i am super duper appreciative of ao3 and the shit they have to put up with for us assholes
but i’d really like to request a function where you can say ‘ok i want this pairing at this rating with this tag bUT I DONT WANNA SEE THIS VERY PARTICULAR TAG AND THIS VERY PARTICULAR TAG MIGHT BE DESTIEL’
This function exists! The links below all describe the same basic task (removing a tag from your search results), based on different goals or comfort levels with AO3. If you know AO3 really well, try the first 3 sets of links. If not so well, try the last 3. (Dizmo’s has pictures so is possibly easiest.)
Good luck, and drop me an ask if you get stuck!
The Search Within Results Field and You, Part 1 The Search Within Results Field and You, Part 2 The Search Within Results Field and You, Round Up
Jan’s 7-Step Tutorial on how to filter out Characters and/or Relationships on AO3
Dizmo’s simplified explanation (with pictures)
Toasty’s shipping helper
Convenient round-up!
(Note that the first link contains some other nifty things you can do with the filters, like showing only one-shots, or works above a certain word count, or only your private bookmarks. \o/)
I super recommend that once you find the perfect search string for you, you bookmark that search page. Then in the future you can go to that bookmark and re-run the search again, and see the new fics that have showed up without the stuff you don’t want.
Props to AO3 for caring about the fans with abuse-related triggers that often get mocked and/or ignored because it gets in the way of a fanbase’s aesthetic.
as someone who works with metadata and databases every day, I gotta say, AO3′s functionality is the shit. I wish my work databases were this easy to work with.
