#a lot of the fics there are unfinished tho

[ayaffect]

Yes! It's fun to make, great for keeping track and finding the one fic you really want to re-read and satisfying to look at. My favorite thing about it is the stats tho, it's so interesting to analyze what I actually read throughout the year.

I use Excel for mine:

I use data validation lists and conditional formatting for the indicators (⭐ for favs and ❗for unfinished fics) and ratings, data grouping for hiding whatever I don't need to see most of the time and text to columns so that I can just copy and paste the tags easily.

And then just PivotTables for whatever stats I want:

I also use Notion but I haven't really found a good way to use it for stats. I have my rec list there because it's easy to share and filter. There's a lot of possible customization there too (e.g. I have two different templates):

gently urging all my homies to make spreadsheets about the fics and/or books they read this year. it's fun, it's easy, you can color code it, you can add as much/ as little detail as you want, and it's just nice to look back at.

and it's helpful when you lose tract of a fave. like this way you can ctrl + f in your spreadsheet till you find what you need!

[bunnieswithknives]

sorry if idk this but what do you think about Wordgirl now in 2024 do you still like it do you still want to make art or talk about it or are you just done with all of it forever and plus i seen that you haven't made art of it since 2022 so you just done with all of it oh yeah and what about The Magnus Archives + Wordgirl ao3 fic too like is that just going to be and i know that your working on 2 au's now just wanting to know that's all

My interests tend to come in intense bursts and then fade. Unless something like, big happens like it gets a reboot its unlikely I'll be coming back to it anytime soon. As for the fic I don't have any current plans to finish it unfortunately.

[chialattea]

Nami WIP + some chibi doodles heheeee

[windor-truffle]

happy 4th birthday to my WIP long fic Two Hearts Could Be One!!!

[saetiate]

listen all i’m saying is you’d feel wrioth’s facial hair brushing against the inside of your thighs when he goes down on you >>>

[verflares]

can i be honest...... i love pre-game skord stuff soooooo much it is so peak. and yet there is so so little of it. thats how i know the world is a cruel and unfeeling place

[zeiktreats]

thinking about old things

[friendshipgun]

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

6. oh yes!! in fact i'm very guilty of just reading the same fics over and over, and one fic in particular:

astolat's And I Alone Have Escaped To Tell You is my favorite fic. i've reread it so many times i have entire lines memorized. it hits so many things i just really really love in fic and is beautifully written to boot. i reread a lot of astolat's fic in general, but her Transformers and Witcher fic are particular faves.

another that i come back to a lot is Etharei's Hide Of A Life War, which is just this incredibly satisfying Stiles-centric Teen Wolf fic. i haven't read it recently tho and now it's open in a tab, hmm...

18. ough you're hitting me with the hard one too lol. it's really difficult to think of something to begin with and then to also think of something that's just a single line so i'm gonna have to fudge it a bit but going with this bit from the Mitsuri-centric fic i wrote back in 2019 that i posted to ao3 recently: They’re all hurting. They’re all hurting, but Mitsuri lives with the memory of her hunger. The trade off is that she must also always remember her strength.

[thedemonsurfer]

I love you, fic writers who wrote something and then for whatever reason deleted that story, whether it be a soured memory or a lack of confidence or just desiring that degree of agency over your creation. For a time you were here, and those who were lucky enough to be here with you will cherish the half-remembered bones of your writing and the gap in their bookmarks.

You know what?

I love you, fics that take months to update. I click on the newest chapter and have no memory of this place and get to go back some chapters and rediscover how much i love everything about this story.

I love you, fics that take years to update. I think of you fondly, and know your names, go search for you and see an update from this year and scream, diving in uncaring of any missed details (i will finish the update and read you in reverse because this is a treat you have bestowed)

I love you, fics that probably will never update again. Thank you for being a roman empire for my mind, thank you for teaching me about the ephemeral fandom experience, for inspiring a thousand million what if-s, for being a comfort read and a nostalgia read and a reread.

I love you fic writers, who jump into projects and stories with enthusiasm. I love you when you succeed in pumping out those chapters and that love doesn't go away when you stop.

I love you fic writers who post and then get in your own head and never feel confident enough to update, whether it's at all or whether it's just that one story.

I love you fic writers, who have a fandom or media hurt you to the point of abandoning or having a hard time with their WIPs.

I love you fic writers, who lose interest or have life changes or illness or bad memory. Thank you for being part of the fandom, a core part of the fandom. Thank you for the time spent in the fandom.

I love you, fic writers who try out something new and then stop. You're so valid.

I love you, WIP fics that may or may not ever get finished. Thank you for brightening my day in the way only you could have.

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

NOT ME HAVING EMOTIONS ABOUT MY OWN FIC OUTLINES THAT WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY

[barblaz-arts]

Do you have any good fic recs for Charlie/Vaggie? Cause I first watched this show like 3 weeks ago, have watched it twice more since, but if I have to search through the fics on Ao3 myself I’ll need bleach to clean out my eyes

I gotchu!

First lemme do a shameless self promo. I have this one pre-hotel fic that's already finished.

SquigglyAverageJoe is my favorite chaggie author rn. Their best is Igual, which is a different take on a pre-hotel premise, especially since it was written when only the pilot was out and bits and pieces of lore about the characters were known. I'll let my review in my bookmark speak for me, bcuz I've fangirled enough about it there

That fic can be really really heavy and triggering tho, and super horny, so if that's not your thing the next best thing by that author is this bakery/flower shop AU. Super fun!

Whitebeltwriter is an amazing writer, and her fic about Vaggie trying to propose to Charlie is a lot of fun.

The Fall by Sephstone is also a pre-hotel fic, but has a characterization and dynamic that I find really uniquely written, where Charlie is openly smitten and stupidly eager, while Vaggie is like a newly adopted feral cat who refuses to be domesticated. I dont typically rec unfinished fics, but the interactions are too fun to pass

[wangxianficfinder]

hello! i saw a post that some people apparently have used ai to "finish" wips that have been "left too long"... i don't think those people really care about blanket permission (tho i wouldn't call their output "transformative work") but it did come up on the post, so i thought maybe i should ask for clarification? because i personally understood that authors give permission under the assumption that a person would make a thing based on their thing, so i don't know if this should be a further disclaimer (like the goodreads thing) or if it should be taken for granted..

(not to mention that this isn't fic of a fic, its literally finishing someone's writing)

No, you should never do this. Author's put a lot into writing those works, using an A.I to finish them would never be the same as them finishing the fic. An A.I can only "add" from what it knows from scrubbing works that people do not consent to.

Do not use A.I to finish fics that authors abandoned or haven't finished. That is super disrespectful to them.

I understand wanting to see a fic finished and wanting to know the outcome but doing it with A.I would never fulfill that for you. It's merely guessing and adding from multiple different things/works that it's stolen from and might not even make sense. It doesn't know what direction the author was going in, it doesn't know the twists and turns the author was going to add, it doesn't know anything about the author.

An A.I generated fic is Completely Different from a fan-made art or fic based off your work. It's Completely Different than someone asking to finish your work themselves.

A.I is not a "cool way to finish unfinished fics" .

Please don't use A.I on fics just because you are curious about the ending.

It will never be the same as actual human writing. And it is super disrespectful to authors who put time and care into their work.

Sorry if this comes off annoyed, I just really don't like this whole A.I writing fanfic thing lol

- Mod C

[oshikasa]

so like… lqq and his little guy assistant ✨

i love this donghua-exclusive guy so much!! on twitter a fan name that has been circling around in the community is “xiao mengyou” (it’s more of a title but it’s sort of slowly just becoming his name), and i’ve just been doing a lot of thinking between these two..

it’s nice for lqq to have a supporter like him (if you don’t know, this nameless character has appeared by lqq’s side in multiple episodes, both in the past since lqq was 12 AND he’s the junior official that runs after lqq after he forgot his waist badge in the first episode of season 2. he’s been by lqq’s side for 500 years)

my personal thoughts and characterizations about mengyou and lqq below cut

i’m actually writing a fic and having a lot of fun with it, i have two other fic wips that have been in progress for MONTHS but it’s hualian and fengqing so i’m way wayyy harder on the characterization in those fics even tho both of them are alternative universes, so i’m not willing to post those unfinished. for this one tho, mengyou is essentially an OC, so i’m thinking about posting the first chapter soon even if the fic isn’t nearly close to done (why do i insist on writing long ass fics when i don’t rly finish them.. is a mystery)

i characterize xmy as extremely loyal and prideful to be lqq’s longtime assistant and right hand man, but he also has some intense self deprecating issues where he views himself as a servant and ONLY that. even tho lqq expresses (mutual) feelings for xmy, xmy feels he isn’t worthy, and pushes him away. lqq is too young and inexperienced to grasp his feelings fully as well, so he lets xmy push him away bc he too isn’t sure if it’s right.

when lqq’s worldview crashes in the fangxin guoshi arc, he goes MIA in the story until mt. tonglu reopens bc he’s hunting qi rong, and he doesn’t trust anyone. i’d imagine this would hit xmy hard bc he’s been by his side since forever, and lqq, who used to respond to anyone’s messages regardless of rank as soon as possible, has probably ghosted his junior officials and xmy since he disappeared. good room for angst, lqq’s opinion of xmy is probably wavering bc he probably doesn’t trust him either, bc xmy encouraged him to protect the xianle residents after the golden banquet massacre, and also bc lqq is just unstable and tunnel-visioning after he finds out the truth. add that with their confusing feelings for each other and there’s so much room to write about!

[aftgficrec]

My Personal Favorite Fics EVER!! All Neil/Andrew

I hope I am doing this right! I just hit the share button on my bookmarked fics. Idk if any of these have been on here before (I have read a lot of fics and it gets confusing to know which ones I found on here bc there are so many good recommendations, or ones I found on my own. But these are 3 of my favorite fics that I feel like are the most well done!

• Everything's Alright by DarkD: This fic is unfinished but so worth the read!! It is a soulmates au, and in it Neil and Andrew are looking out for eachother since they are 6 and 7 years old. It completely changes their dynamic but manages to keep the characters realistic. I love the direction it was going, I hope the author finishes it, but even if they don’t what they have written so far is worth the read.

• If I Knew You by AceSirenSinger: This fic is soooo amazing!! It was posed pretty recently (starting January 2024 and finishing in May) and It shows a different direction with Aaron and Andrew’s bonding, and different reasons for them having problems with each other. It features writer/author Andrew and Law Student turned police officer Aaron. The writing is so high quality and it is a completely finished fic!! The writing to show the writing of the book Andrew has written alone is impressive enough to get you to read it. I love it so much, it also gives a more realistic approach to Neil’s life and trauma as well as gives you more of a perspective on the problems of Aaron’s life. (Even tho it’s an au and doesn’t show his life during AFTG)

• Deep blue ( but you painted me golden ) by Jeaneil_22: This fic is not finished but completely captivated my attention when I saw it. I was surprised I had not read it before (because I am obsessed with Raven Neil fics, and this is one of them) but then I realized it was posted within the last year or so. It’s completely underrated. It does have a lot of hits but the kudos count not being in the thousands is a crime against humanity. The realistic take on. Neil’s trauma and different things going on as he is still connected very heavily to the Moriyama’s is sooo interesting. And if you are looking for a fic where Neil is a victim of SA/Rape this fic is also a good one for you. (Though it does have a lot of trauma so mind the tags) I know a lot of people are looking for fics like that tho and it’s hard to find bc there is so much SA trauma in AFTG 😔

Thanks for the recs and for sharing your thoughts on the fics! Readers, all of these stories lean toward the darkest themes of AFTG. -A

Everything's Alright by DarkD [Rated E, 182901 Words, Incomplete, Updated June 2023]

Previously recced here

Souls weren't meant to be left alone, so they split, always looking for their other half. No matter how long it took, the moment a soul existed, it sought the one that would complete it. The main indication is, when one of the halves of the soul turns seven years old, an identical mark appears on both parts. Along with that comes a set of unique abilities that soulmates can only use with each other—for protection, for finding each other. Soulmates would never be alone.

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: child abuse, tw: torture, tw: blood, tw: gun violence, tw: homophobia, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced csa, tw: murder, tw: canonical character death

If I Knew You by AceSirenSinger [Rated T, 43145 Words, Complete, 2024]

Previously featured in this long andreil + aaron angst ask, our staff recs writers post, and as a random rec

Neil is imprisoned at sixteen years old for being the Butcher of Baltimore. Andrew obsesses, and Aaron obsesses because Andrew does, and everything goes wrong and raw and painful. Feat. the twinyards breaking each other’s hearts, and a decent amount of shade on the American justice system.

tw: implied/referenced murder, tw: recreational drug use, tw: implied/referenced violence, tw: implied/referenced torture

​​Deep blue ( but you painted me golden ) by Jeaneil_22 [Rated M, 163298 Words, Incomplete, Updated Sept 2024]

After the horrific incident that happened in the nest and the sound of Kevin crying, Nathaneil made the hard call and bargained with his life to get Jean and Kevin out, having no slight idea about the storm that was heading his way And after being missing for two years, Jean and Kevin swallowed the hard truth that Nathaneil might be dead somewhere To their surprise one day he appears out of the blue looking so much like their brother but nothing like Nathaneil at all Or Nathniel went on the run with his mother when he was 9 years old but three years later Nathan caught up to them and threw Nathaneil in the nest So we can say some things went a bit different .

NB: playlist for this fic

tw: dark, tw: gang rape, tw: dubcon, tw: human trafficking, tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: assault, tw: flashbacks, tw: panic attacks, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: abuse and torture, tw: implied/referenced csa, tw: medication addiction and withdrawal, tw: recreational drug use, tw: nonconsensual drug use, tw: vomit, tw: homophobia, tw: canonical character death

[necrotic-nephilim]

If I may ask, what is your top 10 fics(excluding the Slade/Steph fic)?

oooh, yes! (obligatory rec of the above-mentioned SladeSteph fic by the lovely @kevin-day-is-bi tho bc it's so worth a read for anyone who hasn't read it) most of these are Batcest related, but there are a couple of gen fics as well that really hold a special place in my heart

In The Company of Monsters - this is a No Capes AU dystopian DamiTim fic that is unfinished but. god i can never not recommend it. i've liked this fic longer than i've liked Batcest, this fic used to be my "okay i dislike the ship but this is my exception". i adore how Damian and Tim are written, i adore the world building, this is just. my roman empire.

Robins And Other Flightless Birds - a mostly genfic that follows a Bruce without a Batfamily just. adopting members of the Batfam across the multiverse who were never saved. Dick is a Talon, Tim is Joker Junior, etc. i usually don't go for Good Dad Bruce fics, but there's something so special about this fic and how it writes Bruce struggling to adjust to having kids with no experience bc he craved a family.

The Music We Make is Unnatural - this was written as a gift for me in the JayTim exchange by the lovely @rottenapricots and GOD is it everything i could've asked for. for such a short fic it packs a wonderful punch exploring the premise of Jason who never died and Tim who's Ra's' apprentince. it has so many JayTim tropes i love while still being something unique and special on its own.

props - this is a series and it's long, but god is it gloriously fucked up. this surrounds mostly JayBruTim, where Jason and Bruce solve their uses by using Tim as a toy between them, and then the aftermath of Dick finding out. it's so good. this series just lives rent free in my brain and i cannot recommend it enough to dead dove enjoyers.

all the men and women merely players - a Tim-centric fic that explores Tim being self aware and breaking the fourth wall, but from a very whump/angsty perspective. i adore fourth wall breaking that feels more like psychological horror as a character struggles to grip that their reality is malleable and out of their control. and this fic does it SO well.

I Know What My Brother Is - a Reverse Robins DamiTim fic that has everything i adore about RR and DamiTim in one place. their dynamic, the sexual exploration, everything in this is just top notch and i truly adore RR!DamiTim.

Keep you warm - JayDickTim fic with Talon!Dick and Omegaverse. this really delights me bc there are just so many layers to how this relationship builds and how these three end up together despite a lot of initial rocky territory.

Catch me low - this fic was recommended to me recently and i'm still just starting it, but i adore the concept already. this has DickTimJayBruce and Jason universe hopping to "make things right" in a very fun dead dove kind of way.

When You Move I'm Moved - a TimKon PWP that explores just how far you can reasonably take TTK. and god is it everything to me. the smut is so good and all the kinks just. hit the spot. i want to chew on this fic.

one life for the many - this is a dark BruTim fic that's very short but has a special place in my heart for exploring my favorite sort of BruTim dynamic where Tim considers the risks of being Robin and ends up ina sexual relationship with Bruce reluctantly. it's just so good and i love Tim's internal logic.

also an honorable mention to a fic that's not DC, but an MHA ShinBkau fic i regularly reread, NyQuil™. i just have a soft spot for adult AU ShinBaku fics even tho i don't read MHA much anymore. it's so crunchy to me.

[tachiharastanacc]

hello fellow tachi fan, do you have any tachi fic recs, also here to say tysm for your contribution to the tachihara tag, our strongest tachihara soldier fr 🫡🫡

I be out here fighting tooth and nail (I hyperfixate on one character at a time and it's him and I need to talk abt him 24/7 actually) so ty for acknowledging my efforts for our cause.

BUT YES FIC RECS (below cut bc I've figure out how to use them)

After All, Spies Are The First To Die In A War

One of my favorite Tachi fics of all time. I'm a sucker for both post-canon and blind Tachi, and this one is great. It's Tachigin, so heads up if that's not ur thing, but I think they're very cute.

Together At Last

Unfinished, probably never going to be finished. But it's a cute couple chapters in the apocalypse. Atsushi-centric but Tachi gets cool moments.

are we there yet?

Hunting Dog road trip fluffy. Silly crack, very cute.

blocks, boy bands, bones, and birthdays

Also not Tachi-centric, but very, very cute. Baby DOA and HD at preschool.

Hunting Dogs (& Cat) Adventures

HD as Fukuchi's dogs (and cat!Jouno) except they cause chaos. Puppy Tachi is there, he's very cute.

It's Still Raining

HD (specifically sgk angst). Tachi isn't there much, but again, I love aftermath fics.

The More The Merrier

Another one of my absolute favorite fics! PM and HD meet at Tachi's apt by accident during the Holidays.

undercover (a table for three)

Ima be so fr this one is a MHA crossover and probably not gonna be updated, by Tachi was one of the main characters

lock picks and rusted metal

by @karmicpunishment

First one is lil Tachi using his ability for the first time and the second is Tachi almost missing his surgery (I'm low key in love with the whole HD surgery concept, so immediate win for me)

government projects club and blood vs water

by @starfocks are also both relatively short and sweet.

First one is most HD surgery pain but with the mafia and the second is found family meets Tachi's shit parents

Wind flower

Really well planned out Chuuya-centric ADA AU, but Tachi is a big part of it and their friendship makes me happy. Poor lil bro is a victim of the Tanizaki's tho.

Solace

by @miammey

Tecchou-centric, but I never see people write Tecchou and Tachi together and it makes me happy whenever I see them.

How to Raise Your Hunting Dog

I'm going to move my fics to ao3 at some point probably (I've been meaning to) and probably just make a Tachi one shot collection. Especially bc I have more that I haven't gotten around to posting here yet. BUT. This one is posted and if u wanna see my ao3 acc when I will end up posting them, that's where it'll be.

I might make a part 2, bc there are definitely more one shots and stuff that I'm missing, but that's what I had in my bookmarks.

I've gone thru pretty much the entire Tachi tag (Sorted by new and just scrolled back to front, it was a few months long process), so there are others. There is just also a lot of junk to sort thru (I'm looking at you skk fics that have Tachihara tagged except he's either so out of character and awful that it's unbearable or he just shows up to say one line and then leave).