#you need an ao3 account and to be logged in to be able to read it

[aurorasulphur]

Disclaimer: none of these answers are official, and may not work for your particular use case. If there is a specific feature that an unofficial app had that you don't know how to replicate on the AO3, let me know in the notes and we might can crowdsource a solution.

A lot of people used the Archive Reader app to access stories on Archive of Our Own, and have been upset that the app is now charging to read longer than an hour a day. AO3 (and its parent organization, the OTW) has made it extremely clear in recent days that this app is unofficial and that there *is* no official app. They encourage people to use the website.

However, there are MANY reasons you might want an app, and in a bunch of those cases, there are ways to do those things without having to provide your login information to a random person running an app. Here is a round-up of solutions to the most common reasons I've seen people give for wanting an app instead of the plain AO3 website.

These solutions are based on the following assumptions:

You know what Archive of Our Own is

You often or primarily access it through a mobile device running iOS or Android

You understand what a browser is

You understand what a browser bookmark is

You understand what a site skin is

Edits:

Edited to clarify that you must be logged in to use custom site skins

Edited to add more tips and tricks from the reblogs

Edited to add new entry about notifications/emails

Edited to add new entry about reading statistics and the tracking thereof

I need a widget on my phone's homescreen, not just a browser bookmark.

You can do this with any website, not just AO3! Instructions here: https://www.howtogeek.com/196087/how-to-add-websites-to-the-home-screen-on-any-smartphone-or-tablet/

I need Dark Mode.

AO3 has a default site skin for Dark Mode, it's just called Reversi. Find it here, or at the bottom of any page on the website. https://archiveofourown.org/skins/929/

If you'd like Dark Mode on your whole browser (and you're on Android), sorrelchestnut has advice here: https://www.tumblr.com/sorrelchestnut/737869282153775104/if-you-want-dark-mode-and-dont-want-to-mess

I need to be able to read stories when I don't have internet.

Every work on the AO3 has a download button, so you can click on that and download the story for offline reading in the ereader app of your choice. More info on how to do that is in the AO3 FAQs: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/downloading-fanworks?language_id=en#accesslater

I need to be able to change the text size of the website itself.

If you have an AO3 account (and you should!!) you can do this with a personalized site skin! There is a simple tutorial here: https://www.tumblr.com/ao3skin/667284237718798336/i-have-a-request-if-you-dont-mind-could-you

I need to be able to change the text size in downloaded stories.

My personal recommendation: Don't download in PDF format. All the other formats you can download in can scale the text size up and down, assuming you open the work in the correct app. For me, I download works in EPUB format and read them on the built-in Books app on my iPhone. I hear good things about Moon Reader on Android as well.

I need to be able to replace Y/N in fics with an actual name.

ElectricAlice has a bookmarklet for that here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34796935

I need to be able to save specific tags and not have to search them up every time.

If you have an AO3 account (which you definitely should) then you can favorite up to 20 tags which will appear on the landing page. The AO3 FAQ explains how that works: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/tags?language_id=en#favtag

I need to be able to save specific filters and be able to apply them to any tag.

Reisling's beautiful bookmarklet has you covered: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33825019

I need to be able to permanently hide certain tags.

The best option is adding this to your site skin. (Must be logged in.) Instructions here: https://www.tumblr.com/ao3css/719667033634160640/how-to-permanently-filter-out-certain-tags-on-ao3

I also hear things about the AO3 Enhancements extension (just for Android/desktop, sorry iOS folks): https://www.tumblr.com/emotionalsupportrats/686787582579851265/browser-extension-everyone-on-ao3-should-know

I need it to save my place on the page and not reload.

This is really mostly a browser error--Firefox on iOS does this to me A LOT. Your best bet is to download the work and read it in an ereader app. A lot of people also will make an ao3 bookmark and write in the notes section which part they were at, but that assumes you aren't falling asleep while reading. (Which is the main reason I have this issue, lol.) For more info on bookmarks, see the FAQ: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/bookmarks?language_id=en#whatisbookmark

I need it to keep track of which stories I've already read/opened/kudos'd.

If you have an account (which you should) then the "My History" page keeps track of every fic you've ever clicked on. No, it isn't searchable or sortable, but it does exist. For fics you've kudos'd, I have yet to find a solution for iOS. For desktop or Android, you can use this excellent userscript: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/5835-ao3-kudosed-and-seen-history

@the-sleepy-archivist and @inkandarsenic have a solution for iOS here to use userscripts: https://www.tumblr.com/the-sleepy-archivist/737895174683885568/this-is-a-great-guide-one-thing-i-can-help-with and https://www.tumblr.com/inkandarsenic/737827438571192320/the-user-scripts-will-also-work-on-ios-there-are

I need an app because the website's search is terrible.

(I genuinely don't understand this one but I have seen it multiple times so on the list it goes!!) The search bar at the top of the screen is a keyword search. If you'd rather search within a specific field (like title or tag) then you'll want to click on the word "search" at the top of the screen and select Work Search or Tag Search. To search users, use People Search. To search Bookmarks, use Bookmark Search. (If this is you, please tell me what the heck you mean by "search is bad" and how an app helped with this.)

I need to be able to sort stories by date posted/number of bookmarks/alphabetical/etc.

You can do this using the filters sidebar. Pick a tag you want to filter on (like a fandom, character, or relationship) and then click on the "Filters" button. The sidebar will pop out and you can sort and filter on a boggling array of specifics. A good filtering guide: https://www.tumblr.com/saurons-pr-department/718665516093472768/if-there-is-something-you-dont-want-to-see-in

I need to be able to mark stories to read later.

AO3 has this feature built in! If you have an account (which you should) there is a "Mark for Later" option on every work.

Edit: Thispersonishuman reminded me that History and Mark For Later can be disabled, so if you're not seeing the Mark for Later option, check your settings.

I need to be able to listen to stories using text-to-speech.

Microsoft Edge web browser has a built in text to speech function. Supposedly it works on both iOS and Android, but I have not personally tested that. iOS also has a native accessibility feature in settings for text to speech that will work on the Books app, so I assume Android has a similar functionality. A bunch of people in the reblogs have more in-depth Android recommendations here: https://www.tumblr.com/protect-namine/737957194510794752/seconding-voice-aloud-on-android-for-tts-my, https://www.tumblr.com/smallercommand/737884523093704704/i-use-voice-for-tts-on-android-its-got-some, and https://www.tumblr.com/doitninetimes/737869463749263360/for-text-to-speech-on-android-you-can-also-check

I need to have in-app notifications for updates/I can't ever find story updates in among the rest of my emails/checking my email stresses me out.

Set up a separate email address using a free service like gmail, and use that email address JUST for AO3. Then the only emails in that inbox will be your story updates. I use Apple's Mail application for all my inboxes, but it's very easy to use the Gmail app instead, and you could log in to JUST the ao3 email and set it to notify for every email.

(Also as a general PSA: don't use your work, school, or military email as your AO3 email. Just don't.)

I want statistics like how many hours I spent reading, how many words I read, what my most read tags were, stuff like that.

So we've finally hit something that isn't easy and that requires a hell of a lot of manual work. Short version: AO3 does not track this data because they don't want to. (Mostly due to privacy concerns.) The lack of this tracking is a feature, not a bug. You can crunch these numbers yourself, but it will take a hell of a lot more effort, and it's something I personally found is not worth the effort the couple of times I have tried to crunch those numbers. If you are willing to download your history to an actual computer (not a tablet or chromebook) using Calibre, you can get a rough idea of your most popular tags via their tag browser, but it won't play nice with typos synned to a Common Tag (Canonical Tag/filterable tag) like ao3 does. (If anyone has used an app that gave you stats on this, please let me know in reblogs/replies/via ask how that worked because I am very curious.)

I need an app because <other reason>.

The AO3 Unofficial Browser Tools FAQ might cover your use case: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/unofficial-browser-tools?language_id=en If not, give a shout and we'll see what other tumblr users suggest!

[clevercatchphrase]

Page 339

Announcement! A few of you may know that I have a pillowfort account. Over the course of 2024, I have been slowly uploading/mirroring Ghost Switch to pillowfort one page a day as a means of archival (in case tumblr and/or deviantart implode and cease functioning) and as a mission to help pillowfort grow. It took 11 months, but I finally got the all the pages mirrored! In an effort to help pillowfort grow its userbase and encourage fandoms to make a home there, I will be posting Ghost Switch one week early over on pillowfort! New pages will be initially marked as "viewable by logged-in users only", before being made public a week later, like how the patreon pages are locked for a week then become public a week later.

It is free to join pillowfort, and you will not be required to follow me to be able to read ghost switch a week early (you just need an account). In addition to pillowfort being one week ahead of tumblr and deviantart, patreon will now be TWO weeks ahead.

I encourage you to check out pillowfort.social if you've never heard of it before. It's a lot like tumblr and ao3 combined (as in, it's a blogging/reblogging site completely funded by its users). I believe pillowfort has the potential to be a staple social media site for fandom in the future, but to paraphrase Stitch, right now "it's little and buggy, but still good. Yeah. Still good."

(Links coming in afternoon reblog!)

[wh40ksummerfest]

Sign-up is open!

Sign-up for the 2025 WH40K Summer Fest Exchange is now open!

You must be 18+ and have an AO3 account to participate in the exchange.

You'll need to request and offer at least 3 characters or platonic/romantic relationships to sign up; you are welcome to request/offer more. You can choose to create and receive either fanfiction, fanart, or both.

Helpful links:

Exchange AO3 profile with full rules/info.

Request Summary shows other participants' requests.

Overview of nominated characters and pairings by @psi-scribe.

The sign-up deadline is Saturday, June 14, at 5:59pm CEST | 11:59am EDT | 8:59am PDT | 11:59pm Chinese Standard Time (countdown).

Signing up: Important info and step-by-step guide 👇

If you do not have an AO3 account, you can request an invitation to join the Archive here.

Note: In case the mod team needs to reach out to you, AO3 shows us the e-mail address you use to log in. If you end up unmatchable or if your creator sends us a question to forward to you, we will use this e-mail address. Be sure to be able to access it, check it regularly while the exchange is running – and, if your legal name is in it, change it if you don’t want the mod team to see it! All e-mails from the mod team will be sent from 40kfanworkexchange@gmail.com using the name Roboute Guilliman (he handles our paperwork) or through AO3.

How to sign up

Click on 'Sign Up'/'Sign-up Form' on the exchange's profile page (or click here) to fill out your requests and offers.

You must submit at least 3 requests for characters and/or relationships that you would like to receive fanfiction and/or fanart for.

Fill out Request 1, 2 and 3 with 1-20 characters or relationships from the exchange tag set. You can add extra request boxes, up to 10.

Choose whether you'd like to receive only fanfiction, only fanart, or both. You can choose different media for each request.

Linking to a 'dear creator' letter on an external website, i.e., a tumblr blog post, Google Doc, Dreamwidth page, etc. with further details about your preferences, is optional. Note: The person assigned to you is not obligated to read your letter, but may find it helpful for inspiration. Please make sure your page is publicly available; some tumblr links can only be accessed by tumblr users and not all participants are on tumblr.

You MUST include a Do Not Want (DNW) list of anything you don't want in a gift, such as squicks and triggers. The mods will check your gift to make sure it doesn't contain any of your DNWs, but we only check for those listed in this text box. Your listed DNWs should, as a minimum, state whether you wish to avoid any of the four specific AO3 Archive Warnings: 1) Graphic depictions of violence, 2) Major Character Death, 3) Rape/Non-con, 4) Underage Sex. If you would be uncomfortable receiving Mature or Explicit gifts, please also mention this in your DNWs. You can have different DNWs for different requests.

In addition to your DNWs, you can use the text box for suggestions, optional prompts, and preferences. Note: Non-DNW details are optional, so your creator is not required to stick to your suggestions. But having a general idea of whether you like fluff/action/comedy/smut, the Great Crusade/Horus Heresy/M40/M42-era, your favourite tropes, art styles, etc. is very helpful to your creator.

If you are unsure about what to include in your DNWs or optional details, you can check out other participants' requests for ideas.

You must submit at least 3 offers for characters and/or relationships that you would like to create fanfiction and/or fanart about.

Your offered characters/relationships do not have to be the same as your requests.

Add 1-20 characters or relationships from the exchange tag set for each offer. You have to fill out Offer 1, 2 and 3 with at least one character/relationship in each, but it doesn't matter how you group your offers otherwise. No one will see your offers except you and the mods. You will only be matched with one other participant and required to create one gift regardless of how many offers you submit.

Choose whether you'd like to create only fanfiction, only fanart, or both. You'll only be required to make one gift for your assignment even if you offer both.

Please return to check before the sign-up deadline that your offers match at least one request by another participant in the exchange.

If your offers don't match anyone else's requests by the time of the deadline, the mods will e-mail you to ask if you would like to add additional offers. If you do not respond to this e-mail within 12 hours or decline to add additional offers, your sign-up will be deleted.

Once you have filled out at least 3 requests and offers, hit 'Submit' at the bottom of the page. You have now signed up to participate in the exchange and your requests will be visible to other participants in the Request Summary.

You can edit/add to your requests and offers by clicking 'My Sign-up' on the exchange profile page. Note: After the sign-up deadline, only the mods will be able to edit your sign-up details.

"What if there is someone I don't want to be matched with?"

The best way to ensure a fun and enjoyable exchange experience is to keep an eye on the Request Summary and adjust your offers based on other participants' requests.

Maybe you'll see something that inspires you to offer characters or relationships you didn't consider before — or maybe someone requests something for one of your offers that you would rather not create, in which case it's perfectly fine to edit your offers so you won't risk matching on that particular character/relationship.

If there is another participant that you very strongly do not want to be matched with, please e-mail us at 40kfanworkexchange@gmail.com before the sign-up deadline and let us know:

Your AO3 username

The AO3 username of the participant you do not want to be matched with

Whether your Do Not Match request is for creating, receiving, or both

What you would like us to do if that participant offers to pick up your pinch hit

What you would like us to do if that participant creates a treat for you.

Thank you! We look forward to seeing you in the sign-ups! ❤

[maeking15]

little rant about Snape

okay so I was reading Oh God not again which is a harry potter retelling but harry is an adult in his 11 year old body and it retells his school years; it's really good and you can read it on Ao3 or wattpad, idk if it's on other platforms.

so I was reading it on wattpad bc I couldn't log into my ao3 account and you can comment on wattpad and about 5 months ago I commented on this paragraph:

and I commented that 'apparently an uncommon opinion but Snape is a piece of shit and I don't understand how people like him'. someone else commented on it agreeing with me and as I'm thinking about it, I had to add to it.

I personally will never see how people can like Snape. This man was a child abuser, obsessed over lily, BULLIED 11 YEAR OLDS. and if that is not enough idk what is. and people saying 'Oh but he was mentally ill' SO WAS REMUS, REMUS WAS LITERALLY A WEREWOLF BUT HE DIDN'T BULLY 11 YEAR OLDS.

not to mention that Snape literally hated on 11 year olds all because he looked like james, who Snape only hated because of the prank that james saved him from (and no I am not saying this is the only reason Snape hated james but it is the main one of many). But then Snape has the audacity to look into Harry's eyes before Snape does so that he can die looking into 'lily's eyes'. SNAPE WAS NOT IN LOVE WITH LILY HE WAS OBSESSED WITH HER. and then jk Rowling portrays Snape as a character who wanted to protect harry all along. NO HE FUCKING DIDNT.

and anyone that says that if I'm hating on Snape so much and why im not hating on james this is why:

James:

was a bully

jinxed people when he was bored and laughed

was absolutely okay about remus being a werwolf

became an illegal animagus with his friends so remus wouldn't be alone on full moons

realised he was a dick

changed for the better

became more mature

loved his wife and son

joined the order to protect his family

went to stop the dark lord himself without a wand to let his wife and son escape

Snape:

believed muggle-borns were inferior

called his only friend a slur

told voldermort about the prophecy bc he was fine with an infant being murdered

threw a strop when he realised that it would involve hurting lily

begged the dark lord to leave the girl unharmed

didn't give a flying fuck about an infant or lily's husband if she was able to live

cried to dumbledore when things were going wrong with voldy

bullied harry simply because he looked like a guy he didn't like

bullied nevile because he needed more help with potions

bullied hermione about her teeth so much that when she needed to get them fixed, she didn't tell poppy to stop until they were a 'normal length'

bullied nevile to the point his worst fear was Snape and not the woman that TORTURED HIS PARENTS TO THE BRINK OF INSANITY

threatened to poison trevor

Told everyone Lupin was a werewolf, and intended to get him fired

Knew that Sirius didn't tell Voldemort the Potters' location (I could explain how but I can't bother now) but still wanted him to get a dementor's kiss bc of what happened when they were 16

Helped Harry in the end

so yeah Snape is a shitty person and he is worse than james

[alchely]

My Top Gallavich fics

So, under the advice of the lovely @iangallagherisadeadman I've decided to compile a favorites Gallavich fic list along with a brief rec of each, this won't be a strict top 10 cause I'm not gonna torture myself into excluding some of these stories on some made-up self imposed arbitrary rules.

A bunch of disclaimers: most of these fics are long fics, going from 30k words up, I'm not purposefully excluding shorter fics, I have read plenty of them, but they do have a harder time sticking in my head months after reading.

Most of these fics will be explicit, just read the tags on the fic itself if you want to find out more.

Some of these fics don't have links because the authors chose to lock them and as such make them unlinkable, in order to read them you will need to go through the author's page while you're logged in your AO3 account.

This ended up ballooning out of control and is A LOT longer than ten fics, I apologize in advance :p.

YOU'LL NEVER SEE US AGAIN – spoonfulstar - 231k words

Mickey and Ian have been students at Marceline boarding school their whole lives, as their time at the institute draws toward the end they will start to discover many things, about themselves, about each other and about the world they live in.

THIS FIC! I CRIED! The number of fanfiction that are able to make me cry can be counted on a singular hand, the emotional stakes get higher and higher as the story goes on, leading to a beautiful and bittersweet climax.

This story will make you think and feel deeply about topics you'd never think a shameless fic would delve into.

I am obsessed with Mickey in this fic, he and Ian grow up in an environment that could not be more removed from South Side Chicago and yet his personality is still so recognizably and distinctly Mickey.

The story goes very dark at times, and the fic itself could be considered lengthy, but I assure you the author has made sure to not make you feel it. Those 200k words flowed so well the story did not feel long at all.

HELP ME (TEAR DOWN MY REASON) – wehangout - 34k words

Mickey is a detective and Ian becomes a suspect in an investigation except Mickey already knows him because he's his favorite dancer.

This fic falls under the umbrella of fics where “Mickey is so in love with Ian he does something unbelievably crazy”.

Oooh boy, this fic, it's written in second person (yes you've read that right), tbh out of all fics I've read from this author I think this one was the easiest to adjust mentally to the change in perspective.

I loved Mickey’s “love” in this, just… This raw connection to Ian, the perfect cocktail of feelings, I could read that all day long.

IN ANOTHER WORLD – Roryonic - 249k words

Mickey does not get sent to prison at the end of S5, what happens after and how his presence influences future events (mostly Ian, but also every other Gallagher as well as his own family).

As far as I'm concerned this fic is the closest to a perfect S6 and beyond fix-it. The dialogue writing in this story is so close to canon Shameless that I could picture entire scenes in my head with the actors playing the characters, with their body and personality quirks.

Sometimes I find myself describing this fic like it's the actual show's deleted scenes, “Look, Mickey has his own storyline! And Mandy is here! And the existence of Yevgeni does not become a plot hole!”

There are some Mickey lines in this fic that to me are as canon as if they'd been in the show. Absolutely iconic writing.

I love this author so here's a rec of some of their other longfics, however I highly suggest a lot of their other much shorter stuff as well:

BATTLESHIPS AND LOVE BOATS: Ian and Mickey start their “no strings attached” kind of sex relationship a little later than canon but their attraction and love is just as strong. This is a sort of High School AU that turns into a Prison AU that turns into something else and every shift is just as lovely as the next.

YOU SMELL LIKE LOVE: Ian and Mickey are childhood friends, to the point that the rest of the Gallaghers might as well consider Mickey a seventh brother, mmmh, I sure wonder how things will start to change. Look, I never thought I'd love a childhood friends AU for Gallavich yet here I am, if it's good it's good.

ME AND THE DEVIL: Mickey unconsciously calls for a vengeance demon and Ian Gallagher shows up at his door, because Mickey is a stubborn dumbass they fall in love instead. This story has a lot of twists and turns and the premise is only the very beginning of the story. I LOVED it!

THE INCREASINGLY POOR DECISIONS OF IAN GALLAGHER – Shamelessquestions - 309k words

Ian is a dancer in a club, he accidentally gets involved in the affair of a dangerous mafia don, but the true danger is the attraction he and the mafioso’s right hand Mickey feel for each other as soon as they meet.

What. A. Classic. Truly, an unforgettable story, and I don't mean this in hyperbole, I read this story around… 2016/2017 during my second round in the Shameless fandom, then I read countless other fics in a lot of other fandom and yet this story was the only one that my mind retained from back then, to the point that I could still remember some of the finer details as well as the final plot twists when I came back to reread it.

The plot is constructed beautifully and the original characters (part of the Shamelessquestions fanfiction universe, as they come back time and time again in every one of their AU to fulfill their role in the story) are just as vibrant.

What a story, truly.

Favorite original character in this AU: Sal, his downfall is so satisfying and yet so pitiful to read.

TEENAGERS SCARE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME – Mellow_Yellow - 221k words

Ian finds something scary and calls Mickey for help, even though they had only reconnected that very day after two years of not seeing each other. Together, they get sucked into a situation they weren't at all prepared for. Can they even admit that they're in over their head?

The very beginning of this fic is SO cinematic it grabbed my interest from the very first scene and didn't let go until the end, DO NOT search for spoilers.

The only warning I'll give is that it does deal with a bit of gore and what I'm personally gonna define as slight psychological horror. That's it. Enjoy!

BROKE STRAIGHT BOYS – dancermk - 66k words

Mickey becomes a porn actor for a site where he has to pretend he's straight and not enjoying the copious amount of gay sex he's having on camera, enter Ian, another actor under the same agency and their off the chart physical chemistry.

This story has, needless to say, some really, really good smut. I especially loved their first time together, but every sex scene in this story is seared in my mind.

ETHERIZED AGAINST THE SKY – Snarfle - 213k words

So, I debated whether I should add this fic or not, but I think if there is one fic that will stay in my mind long after this Shameless binge of the past couple of months it's this one, and it should absolutely become one of those fic that everyone in the fandom should read.

After Mickey gets shot by Kash his life takes a completely different direction and he ends up in a group home where, through many difficult times, he turns his life around.

So many iconic moments in this fic, some funny as fuck, some sad, some so absurd that I'm surprised they weren't lifted straight from Shameless, one so gruesome in the very first chapter that I was surprised to have such a visceral feeling from just words on a screen. Yeah, this story will stay with me for a long time.

OLD RULES FOR NEW SIDE PIECES – Shamelessquestions - 217k words

Ian is a Fed and he spots Mickey looking suspicious in an art museum, the mutual attraction is overwhelming, Mickey is not what he seems and Ian is already with someone else, but that's not gonna stop him from pursuing what he and Mickey have.

Putting it as bluntly as I can, this fic made me face the realization that I love cheating fics (if the cheating happens to someone else to bring together the endgame couple). I have already reread this fic twice and I could probably go for another one and not get tired of it, it's that good, and out of all this author's fics it's probably my favorite.

Favorite original characters in this AU: It's a three way tie between Dre, Ivan and Carrie, they're all very captivating in this story.

Other fic from this author I'd recommend cause I really love their style:

LOST IN TRANSLATION: Ian meets a very attractive man while he's in Ukraine who doesn't speak English, a mere language barrier won't stop him from flirting for hours. (adorable)

YOU MAKE ME FEEL HUMAN – Dragona - 66k words

Ian is an assassin, he meets Mickey and thus begins a very sick love story.

To say I'm obsessed with this fic is an understatement, I suggest to everyone to just go read the original author’s own description of the fic, it sets the tone of the story magnificently.

This is an Ian Gallagher that almost resembles Jerome (also played by Cameron in Gotham) but like… a slightly more subdued and saner S1/S2 version of him. I love the layers that get peeled right in front of my eyes, the madness that creeps in a bit more every chapter. I LOVE this story.

DRIED INK - 87k words

This fic combines my two favorite Gallavich-specific tropes, one being ‘Mickey comes back from prison after s6, Ian is with someone else’ and ‘Ian cheats on that someone else for Mickey’

I love the Gallaghers in this and how unsurprised they are at Ian going back to Mickey right away. It's a little jewel of a fic.

Mickey tries SO hard to stop himself and Ian in this but their love is too magnetic, they're irresistible to each other.

THE QUESTION OF NORMAL – blue_newman - 92k words

Ian is a prison counselor, Mickey is in prison, they fall in love and it's beautiful and Ian is incredibly devoted to Mickey in this fic and I fell in love with them both in this.

KINDA RAW – catgrassplantdad - 6k

Quite simply this is my favorite short pwp fic.

Illustrating those “five times” in one night that Mickey references in 11x01.

This fic is so hot, I love it <3

QUATERVOIS – DodgerBear - 51k words

Soldier Mickey gets stationed in the middle of nowhere and meets a farmer called Ian who makes him question everything.

Falling under the same umbrella of “Mickey does something crazy for Ian” fics and this is why it stuck in my mind even if it's been a while since I've read it.

I LOVE this story, their dialogues and everything that happens in it. The setting is lovely and you will fall in love with the description of Ian’s farm.

Other fic by the same author that I also loved:

BURDEN OF PROOF: Cop Mickey gets caught in a legal battle between the two oldest Gallagher brothers, something doesn't feel right though…

THE WORDS HE DOESN'T SAY: Mickey is released before Ian in s10 and has to meet a court-mandated therapist. The story is from the therapist POV and goes AU from the beginning of s10 in that Mickey gets involved back into Yev and Svetlana’s life, the dialogue is, quite obviously, the main attraction of the story and it's really well done. (Also, written in first person).

THE MENAGERIE – CrossMyDNA - 147k words

Ian decides to re-explore his bdsm preferences at The Menagerie where he meets sub extraordinaire Mickey on his very first visit.

Shameless is undoubtedly the fandom that opened my eyes to what bdsm could be back in… approx 2016? When that other popular bdsm fic was still around *ahem*.

So it definitely feels like a sign that coming back into the fandom this fic now exists and is SO GOOD.

Obviously it's very explicit, the smut in this fic is one of the best I've ever read.

The chemistry between Ian and Mickey sizzles off the screen and can absolutely be felt even in moments not of the nsfw variety, absolutely recommended!

MICKEY MILKOVICH’S GUIDE TO FLIRTING – whatwouldmickeydo - 40k words

An s2 “missing moments” between Gallavich, completely canon compliant, all under the pretense that Mickey is following a step by step guide to flirting.

I wish this fic was describing canon moments, not kidding a single bit, I wish I could somehow magically manifest these scenes into existence they're that good and fit that well into canon.

M8TE – gallawitch - 53k words

Omegaverse fic where Ian and Mickey both start using an app and end up matching with each other, even though a connection is made almost instinctively, coming to terms with it with a sound mind will take a bit longer…

Hey,had to have at least one of these on here lol

I love omegaverse and this was everything I wanted from it, couldn't have asked for anything better really <3.

SHACKLED – MyRelapse - 19k words

Ian has a change of heart and he decides that Mickey IS the one he wants, even if he's still in prison, so he keeps in contact and goes through every hoop imaginable to have him back as soon as possible.

Reading this made me so happy like I could burst, love it.

WAITING ON MY OWN TOO LONG – Ride4812 - 266k words

This rec more than any other on this list is what I'm gonna consider self indulgent because it covers the trope I always craved to read in such a satisfying way: Canon AU where Mickey comes back from prison after 8 years, Ian has found someone else but the moment the two meet again they fall back into each other right away.

The series is made up of 4 smaller fics:

One more night

Something more this time

No more lonely nights

Ain't this life so sweet

(I will point out here and nowhere else that the last installment of this series has some segment that probably needed to be re-read a couple more times, but by that point I was too invested, and the quality fluctuates a lot only in certain parts)

The writing style is very direct and to the point, which I love, the smut is very present and written beautifully and most importantly never boring.

Ian is a MESS in this fic and had me Stressed™, mostly cause for some reason I can't handle too much casual depiction of drug abuse and addiction (I know, ironic considering the fandom).

Conflicts and resolutions are never clean cut, they don't necessarily resolve quickly or definitely or the way you probably imagine they should and I find this level of realism very satisfying.

Taking a bit of space here at the end to also rec a couple other Ride4812 fics that I also loved:

COUP DE FOUDRE - A model/photographer AU where Ian and Mickey fall in love the instant they meet and do some crazy things because of that.

HOPE HE MIGHT - A lawyer AU where Ian and Mickey are on opposing sides for the same client, an interesting murder mystery steeped in a religious cult.

Generally I feel like this author is really good at depicting just how unapproachable Mickey can be to anyone that isn't called Ian Gallagher and I eat it up every time.

WHAT THE NIGHT DOES TO THE DAY – andchaos - 9k words

A Gallavich childhood friends AU with a quite original arrangement for the story and the various segments of their lives. Very satisfying read.

RANSOM – BeckyHarvey29 - 112k words

Terry sends his sons to kidnap a Gallagher child to force Frank into paying back the money he owes, unfortunately for him Mickey and his brothers kidnap Ian, and a whole other kind of story unfolds.

Mickey and Ian falling in love in this fic is such a good read. I don't wanna spoil anything of how that or the kidnapping plot goes, since the two are so intertwined. Just know that it will be worth it.

UNDER LOCK AND KEY – Suzy_Queue - 106k words

Ian is assigned the night shift at his new job where he provides spare keys to his fellow college students stuck outside their dorm rooms. To make matters worse his shift coworker is the oh so infamous Mickey Milkovich.

I am magnetized by the way this author writes their pining for each other, their attraction and obsession, how it blooms and unfolds. This fic in particular had me develop a very bad case of tunnel vision, couldn't really turn away until I finished reading it all.

I still haven't read everything this author has to offer, but so far I also loved:

INHUMAN: A mysterious force starts attacking people close to Mickey and it all seems to lead to a mysterious redhead Mickey is oh so coincidentally obsessed with. Very cool paranormal story.

THESE FOOLISH GAMES: Mickey takes over as the boss of the local branch of a trampoline park, where Ian is one of the employees, they annoy each other to no end but what they don't know is that they're secretly texting each other.

IS THERE SOMEWHERE – andchaos - 48k words

Mickey is born with no words on his skin, convinced he's going to live a life of misery cause no one will ever say the words he's destined to hear, he's not a very happy guy. Here comes mute boy Ian who crashes into his life and won't let go.

A classic Soulmate AU, I love that like in a lot of other Gallavich fics their physical connection and compatibility usually comes before their emotional one, it is one aspect that I feel distinguishes their relationship to many other fandom’s ships.

LAST NIGHT AT THE VERONA GRAND HOTEL – the_rat_wins - 27k words

Mickey starts working at an ancient hotel who's supposedly haunted. Mickey doesn't believe in ghost stories, he is much more interested in this one guest he meets at night during his shift.

What a cinematic experience this fic is! Absolutely recommended, the length of it makes it so you can read it in the same time it would take to watch the same story in movie format.

Other fics by the same authors that have impressed me:

FADE THIS ONE TO BLACK: Ian dies of overdose in a pile of snow outside the club, when Mickey finds him there he vows to do anything to get him back.

I don't know why but this fic in particular gives off the vibes of being a pilot for a ya urban fantasy TV series, except we gotta imagine everything that comes after the first episode lol

NO LIE: Ian and Mickey are Soulmates and as such they can't lie to each other. This series is short and sweet and full of feelings, perfect

PARAGRAPHS – pink_ink - 100k words

Ian becomes a reading tutor for ex-convicts, Mickey is among them and Ian starts paying him more and more attention.

This is a story where they meet under very different circumstances and where they've lived slightly different lives compared to canon and yet they're still able to find each other in the end.

Also, sign me up for every fic where Ian has to work just as hard to help Mickey and care for him as the opposite, where Ian's brand of stubbornness is the only way to get through to Mickey.

I'm also adding a couple of ongoing fics, just two to not overwhelm too much.

NONE THE WISER – Loftec - ~218k words

Ian starts visiting Mickey’s diner, it takes a while and yet no time at all to warm up to each other.

I'm captivated by the author's writing style. I love Ian's and Mickey’s relationship. I love how they sort of take their time and yet pine helplessly for each other.

I'm obsessed with the fact that the whole point of the fic doesn't appear until two thirds of the way in cause the diner scenes were just too good to pass up on lol (and I 100% agree with them).

INTRO TO QUANTUM DATING – spoonfulstar - ~563k words

Canon Mickey and Ian meet in University. A college slice of life but drenched in the casual (and not so casual) darkness of canon shameless.

The dark humor in this is fenomenal and left me gasping laughing so many times.

Unexpectedly Ian in this fic is pursuing a linguistics oriented degree, which was what I studied when I tried university, the topics are explained in such an accurate way I have to assume the author studied them themselves and that this story is somewhat a reimagining of their own college experience because if not this would be an absurd amount of accurate research to make.

Reading this fic feels like living through the American college experience from the comfort of my home lol.

As I said before, this author's way of writing does not weight you down even with its length, the story flows perfectly from one scene to the next and before you realize it you've reached the end and you have to accept that 500k words weren't even enough.

Let's end this list with some quick recommendations

WHILE WE'RE MAKING OTHER (PEOPLE'S) PLANS - kyasticlikestea

Mickey is volunteered to organize someone's else's wedding after he managed to salvage his own so well, he'll do it, but his own Southside way.

THIS IS THE ROAD TO RUIN - bricoleur10

Ian and Mickey never go to rob Ned, the story unfolds differently from there. A fix-it with a lot of Gallavich longing , very good smut and some really good dialogue.

HEY, HONEY MINE (I WAS THERE ALL THE TIME) - serveteas

Mickey talks about his crush with Iggy and accidentally pronoun-slips. Short, to the point, funny af and I just really love it. Takes place after their fight at Kash’n Grab in s2.

AGAINST GLASS - AllThatMatters

Ian gets traded from one club to another as a dancer (and more) and ends up in the Milkovich family's club. This is a Mafia!Mickey story with some pretty tight sub-plots, I love his brothers in this.

ONE OF A KIND - fckyeahgallavich

Mickey breaks his finger and it has to be set in the hospital, chaos - of the homophobic kind - ensues. Protective!Ian, I wanna hug Mickey in this.

IAN THE FRIENDLY GHOST - Ravenheart

Ian is haunting an apartment and Mickey starts living in it, Ian is maybe starting to have a crush on him. This isn't angsty!

BLOOD IN, BLEED OUT - brewrosemilk, Whatsastory

Historical AU. Perfectly innocent bystander Ian Gallagher is thrown into the affairs of the Ukrainian Mafia back in 1954, his relationship with Mickey will span decades and he won't remain innocent for long, the mafia can corrupt anyone.

TEENAGE RUNAWAY - sadwhales

Ian comes to live and finish high school with his half siblings on the South Side, he's immediately captivated by a boy sitting under the bleachers, maybe his North Side naivety will catch his attention too.

GARDEN SONG - melwrtiesthings

A glimpse into their lives in their West Side apartment, a lot of initial angst due to a manic episode and then a lot of recovery and healing and learning more about themselves.

[tragedybunny]

Fangs and Fairytales - Chapter 6

༺Summary༻

Serafina and Astarion saved Baldur’s Gate - and each other. Now all they want is a nice little adventure together and Astarion to walk in the sun once more. Unfortunately Sera’s patron, Titania, sets herself against the relationship. Can their love survive the ire of the Fey Queen?

In this Chapter: Serafina and Astarion are on the hunt for a treasure that will allow Astarion to walk in the sun again. Their first time as an adventuring duo doesn't go quite so smoothly though. Things start to fall apart when Serafina's patron, Titania, makes an appearance.

༺Pairing༻ Astarion x Serafina (Female Tav/OC)

༺Rating༻ Mature

༺Warnings༻ Angst

༺Word Count༻ 2873

༺A/N༻

Hello Lovelies!

As always I couldn't do this without my dear friend and support system @icybluepenguin

Read on AO3

All chapters here on Tumblr

“A secret horde, once owned by a vampire lord who plotted against Larloch. Hidden in a cavern beneath the Troll Hills, long abandoned. Can't imagine it would be too difficult to get to.” 

Those had been Gale’s words about the first artifact he'd been able to find that might impart sun-walking to a vampire - a cloak that belonged to a long dead vampire. According to their friend, this vampire lord had believed that he could defeat the lich lord Larloch, and take his city from him. He’d been acquiring and hiding magical treasures and weapons when Larloch had discovered his treachery. It was possible the cavern remained untouched as no accounts of it existed afterward. Gale had also given them a severe warning to stay as far as possible from the Warlock's Crypt lest they attract Larloch’s attention themselves.

And that was how they ended up here: Astarion inside a dank hole in the side of a hill several weeks journey from Baldur’s Gate, and Sera perched above it, fey magic nearly radiating off of her as she held it at the ready. 

It had taken a few nights of fumbling around the hills in the dark until something had faintly brushed against her detect magic spell: the moss-covered rocks and logs that obscured an opening. All of it was done with as much stealth as possible - neither of them were keen to run into the beasts the hills were named for. 

The magic ward that had been placed amongst the disguised doorway was dispelled by a scroll and there were no mundane traps to be found by Astarion. So they quietly cleared the entrance and gazed into the darkness below. To both of their elven eyes, the area was visible as though lit by faint lights. Descending down was a roughly hewn stair of stone. 

Astarion hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “You stay up here, I’ll head down and explore.” 

“Protecting me from danger? You’re too sweet,” Sera said, with obvious sarcasm.

“Don’t be silly. I need you up here to provide cover.” Astarion flashed her a toothy smile. “Just don’t accidently blast me.”

So Astarion had carefully made his way down into the cavern, stopping every so often to continue searching for dangers. Sera, meanwhile, gathered fey magic around herself until it crackled between her fingers and sparked in the air. Brilliant flashes of greens and golds - like the regalia of the Summer Queen herself who’s power Sera had been granted access to. 

The cave continued beyond the range of her vision and Astarion began to fade from her view. 

“Can you still see me?” The spell made Astarion’s whisper sounds as though it were right at her ear.

“Barely,” she answered back in a whisper. 

She couldn’t quite make out the words but several balls of light materialised, illuminating the cavern. 

“Let me shed a little light. I found something, and everything seems clear down here.” 

Astarion stood at what looked to be an aged chest, already examining it carefully with his deft fingers and a set of thieves' tools.

“Just don’t get careless.” 

The echo of Astarion’s voice carried a scoffing laugh. “Darling, who do you think you’re talking to?”

Sera bit back a snappy reply. Astarion was still Astarion, and that included his sharp tongue. But as she turned her attention back to observing Astarion’s progress with the chest, the air around her warmed and filled with a floral scent. She froze, startled at the aura of power she hadn’t felt so sharply since the day her life had been forever changed - the day she'd pacted herself to Titania. 

A faint shimmer appeared in the air and coalesced into the form of a tall, impossibly beautiful elven woman, clothed in a gown made from the forest itself, the green of leaves and moss flowing into bright forest flowers. Her skin was sun-kissed, with eyes of bright gold, and hair that seemed to shift with the vivid reds and oranges of autumn leaves. The Summer Queen stood beside her in all her glorious regalia. 

“Your majesty,” Sera greeted her patron, adding a slight bow, wary of what occasion would be enough to summon her from her fey wild. Her breath stilled with tense waiting. Whatever had brought her to this plane, Sera knew she was about to be pulled into it whether she wished it or not. 

Narrowing her eyes without returning the greeting, Titania immediately focused on where Astarion still worked on the chest below. “Is this really what you want?” 

Titania had never been shy in her opinions on Astarion and their relationship. But a Fey Queen, and the patron who had helped her escape her old life, wasn't someone she could recklessly defy. 

Slowly, she released the breath she had been holding. “Why do you ask?”

An impossibly loud click echoed from below, followed by the sound of the earth shifting. Sera’s stomach shifted along with it - something wasn’t right. 

“Oh hells!” Astarion shouted, any notion of stealth lost. 

“A short-tempered, self-centered, impossibly vain vampire spawn…” 

Sera turned her focus to Titania, despite the growing evidence that something below was terribly wrong. A faint glow radiated from her, as though the sun had lent her a bit of its radiance. It was gentle and warm but Sera knew it could become a blazing inferno if her mood shifted. She would have to step carefully, and quickly, to satisfy her concerns. 

“He’s so much more than that-”  

A dry click-clacking came from the disturbed dirt and yanked her attention back toward the cave. From the ground were rising bleached bones, baring weapons in their skeletal fingers, encircling Astarion. Sera’s heart dropped. 

Her mouth opened to call out to him, but his head quickly snapped toward her. “A little help, love,” he snarled. 

A disapproving, but yet somehow self-satisfied noise departed Titania lips. “So you say. Would he show his better nature if he knew what was planned for you and his Master?”

Her tone reminded Sera of how one would speak to a disappointing child; a tone she was all too painfully familiar with. Resentment flared in her. But instead of a flush of heat, Sera felt as though ice flooded her veins. This was what was so important to bring Titania from her throne? To risk Astarion’s life? A petty argument about her love life.

From below Astarion cursed in Elvish, signaling the situation was getting more dire.  

There wasn’t time to continue the argument with Titania. Even if it meant invoking her ire. Driven by fear for Astarion, and rising anger, Sera’s composure cracked. Her hand flew up to point an accusing finger, recklessly, at her patron. “Don't you dare -” 

Her words died in her throat as flecks of frost emanated from her impossibly blue hand. At the edge of her memory something stirred, like a dream half remembered. 

In the silence, Titania studied her for a moment with a look of consternation, before reaching out and clasping her hand with her own two gently warm ones. “Clearly your emotions about the spawn have overcome you. We will finish the conversation later, when you find yourself in a more rational state.” Something in her words didn’t quite ring true but Sera didn’t wish to start another debate. And with another shimmer of light, Titania was gone. 

Before she even fully vanished, Sera was moving, bounding down the jagged cut stairs, gathering magic into her fingertips, trying to ignore whatever it was that had just happened to her. But what she loosed was not the normal eldritch blast bolts but frozen bolts. The skeleton she hit staggered under the weight of ice that suddenly formed around it, and toppled to the ground, shattering like so much glass. 

With the expulsion, Sera felt as though the cold were draining from her skin, a warm tingle left in its wake. The mystery of it would have to wait - the rest of the skeletons weren't  affected by the loss of their comrade, continuing to wield rusty and worn weaponry against Astarion who deftly dodge the blows, answering with clubbing strikes of his dagger pommels. 

“Inveniam viam,” Sera dissipated and reappeared at Astarion's side, another eldritch blast at the ready. This time the three familiar bolts appeared, driving the skeletons back and giving them some breathing room. 

“Nice of you to join the fun,” Astarion snapped.

Sera didn't bother to answer, saving the fresh irritation for their enemies. Her gloves allowed her spells to strike even at close range, letting stay tight to Astarion’s side and weave between their foes. A few more cantrips, plus Astarion’s now free moving attacks, left the skeletons shattered at their feet.

“Who in the hells were you talking to up there?” Astarion growled, not allowing either of them to catch their breath. 

“Titania. Who else would have just appeared like that?” Her head throbbed and she felt the cold blossoming inside her along anger at him. Did he really believe she'd stop for a conversation with a passing stranger?

Astarion responded with a fangy hiss, not mollified by her answer. “Was she trying to get me killed? And you just let her distract you?” 

Gods, she hated whenever an argument would erupt like this. “It's more complicated than that and you know it!” 

Both of them were silenced by her breath becoming steam in the space between them. 

Astarion blinked very slowly, staring intently at her. “You're…blue,” he said, finally. 

With a deep breath, she tried to summon a sense of calm, thinking of how Halsin had spoken of his meditations to clear his mind and become closer to nature. Her rage had summoned the condition, maybe she could dismiss it with serenity. At least until they had less pressing concerns than a forest full of trolls above them.  “A worry for later. Let's just see if what’s in the box was worth all this trouble.” 

Astarion eyed her sceptically but she watched as the old habit of burying his emotions set in. They both knew they needed to move before trolls were drawn to the cacophony they’d made. “Fine,” he huffed and turned toward the box, violently flinging the lid open. “FUCK.”

Peering over his shoulder, Sera saw nothing but a single cloth pouch, as black as the night sky with galaxies of gold and silver thread embroidered on it. It rested at the bottom of the chest, purple and gold backed cards spilling from it. 

To Astarion, it likely looked like nothing more than a deck of elaborate playing cards, but Sera could see the cards pulse with magic Entranced, she reached around him to grasp the pouch. “That’s - “

“A deck of cards, I noticed.” 

“A Deck of Many Things.” Sera said, reverently, securing the pouch shut and tucking it in the bag at her waist next to her spellbook from Titania. While not what they were looking for, this was powerful magic indeed, and not something to be trifled with lightly. 

“Well, at least there was something down here.” 

A glance in his direction revealed narrowed eyes and furrowed brows. Despite her and Gale urging caution, he had gotten his hopes up for a miracle on the first try and now was bitter with disappointment. “We’ll just have to head to Watedeep and see what else Gale has come up with.” 

If she stopped for sympathy now, he’d wind up seeing pity in his spiral of agitation and resent it. Better to keep moving and let the edge wear off those feelings.

Turning back to the stairs, she took one step before a grip on her arm halted her. 

“And when we do, is your Fairy Godmother going to keep interjecting herself?” 

Groaning, Sera snatched her arm back from his grasp. There he went again! The last thing she wanted was to think about Titania’s irritation and threats - and whatever else was going on.  “I don't know but we need to move.” 

“So we just ignore that and whatever she did to you?”

Once again, the familiarity of something caressed her mind and she recoiled from it. “That…that wasn’t her. I don’t know what it was. Can we just go?”

Astarion growled in irritation and started stalking to the stairs as Sera struggled to keep up. He was clearly not taking his vampiric speed into consideration at the moment. 

The two of them bounded up the stairs in tense silence, freezing as a tremor shook the hillside. 

“Fucking hells,” Sera whispered. The trolls were coming. Just one more thing she didn’t need. 

Charging forward, she clasped Astarion’s shoulder, feeling the slightest tensing of the muscle at the touch. So much violence had been done to him, his body might never truly forget. “Invisibilis.” 

The two of them faded from view, enough cover to hopefully make it out of the hills without fighting any curious trolls. Astarion said nothing but clambered up the rest of the stairs and out into the night. 

Biting back some choice words, Sera followed after him. Just as she emerged from the cave, the trees near them parted and a staggeringly large and stunningly ugly creature emerged. A hunched and twisted thing with two heads and sickly green skin, it dragged its arms alongside of it as it sniffed the air. A fell troll, larger than a regular troll, and twice as vicious. 

Sera felt a sinking in the pit of her stomach. Invisibility wouldn’t hide their scent. She could feel the hollowness where her fey magic had been drained. Her skill manipulating the Weave was not so far advanced to be reliable. There was enough left for maybe one good spell. Turning, she tried to catch Astarion’s attention. Only to find him infuriatingly hurrying down the track they had followed into the forest. 

“Son of a -” Sera’s words faltered as the troll stopped and sniffed the air in her direction. 

Not willing to wait and see if the troll’s sense of smell would out her, she moved, keeping as quiet and quick as possible. Her pulse thudded in her veins and the world narrowed to one thought - get away. The two of them might be able to handle a troll, but it was a bet she wouldn’t take in their current state. All that was left was to run. 

“Astarion!” she hissed with a low voice, knowing his hearing would pick it up. 

He whipped his head around and paused, giving her a questioning look, but slowing enough that she was able to catch up.

“What were you doing back there?” he asked when she finally reached him. 

Behind her the troll made a spine-chilling, guttural vocalisation and began to move from where it had been stopped. Slow, plodding steps, as though it wasn’t quite sure of what it had scented, while still sniffing the air. 

“You left me behind,” Sera whisper-shouted even as they moved faster. 

Astarion rolled his eyes, and made a hurry along gesture.  “Don’t be ridiculous. I thought you were right behind me.”

This night had been a disaster since Titania's unbidden appearance - Astarion’s massive attitude, no sun-protecting treasure, and whatever in the hells was happening to her that she still couldn’t think about. This pushed her over the edge, and into forgetting the danger of the troll behind them. “Did you even think to check? Or don’t I matter next to walking in the sun?” she shouted, watching in horror as their invisibility melted away and Astarion stared at her blankly. 

A rage-filled snarl sounded behind them and the earth shook. 

“Gods damn it!” Sera’s fingers dug into Astarion’s leather armor, leaving small nail shaped gouges. “Quod dico face.” 

The two of them disappeared with a flash of gold light and a popping noise, reappearing several hundred feet down the track and a life-saving amount closer to the edge of the hills. 

In deafening silence, they tore down the last of the track, and spilled out of the scrubby oaks into the grassland surrounding the hills. The troll had seemingly abandoned pursuit when his quarry disappeared into thin air and they were free to make their way back to their camp near the Winding Water river. It was said the trolls wouldn’t leave the hills - as though some force compelled them to remain there.

They continued to not speak even as camp, and day, drew near. Sera's anger had long since burned away, leaving an empty ache in its place. They’d never fought like this before, even through the trials of hunting down Cazador and facing the Netherbrain. They had been her certainty, her rock. Now it felt as though nothing was certain, and her world was unraveling around her. What if this was it - if Astarion was done with her already, if it was all over before it had even really started, if all her dreams about their love were nothing but silly nonsense? She couldn’t even begin to think about moving on or what came next. But every time she tried to speak to him, to alleviate her fears, the words wouldn’t come. 

And in that sad silence they walked on. 

It was a far cry from the hopefulness those last days in the Gate had brought to them. 

[farenmaddox]

Fic: nobody said it was easy Fandom: Supernatural Status: Complete, 10k Rating: T and up Pairing: Castiel/Dean, significant amounts of Sam & Cas friendship Summary: After the events of 11x23, Dean and Mary miss Cas at the bunker by a mere few minutes. Cas goes to rescue Sam from the BMoL and brings in a few allies to help, meanwhile Dean has no idea anything is wrong and just thinks it’s taking them a while to get home. After Sam’s rescue, Castiel and Sam talk, and grieve. When they do go home, Dean and Cas’s reunion goes a bit differently. a.k.a. Cas Widower Arc

Excerpt: (under read more)

Castiel strode back into the bunker at 5:34 am, his blade ready in hand for round two—he was prepared, this time, and was certain he could throw the blade into someone’s chest before they managed to touch the sigil—only to find no one there.

“Sam?” he yelled out.

A ticking noise from the generator was the only answer. The banishment sigil was still there, on the wall, and there was a pool of blood on the ground near it. Castiel dabbed his finger into the blood, and tasted. Mostly human, faintly demonic: it was definitely Sam’s. The woman clearly knew them pretty well if she had laid a trap for them that accounted for angelic presence, but Sam seemed to have been able to put up some kind of a fight.

Castiel told Dean he was going to look out for Sam. He was doing a great job of that so far. Less than a day and he’d already lost him.

No, he cut himself off, he couldn’t think that way right now. It was nothing but a distraction. He had to keep his thoughts organized. Sam had been taken, and Castiel needed to find him. Just to be absolutely certain, he conducted a full search of the bunker, calling out periodically. It felt like a waste of time, but it would be far worse to just leave without checking if it turned out that he was badly injured and hiding somewhere.

When Castiel was satisfied the bunker was truly empty, he turned his thoughts to how he would even begin to find his friend. Sam was normally the one who had the best ideas on finding people, so Castiel tried to imagine what he would do in this instance. He would interview the people in Lebanon to see if any of them remembered seeing a blond British woman. Castiel was off-putting and not good at interviews, but he knew a few of the people in this town by now from periodic missions to retrieve beer or takeout for the boys, so maybe he could manage it. But what Sam would be trying to find out was where she might have said she was going, and what kind of vehicle she was driving. Oh, of course—Sam would use the computer to look for her vehicle.

Castiel stared at Sam’s laptop. The laptop stared back.

Castiel reached into his pocket and retrieved from his wallet the slip of paper with the phone number he had, thus far, been too much of a coward to use. He walked over to one of the old rotary phones that Sam and Dean had told him was disconnected. Maybe humans couldn’t use it anymore, but Castiel certainly could. He let a fizzle of grace chase down his fingers as he entered the phone number, and listened to the call connect. If only Dean and Sam could have been there to see it and do the thing with their mouths and eyebrows that meant they were impressed. These mundane uses of his grace were only fun when he had an audience.

“It is six in the morning, this had better be damn good,” a voice groaned into the phone.

Read the rest on AO3

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[avaantares]

Fanfiction readers: I am begging you to create an AO3 account.

If you don't have one, you're likely missing out on some of the good stuff and don't even know it.

With the uptick in robo-plagiarism, AI scraping and bot abuse, more and more AO3 authors are setting their works so they are visible only to logged-in users (whether or not this actually prevents bots from accessing them is another discussion, but it is the current trend). This means when users without an account go to AO3 to look for something to read, a large percentage of potential matches do not appear in the search results. Nor can those users see that more stories exist, or even look up a locked work by author or title.

To demonstrate, I've locked my works to logged-in users only. Here's the Works count displayed on my public-facing author profile when I'm logged in:

And here's the Works count displayed on my author profile when I'm not logged in:

Even related works linked within the site will not display anything about the story, including its title. Here's how a translation link looks when logged in:

And the same story, when logged out:

To users without an account, those stories aren't only not readable, they're completely invisible.

Fortunately, it's easy to create an account. Just click the Invite Requests link below and enter your email address, and then follow the directions in the invite email when it arrives (usually in one to two weeks, depending on request backlog).

If there's a reason you don't want to/aren't allowed to receive AO3 email at your primary email account, you can make a free webmail account (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Hushmail, GMX, et al.) and use that to sign up. (Once your account has been created, you can also disable all future email communication from AO3.)

Then, if you click "Keep me logged in" when you sign into AO3 on your computer or mobile device, you will remain logged in on that device/browser indefinitely without needing to re-enter your password (though clearing cookies or updating your browser may require logging back in). You will also be able to view and comment on user-locked stories, curate your own bookmarks and collections, manage your reading history, customize your site skins and reading preferences, and more. There are also lots of privacy options.

I know it's an extra step to go through, but it's simple, it's free, and under the current onslaught of AI and bot nonsense, it's becoming a necessity.

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

It is currently Monday, 5 May. I am thegirlofthorns on Ao3.

On Friday, 9 May, I will begin the process of privating all of my works on Ao3. This means that you will need to be logged in to read them. You will not be able to read them as a guest.

I've been debating whether or not to do this because I truly don't want to restrict guest access, but I've decided to do so because I don't want my works to get scraped for AI training again.

If you want to continue having access to my works but do not have an Ao3 account, please consider making one! If you ask me for an invite, I may be able to provide it to you (but am not sure since I think you only have a set invite number.)

[everlovingdeer]

ao3

Hi everyone,

I probably should've made an announcement about this much earlier, but it completely slipped my mind. Maybe this is particularly pertinent to those of you who read my work on ao3/visit my profile (everlovingdeer) occasionally.

Within the past few weeks, ao3 was scraped AGAIN with works being fed into AI and because of this - and because I'm annoyed at the prospect of my works that I've spend hours upon hours on being used to train AI - I've locked all my works on ao3. This means that if you don't have a registered account and aren't logged into it, you won't be able to view my works on ao3. If you still want to continue to see my works, you'll have to create an ao3 account to be able to see them.

I understand that might feel like a barrier to accessing my works, but the account creation process is relatively straightforward and having my works locked gives me a sense of peace that I'm willing to sacrifice views for.

Alternatively, you can still read my stories on wattpad. But I have no idea if you need an account to be able to read the stories on there.

I hope that clears things up!

everlovingdeer

[lavender-long-stories]

I have gotten questions about whether I was included in the recent AO3 scrape and if I will be locking my stories, and I want to use this time to clear up some confusion I have been seeing.

What is an AI scrape?

I saw more than one person read it as 'scrap.' To clarify, the AI did not delete the stories. Stories were fed to an AI for either the purpose of improving the AI or to be posted elsewhere.

This is unethical on the part of the person running the AI, but since laws have not yet caught up, it is not illegal, and fan fiction is already a legal gray area. Therefore, it would be very difficult for AO3 to take action.

What do people mean by 'locking' stories?

This means setting the works/stories to be accessible only to users who have a registered AO3 account and are logged in. The story is still there. However, you may not be able to even search for it unless you are logged in.

Why are people locking stories?

No one likes their stories being stolen for these purposes, and the last couple of scrapes have happened on unlocked stories only, so locking is a measure writers are taking to protect themselves. However, for clarity, I feel the need to point out that there is really nothing stopping them from using a registered account to scrape locked stories other than laziness.

Will I be locking stories?

No. The last time this happened, I did it for a while, but I eventually decided that I didn't really like the concept for my own work. As much as I dislike AI scraping, I would rather not hide my stories from readers who enjoy them because of someone's unethical behavior.

Important note, though: This does not mean I disagree with anyone locking their stories. That is their decision. They feel unsafe. They are taking measures to reduce the likelihood of it happening again so they feel safe to continue writing. Do not use this post to 'um actually' them because I WILL beat you with a printout of My Immortal.

Please be kind to each other. The people unethically training on/stealing stories are the problem, not the writers trying to react.

[lyrebirdswrites]

JJK Fic Plagiarism

An itafushi fic on ao3 called And They Were Roommates by picassoscat is plagiarising my own fic The Long Con. With every new chapter they update, they steal more scenes from my work. Please read and share this to spread the word!

In August, multiple strangers messaged me out of the blue to tell me TLC was being copied. Initially I figured someone had simply been inspired by the tropes I used. But when I read ATWR for myself, it wasn’t just the same premise — it was straight up theft of my prose.

Picassoscat steals 2-3 of my scenes per chapter of their fic on average, interspersed with some alternating POVS and superficial aesthetic changes to my plot. They’ve even copied my authors notes to try and pass off my story decisions/headcanons as their original research.

When I first discovered ATWR, it had 4 chapters. A month later, it now has 7 chapters, and the vast majority of paragraphs in them are still lifted directly from my fic. I’ve left comments alerting readers to this fact — those comments were instantly deleted by the author.

I’ve since been blocked, and logged out accounts can no longer leave comments. So clearly they know what they’re doing and they’re trying to stop their readers from finding out.

Nobody should get support or praise for stealing from other writers.

I genuinely don’t have the words to describe the pain and heartache I’ve been through this month. It is extremely upsetting, and personally distressing, to watch someone claim my hard work and take credit for a fic that is so deeply meaningful to me.

Picassoscat has already bookmarked several other popular itfs works, and I don’t want them to repeat this with any other jjk writer. They didn’t stop when I spoke up alone, and I doubt they’d stop for other authors either if they get enough “success” from stealing mine.

I’ve already filed a report with ao3, so there’s no need to for other people to do the same. I also don’t want anyone to contact the author — moderators will take care of that in due time. But I’d be grateful if you could help me spread awareness about what’s going on. It can take months for an abuse report on ao3 to be processed. I can’t stay silent that long while picassoscat continues to upload my chapters every other week, and readers who don’t know better keep rewarding them with comments and kudos.

Please share this thread so that the jjk fic community is aware of what’s happening. Bookmark ATWR with a note that it isn’t original work, to inform anyone who checks its bookmarks/visits your ao3 (be civil about it though, harassing the author won’t help).

Furthermore, if you know anyone who is reading And They Were Roommates or you see anyone post about it, please link them back to this thread, or to my fic The Long Con.

For obvious reasons, I won’t update The long Con or any of my other fics again until this situation is resolved.

Thank you, sincerely, for supporting me if you‘re able to help.

[bridgertonbabe]

Signing off.

I never really thought I'd ever write a post like this and to be perfectly honest I feel a bit cringe for even making a thing out of this but I felt it necessary to address those of you who follow me and my writings.

In the last month I have been suffering severely from anxiety, waking up to what feels like a ball of dread clutching at my heart and being unable to shift it for the better part of the day. It's all come to a head as of late because I've reached a crossroads in my life where I've realised just how unhappy and unfulfilled I am. Truth to be told I really don't have any aspect in my life that I am happy with and for years I've dismissed myself and my own desires for the sake of others to the point where I have no self worth, no self confidence, and I just feel like a shell of a person. Realising that I can't go on like this, that I can't live the life I aspire to without sorting my mental health out, I've taken the first steps in getting counselling and in going to the doctors to be put on anti-depressants.

While I'm already starting to feel better, I've decided it's in my best interests to take some other steps going ahead; which is I'm logging off this account.

Don't get me wrong, this account has brought me fulfillment in the last two and a half years and I've had so much fun interacting with so many of you but as of late I've become very disengaged with Bridgerton. It's one of several of my hyperfixations which I have become anxious with in the last few weeks, in part because they are what I used to immerse myself in as a means to distract myself from a dissatisfying existence, but now I've decided to make a change in my life for the better, everything that I once used to bury my head in the sand has now essentially given me the ick. Bridgerton is just now one of several things that I feel the need to distance myself from in order to fully focus and concentrate on bettering my mental health as well as getting what I want out of life.

As much as I've taken pride in writing because of Bridgerton, my dream has always to one day publish a book of my own and I need to refocus my energies on writing my own original stories to have the chance of maybe being able to make that dream a reality. I would have so dearly loved to have been able to complete a whole host of WIPs (would have also loved to have been able to just focus on one story at a time but c'est la vie) and I can only apologise to anyone who's been hoping for an update from any of them.

You will still be able to read all of my works on AO3 (plus I've restored a couple I had previously hidden from view), and I won't be deleting this tumblr so all of my drabbles and various posts will still be here for you to browse and read at your leisure.

Though I'm stepping away from this account, I don't necessarily know if this will be forever. I might well end up in a better place mentally at some point and return with a healthier state of mind where I can enjoy Bridgerton again, and I would never rule out contributing writings again - however as it stands, I don't want to promise anything and taking care of my mental health is my main priority for now and the foreseeable future.

I also just wanted to take the opportunity to thank every single person who has ever liked, reblogged, and interacted with me since I joined. I had never previously shared any of my creative writing online and thought it would be nice if even a single person somewhere vaguely liked anything I had to share - but over the last two and a half years I've been given such a boost from the amount of people who have reached out and commented on any one of my silly writings. I don't think you'll ever understand just how much it has meant to me and the love and appreciation will stay with me forever.

That about does it, so thank you all for everything. I wish you all a lifetime of health and happiness.

Signing off,

Shinnie

xxx

[wh40ksummerfest]

Sign-up is open!

Sign-up for the WH40K Summer Fest 2024 is open now!

You need to request and offer at least 3 characters/relationships to sign up; you are welcome to request/offer more. You can choose to create and receive either fanfiction, fanart, or both.

Helpful links:

Collection profile with full rules/info.

Request Summary shows other participants' requests.

The sign-up deadline is Sunday, June 16, 11:59am CET/5:59am EDT (countdown).

Signing up: Important info and step-by-step guide 👇

You must be 18+ and have an AO3 account to participate in the exchange. If you do not have an account, you can request an invitation to join the Archive here.

Note: In case the mod team needs to reach out to you, AO3 shows us the e-mail address you use to log in. If you end up unmatchable or if your creator sends us a question to forward to you, we will use this e-mail address. Be sure to be able to access it, check it regularly while the exchange is running—and, if your legal name is in it, to change it if you don’t want the mod team to see it! All e-mails from the mod team will be sent from 40kfanworkexchange@gmail.com using the name Roboute Guilliman (he handles our paperwork) or through AO3.

How to sign up

Click on 'Sign Up'/'Sign-up Form' on the exchange's profile page (or click here) to fill out your requests and offers.

You must submit at least 3 requests (at least one per box) for characters and/or relationships that you would like to receive fanfiction and/or fanart about. You can add additional request boxes, up to 10.

For each request box, choose 'Warhammer 40.000' as the fandom.

Add 1-20 characters or relationships from the exchange tag set. You can search for nominated characters/relationships using the drop-down menu. We allow up to 20 character/relationship tags per request, but please be mindful of the person receiving your request and try not to go overboard. You have to fill out Request 1, 2 and 3 with at least one character/relationship in each; if possible, group together tags that share the same character(s) or canon source, DNWs, or other characteristics into a single request.

Choose whether you'd like to receive only fanfiction, only fanart, or both. You can choose different media(s) for each request.

Linking to a 'dear creator' letter on an external website, i.e., a tumblr blog post, Google Doc, Dreamwidth page, etc. going into further details about your preferences, is optional. The person assigned to you is not obligated to read it, but may find it helpful for inspiration. Please make sure your page is publicly available; some tumblr links can only be accessed by tumblr users.

Use the text box for suggestions, optional prompts and preferences. Keep in mind that we have all sorts of participants, so be as broad as possible to inspire others without restricting their creativity — optional details are optional and your creator is not required to stick to your suggestions, but having a general idea of whether you like fluff/action/comedy/smut, the Great Crusade/Horus Heresy/M40/M42-era, your favourite tropes, art styles, etc. is very helpful. You MUST list anything you Do Not Want (DNW) to see in a gift, such as squicks and triggers. The mods will check your gift to make sure it doesn't contain any of your DNWs, but we only check for the specific ones listed in this text box. Your listed DNWs should, as a minimum, state whether you wish to avoid any of the four specific AO3 Archive Warnings: 1) Graphic depictions of violence, 2) Major Character Death, 3) Rape/Non-con, 4) Underage. If you would be uncomfortable receiving Mature or Explicit gifts, please also mention this in your DNWs. You can have different DNWs for different requests.

If you are unsure about what to include in your DNWs or optional details, check out other people's requests for ideas.

You must submit at least 3 offers (at least one per box) for characters and/or relationships that you would like to create fanfiction and/or fanart about. Your offered characters/relationships do not have to be identical to your requests.

For each offer, choose 'Warhammer 40.000' as the fandom.

Add 1-20 characters or relationships from the exchange tag set. You can search for nominated characters/relationships using the drop-down menu. You have to fill out Offer 1, 2 and 3 with at least one character/relationship in each, but it doesn't matter how you group your offers otherwise. No one will see your offers except you and the mods. You can make a total of 10 offers with up to 20 tags each = 200 characters/relationships. You are very welcome to do so, but make sure you are able and willing to create a gift if you match on any one of them! You will only be matched with one other participant and required to create a single gift regardless of how many offers you submit.

Choose whether you'd like to create only fanfiction, only fanart, or both. You'll only be required to make one gift for your assignment even if you offer both.

Please return to check before the sign-up deadline (June 16, 11:59am CET/5:59am EDT) that your offers match at least one request by another participant in the exchange.

If your offers don't match anyone else's requests by the time of the deadline, the mods will e-mail you to ask if you would like to add additional offers. If you do not respond to this e-mail within 12 hours or decline to add additional offers, your sign-up will be deleted.

Once you have filled out at least 3 requests and offers, hit 'Submit' at the bottom of the page. You have now signed up to participate in the exchange and your requests will be visible to other participants in the Request Summary.

You can edit/add to your requests and offers by clicking 'My Sign-up' on the exchange profile page. Note: After the sign-up deadline, only the mods will be able to edit your sign-up details.

"What if there is someone I don't want to be matched with?"

The best way to ensure a fun and enjoyable exchange experience is to keep an eye on the Request Summary and adjust your offers based on other participants' requests. Maybe you'll see something that inspires you to offer characters or relationships you didn't consider before — or maybe someone requests something for one of your offers that you would rather not create, in which case it's perfectly fine to edit your offers so you won't risk matching on that particular character/relationship.

If, however, there is another participant that you do not want to be matched with, please e-mail us at 40kfanworkexchange@gmail.com before the sign-up deadline and let us know:

Your AO3 username;

the AO3 username of the participant you do not want to be matched with;

whether your Do Not Match request is for creating, receiving, or both;

what you would like us to do if that participant offers to pick up your pinch hit;

what you would like us to do if that participant creates a treat for you.

Thank you — see you in the sign-ups!

[jone-slugger]

Day 2 of @voyagerweek! The prompt was Favorite Character, and, of course, it's Kathryn Janeway for me. You can also read it on AO3 :D

The Life (and Deaths) of Kathryn Janeway in the Delta Quadrant

“First of all, Captain, allow us to congratulate you and welcome you to the Alpha Quadrant. You’ll find that lots of things have changed in the seven years you were stranded, but hopefully you’ll be able to feel at home”.

“Thank you, Admiral. I certainly think we will manage”.

“Now, let’s get to down to the business at hand. As you are aware, we have been able to access your logs, and we want to commend you on succeeding in bringing your crew back home mostly in one piece. There are, however, several instances we would like you to… clarify. Some logs that stood out for us and would need a more thorough explanation than what was said.”

“Of course”.  

“Now, we can understand that some things are better left off the record, but we would appreciate your cooperation in assisting us with this process”.

“I’ll try to be as thorough as possible”.

“Thank you. I think we can begin with how you got here. There are some… concerns regarding the Temporal Prime Directive. You said your…self from the future came to give you technology to defeat the Borg?”

“Well, not exactly. My future self wanted us to use the Borg Transwarp network to help us return to the Alpha Quadrant. I wanted to destroy it. In the end, we came up with a plan to do both. She sacrificed herself to devastate the Borg and kill the Queen”.

“It seems your self-sacrificing nature is a constant in all the different timelines, Captain”.

“I guess one could say so”.

“We can’t assure you that someone from the Department of Temporal Investigations won’t show at your door to ask you further questions on that particular subject.”

“I have had some experience with them. It won’t be a problem”.

“About that… we can’t help but notice that you’ve had quite frequent runs with time travel. Of course, it is not our area of expertise, but there was some… concern about the constant disruptions of the prime timeline”.

“Believe me, Admiral, I am the first to wish I hadn’t. I always strive to avoid time travel altogether. But it seems time travel finds me”.

“It seems it does. There are several accounts, not only by yourself, but by other members of your crew attesting to that. It seems your journey through the Delta Quadrant was nothing if not eventful. There are here some accounts that state you died several times? Or, at least, a version of yourself?”

“That is correct. There was one time the ship duplicated, and my counterpart sacrificed herself and her ship to save us from the Vidiians. Another time, I crashed a shuttle with Commander Chakotay and there was an alien life form that wanted to consume my energy as I died. In fact, I died in several different ways that one time. There was once when the Hirogen took over Voyager and forced us to play different scenarios in the holodecks without the safety features. I died several times then as well, although I don’t quite remember, since our memories had been wiped.”

“Captain, we hope you won’t take this the wrong way but if what you’re saying is true, we sincerely hope you won’t disregard the recommendation to have psychological counselling”.

“I… can’t promise anything”.

“Well, we will not force you to, but you know you’ll have to be cleared by Starfleet medical to resume your duties”.

“I am aware”.

“Good, good. Let’s continue, shall we? There are some command decisions that have drawn our attention. We understand the circumstances were exceptional, and as such, extenuating. Nonetheless, we would like to go over some, for our official records. For instance, we couldn’t help but be shocked at the fact that you gave the Hi… how were they called? Higoren?”

“Hirogen”.

“Hirogen, that’s right. You gave them holodeck technology?”

“I know it’s not too in line with the Prime Directive, but it was a way to ensure a truce”.

“You allied with the Borg to destroy Species 8472?”

“Again, these were tactical decisions. It was one I came to regret later on.”

“Understood. Some concern has been raised by part of your crew, who were previously members of the USS Equinox, about your treatment when they boarded Voyager. Particularly Mr. Noah Lessing had several allegations made against you.”

“I am not proud of what I did that time. You must understand that we were in a moment of crisis, being attacked by some unknown lifeforms, who were defending themselves from Captain Ransom. I needed to stop him at all costs. It was unfortunate that I let my interrogation of Mr. Lessing go as far as it did. I regret it. I should not have done it. But I cannot change the past. And we were able to stop Captain Ransom from harming those beings any further. I believe we did uphold Starfleet’s ideals of protecting life.”

“Well, you should know that if Mr. Lessing wishes to proceed further with his allegations, he is in his right to do so. There would be a proceeding in which the case would be inspected further. As you know, this statement is in the official record now, so it could be used against you”.

“I understand”.

“Another thing that stood out for us was the transporter incident with Mr. Tuvok and Mr. Neelix, and the creation of… Tuvix, I believe he was called?”

“Yes”.

“Of course, what got our attention wasn’t really his creation, but rather his demise”.

“It was a lose-lose situation, Admiral. I wanted to have my two crewmembers back, despite the fact that it would cost his life”.

“It was certainly a difficult decision.”

“My two crewmembers had already a life before that accident happened. They had families, friends, a history. Tuvix was… an unfortunate aftereffect; a new person who had potential. But it wouldn’t have been fair for all the friends and families of Tuvok and Neelix, nor for themselves, who couldn’t speak nor voice their opinion, to simply ignore the two lives that were before him”.

“But you were playing god, Captain. Denying a new life to save your friends”.

“I understand your point of view, and I assume the consequences of my actions. And if I had to do it again, I would”.

“Admiral Nechayev would like to discuss that incident further with you at another moment. Well, Captain Janeway, thank you for your time and your responses. I think we’re done with the debriefing, aren’t we? Oh, no, wait! What’s this about evolving into a salamander and having offspring with your helmsman?”

“Do you have an hour to spare?”

[ms-demeanor]

Hello, I'm currently in the process of switching over to Firefox, and was wondering if you could help me with something. One big feature I am painfully missing from Chrome, is being able to group tabs together in collapsible categories. I have terrible ADHD and frequently need to leave groups of tabs open for multiple days until I can get back to them. I'm currently running Tree-Style Tabs extension, but it's not quite what I want Do you know of any plugins/extensions that can provide similar functionality to Chrome's tab grouping? Thanks!

Okay so at the moment i'm using Simple Tab Grouping, which appears to do what you're looking for but I just have to give you a word of caution that if you open a group of tabs in a window that you haven't created a group from it closes all the tabs in that window, which is how I lost like fifty of my open tabs (which, LBR, was probably a good thing).

I've been using it for a couple of weeks and so far it's really handy, especially combined with multi-account containers.

So for instance I've got tumblr open in a catch-all group which is where I go for random bullshit like webcomics and digging around wikipedia and reading the news and general internet surfing stuff; I have a separate group that is just youtube videos and any time i open a youtube video in a different group I move it to that other group so I don't clutter up my other groups. I have a "work" group which is where I keep work stuff and where I'm logged in with my work container accounts and I have a "fandom" group where I've got a bunch of ao3 tabs open and i'm logged into cryptpad and have WIPs open.

If I open a new window that new window doesn't go into a group unless i make it go into the group and if I'm in a new window and I select a group from the menu it opens those tabs in that window and closes anything that wasn't part of a group; if i'm in an open window in my "work" group and select my youtube group it opens all the youtube tabs in that window and exits out of the work tabs but the work tabs are preserved and i can just as easily switch back to them.

So what this means at this point is that instead of keeping eight windows with about 150 manually sorted tabs up at all times, I have three windows with about 10 tabs up at all times and I can open 10 other windows with different tabs in a few keystrokes.

I'm sure that doesn't explain anything actually, but Simple Tab Grouping is working out well for me and seems to do the thing you're describing but you'll want to play with it before you decide to stick with it and make sure you've got a record of any tabs you need to keep before you start clicking through stuff because oof.