i keep seeing well-meaning posts about tagging on ao3 claiming that 'no archive warnings apply' means a fic is fluffy and wholesome and maybe smutty but can be trusted contain nothing upsetting. and from the bottom of my heart, please, this is so wrong. like, even aside from the fact that 'upsetting' is a very personal definition, it literally just means that none of the big four archive warnings apply, and i promise you it's very possible to write a DEEPLY upsetting fic that contains none of those things.
Also: "Creator chose not to use archive warnings" does NOT mean that the fic is safe and fluffy, either. It means exactly what's on the tin: THIS FIC MAY CONTAIN ANYTHING. BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING.
the big four warnings are: noncon, underage sex, graphic violence, and major character death. which means that, even if we restrict to common topics many people are interested in exploring in a fic space, 'no archive warnings' can include:
the vast majority of politics and history
recovery from physical or sexual abuse
abortion and miscarriage
death of minor characters, grief as a major theme or the central topic of the story
including death of a parent, sibling, partner, child
disease, medical abuse or trauma
serious injury and slow/painful recovery or lack thereof
chronic fatigue, chronic pain, other chronic disability
animal abuse
cheating
divorce
serious bigotry treated seriously
serious bigotry treated like a joke
colonialism and forced assimilation, eugenics
genocide (described non-graphically)
grooming and romantic abuse of children, assuming sex is either implicit or doesn't take place until the kid turns 18
phobias, dissociation, hallucinations, unreality in such a way that can be very psychologically disorienting
horror genre and horror pastiche
workplace politics and drama, workplace harassment and abuse, capitalism basically just sucking
the most annoying people you ever met who simply won't stop talking to the main character
natural disaster
man-made disaster
inaccuracy about real world information, including conspiracy theories and dangerous advice
inaccuracy about canon lore, possibly on purpose as ragebait crackfic or badfic
megacrossovers





















