / Daniel |
Explicit |
8K / ✓ |
| should've seen the water rising |
Series of Loumandaniel after Armand doesn't erase either of their memories. |
Armand / Daniel / Louis |
Explicit |
8K / ✗ |
| the 500 year old child |
Armand feels like he can be young around Daniel. |
Armand / Daniel |
Explicit |
13K / ✗ |
| milk with honey |
Daniel is in his 50s and lonely so he hires some company. |
Armand / Daniel |
Explicit |
37K / ✓ |
| In Hell Together, After All |
Post S2 Daniel is remembering Armand and they try to work things out. |
Armand / Daniel |
Explicit |
76K / ✓ |
| Bataille Pour La Garde |
Louis steps up for Daniel after his turning. Lestat and Armand help and hinder... |
Armand / Daniel, Daniel / Louis, Lestat / Louis |
Explicit |
60K / ✗ |
| Camboy Molloy |
Old Daniel meets Armand via his camboy work. |
Armand / Daniel |
Explicit |
59K / ✓ |
| visions of the hereafter |
Young Daniel investigates some suspicious deaths in the mountains. |
Armand / Daniel |
Explicit |
68K / ✓ |
| no end cause you're timeless |
Series where "Daniel learns how to be a vampire, with a little help from his friends." |
Armand / Daniel / Lestat / Louis |
Multi |
81K / ✗ |
The Pitt
| Title |
Summary |
Ship |
Rating |
Length |
| heavy are the wings of an angel damned |
Dennis falls from heaven and two old men help tech him how to live. |
Dennis / Jack / Robby |
Teen |
8k / ✗ |
| cigarette musings, soft midnights |
Whitaker asks Robby to read to him. |
Dennis / Robby |
Mature |
2K / ✓ |
| scolding you inside |
"It’s the PTMC holiday party and something is wrong with Dennis." |
Dennis / Jack / Robby |
Not Rated |
3K / ✓ |
| circling the drain |
Whitaker wants to be the one to stitch Robby back up again. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
3K / ✓ |
| coming home |
Robby realises he has a breeding kink. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
5K / ✓ |
| deep water |
"Dennis falls in love, finds out he hates physical therapy, and owes Trinity a new car. Not quite in that order." |
Dennis / Jack / Robby |
Explicit |
5K / ✓ |
| dreaming son; favoured one |
Dennis feels guilty for being Robby's new favourite. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
8K / ✓ |
| camboy dennis au |
Robby spends his Friday nights watching a camboy who is strangely familiar... |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
15K / ✓ |
| hold onto me ('cause i'm a little unsteady) |
After PittFest, Robby and Whitiker retrace some old steps. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
15K / ✓ |
| hard to resist, alright, just one kiss |
"Robby finds Whitaker on the eighth floor instead of Santos. He takes him home just the same." |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
15K / ✓ |
| loud, loutish lover |
Robby finds out Dennis has a string of middle-aged exes and doesn't handle it well. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
16K / ✓ |
| prosopagnosia |
Dennis suffers a head injury that leaves him with face blindness. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
17K / ✗ |
| Mechanical Bull |
"It’s Javadi’s twenty-first birthday party and the Pitt team hit the cowboy themed bar downtown." |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
20K / ✓ |
| goliath prostrate |
Robby is struggling, Dennis makes a snap decision to try and save his soul. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
21K / ✓ |
| take it on the chin |
"Five times the boys stuck fingers in each other’s wounds and the one time it got nasty." |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
24K / ✓ |
| live a little |
Hucklerobby after "Santos ropes Whitaker into seeing who can have the most sex with the ED staff." |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
30K / ✗ |
| father, son, holy ghost |
"robby, dennis & jack work their shit out on each other" |
Dennis / Jack / Robby |
Explicit |
32K / ✓ |
| do you picture me (like I picture you?) |
Dennis accidentally emails Robby a link to his OF. |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
34K / ✓ |
| all the ways back |
"Robby doesn’t remember him, but Dennis remembers enough for both of them." |
Dennis / Robby |
Explicit |
46K / ✓ |
Tags I love
Dead Doves
I love Dead Doves, not as in all the fics (some of them truly are vile), but the category that is Dead Doves. As a tag it is applied to fics that have distrurbing or "traditioanlly" morally-reprehensible themes. It comes from a joke in Arrested Development where Michael sees a bag in the fridge that says DEAD DOVE Do Not Eat! on it and when he opens it he says "I don't know what I expected." The Tumblr user @mostlyvalid proposed it in 2015 as a way to communicate that the reader should expect the other tags used which will be explitictly present.
I don't read tags before reading a fic and so having the Dead Dove tag prominent and early in the list allows me to be aware that there might be some batshit content ahead without spoiling the fic for myself. I want authors to tag excessively so that I can find fics by browsing tags but I don't want to read a tag list and have the fic spoiled for me. I love the way the fandom creates in this way that then becomes fandom-culture wide.
no beta we die like...
I've noticed this tag more and more and I love it. To beta a fic is to have it read before it's published to sort out any spelling, grammar, or other errors. Often you might see someone name their beta reader in the first notes! People would tag if there fic was unbetated in all kinds of ways, you can see all the tags that are collectively "Not Beta Read" here. There was a meme that started with a car sticker saying No Airbag / We die Like Men and soon this became on AO3, no beta we die like men. Now it is often no beta we die like [character from that media who has died]. I find it expectionally hilarious in how jarring it can be. One of your dead faves being used in such a way, such as for the iwtv fandom "no beta we die like Claudia". A little joy in the AO3 tags!
Credits
Thanks to Fonts in Use for the sites breakdown I used to style this page. The background is a screenshot from the Browse>Tags page.
Information about AO3 has been sourced from their website, Wikipedia, and vibes sent by God.
