Why NPAB Became “THE” TGCF Retelling Fic and Why That Kind of Phenomenon is Almost Impossible to Replicate Now
Let’s be honest: ‘No Paths Are Bound’ is still widely considered the definitive TGCF retelling. Fans used to call it “better than canon,” “secondary canon,” or “the one that healed me.” And for good reason, it delivered massive emotional depth, expanded side characters, and gave hualian the slow-burn angst many were craving.
But a huge part of why it became that “THE Fic” wasn’t just pure quality.
It was perfect timing.
The fic originally started as threads on Twitter (before it became X) and went viral there. It exploded right when the TGCF donghua was at its peak in 2021–2022. The tags #tgcf and #hualian were flooded daily, Twitter’s algorithm still favored long organic threads, and the fandom was starving for more pain, more devotion, and more exploration of trauma and redemption. NPAB rode that wave perfectly, and then migrated to AO3 where it continued to grow.
The Twit began pre-Elon's acquisition
Then Elon Musk acquired Twitter in late 2022. The algorithm changed dramatically, it began pushing rage-bait and controversial content while drastically reducing organic reach for smaller creators. What used to spread naturally through consistent tagging and community interaction became much harder.
The fandom condition itself shifted dramatically too. In 2021–2022, TGCF was extremely active, with thousands of daily posts on X, massive influx of new readers from the donghua, constant discussion and recs. By 2026, it’s become much quieter: AO3 fic creation rate has dropped significantly (from thousands of new fics per year to only hundreds), X tags like #tgcf and #hualian average only a few hundred posts per day (down from thousands), and new fics struggle to gain traction without external hype.
Proof of that shift lies in its related retelling, ‘To Wade in Darkness’ (TWID). While TWID was also promoted on X, it struggled to gain traction due to the platform’s current algorithm, forcing it to ride the legacy of NPAB instead. That legacy remains strong enough to generate decent engagement, roughly 2–5% of NPAB’s peak scale in terms of kudos and visibility, but it is nowhere near the same explosive growth.
The Twit posted post-Elon's acquisition (notice the decline of stats)
Let‘s check the kudos and hits ratio from each fics:
Besides X’s algorithm changes, we have to look at the fandom climate. When TWID came out, the MDZS fandom had already started to cool down. There wasn’t a massive influx of new readers anymore, Live Action adaptation ‘The Untamed’ (CQL) was already 5–6 years old, and the manhua and donghua had long been completed.
Compare that to the era of NPAB, which hit right when the TGCF fandom was at its peak heat, fueled by the massive hype of S1-S2 Donghua, anticipation of Live Action ‘Eternal Faith’ (which unfortunately got shelved), added with its sister’s influence of MDZS/CQL that was still pretty high. It was a perfect storm that is almost impossible to replicate in a stagnant fandom state.
This is ironic, in all honesty, because TWID is arguably better than NPAB in terms of quality (to be fair, its small number of chapters also needs to be taken into account (7/?), but it’s impossible to have any idea how many kudos and hits TWID might receive if it had the same hundred chapters as NPAB, so we can only wait for the author to resume updating).
The difference between the peak years (2021–2022) and now (2026) is night and day. Back then, a well-timed retelling could spread like wildfire because the platform, the fandom momentum, and the audience’s hunger all worked together. Today, even stronger works often feel like they’re arriving after the party has already ended. The window for that kind of explosive, community-defining fame has largely closed.
That’s the harsh reality of fandom:
Sometimes the biggest fics aren’t just the best written. They’re the ones that arrived when the algorithm, the fandom state, and the audience’s hunger all aligned perfectly.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting THE fic isn’t actually good. Beyond external factors like the algorithm or the specific state of the fandom at the time, its popularity is largely merit-based. The storytelling is solid and well-executed, which is a major reason it gained that kind of traction in the first place. Besides, NPAB got the standout premise. It offered a striking and immediately gripping what-if scenario: what if Jun Wu placed the curse shackle in Xie Lian’s eyes instead of his neck, rendering him blind? That single, bold divergence created an instantly compelling hook that reshaped the entire journey and generated massive discussion. In contrast, TWID lacks a similarly sharp, conversation-starting central twist. For example, while adding trans characters is meaningful representation, that particular element has already been explored by numerous fanfic writers in the fandom, so it doesn’t carry the same level of novelty or must-read urgency that a truly unique premise can provide.
But my point still stands because you don’t even have to compare it with other people’s work, for example: NPAB and TWID are from the same author. And personally thinking, TWID is improved in terms of quality, but unfortunately, it hasn’t received the recognition it deserves compared to NPAB.
If we want to talk about data, we can look at these calculations (per 02/28/26):
NPAB
= kudos : hits = 34,400 : 1,933,774 Simplification = 34,400÷34,400 = 1 1,933,774÷34,400 = 56.21 = 1:56 (out of 56 readers, 1 gave kudos).
2. TWID
= kudos : hits = 1,136 : 24,226 Simplification = 1,136÷1,136 = 1 24,226÷1,136 = 21,3 = 1:21 (out of 21 readers, 1 gave kudos, which means that if there are 56 readers, then roughly 3 people will give kudos).
To be fair, hits don’t accurately reflect the number of individual readers as they can be inflated by repeat visits, so let’s just treat this as a rough estimation.
In conclusion; despite NPAB’s significantly much larger exposure, TWID demonstrates a higher kudos frequency than NPAB, while NPAB averages only 1 kudos per 56 readers, TWID’s ratio of 1:21 means that at a similar scale of 56 readers, it would net approximately 3 kudos.
Nevertheless, with 24,226 hits for TWID versus 1,933,774 for NPAB, it’s clear that TWID has only reached about 1/80th of the glory that NPAB has achieved (or 1.25% of total NPAB hits). Besides TWID, the author actually have another fanfic with better stats (with 53 completed chapters) called ‘The Soul Remains’ (3,665 kudos/137,663 hits as I’m writing this). However, among all their works, NPAB exists on a whole different level that outshines everything else, not only amongst TGCF fics, but also across the author’s own works. This just goes to show how much hype timing + algorithm truly impacts exposure and fame.
What do you think? Have you also been feeling like your work is struggling to get the recognition it deserves lately? This could definitely play a part in that.
