Meandering Muse

someone will

someone out there will see you and say "yes. the world is scary. but let me hold your hand and show you how to do it anyways"

Commenting Etiquette

No Unsolicited Concrit: Authors post fanworks for free as a hobby. Unless an author explicitly asks for constructive criticism in their notes, keep comments positive and critique-free.

Don't Like, Don't Read (DLDR): If a story, relationship, or trope bothers you, hit the back button. Leaving negative comments over subjective preferences breaks core fandom norms.

Phrase Update Requests Politely: Demanding "Update soon!" can feel transactional. Pair your excitement with appreciation for the current chapter (e.g., "Loved this chapter, can't wait to see where the story goes!").

Short Comments & Emojis Are Welcomed: You don't need to write an essay! Leaving a kudos or a single heart emoji in the comment section is a totally valid and appreciated form of comment.

Tagging & Relationships

Accurate Warning Tags: Always select the appropriate Major Archive Warnings or explicitly mark "Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings."

Distinguish / vs &: Use / strictly for romantic or sexual pairings (Character A/Character B). Use & exclusively for platonic or familial relationships (Character A & Character B).

Site Rules & Features

No Monetization: AO3 is a non-profit archive run entirely on donations. Selling physical copies anywhere on your profile or story text violates TOS and risks account suspension.

Public vs. Private Bookmarks: Bookmarks are public by default, and authors can see everything written in them. If you use bookmarks for personal ratings, critical notes, or reading progress, remember to check the Private box.

AND DON´T USE AI.

Yes, because the Washington state government activated like a sleeper-cell and ruthlessly, systematically hunted them down and annihilated them.

“Y2K came to nothing amirite?”

Yes because an army of software engineers working around the clock, losing sleep, and busting ass till the last minute prevented it from happening.

“Remember the hole in the ozone layer?”

You mean the one that was fixed through rigorous world wide government action?

One of the root problems of our society is a refusal or inability by media to articulate that all those “it’s gonna be an apocalypse” disasters were not disasters because we collectively did something about them.

The good news is this is actually quite correctable. I maintain my firm belief that we as humans are capable of solving almost all of our problems, when we decide to do so.

And I still think that’s going to happen. I don’t know when or how, but I do know that abandoning hope won’t help bring it about.

ao3 doesn't have an app because for it to have an app, appstore will have to approve it first. and if, hypothetically, ao3 needs appstore to approve it, it will also have to abide by appstore's pro-censorship stance and start banning dark and taboo fics, which is against its own core principle of being completely against censorship.

ao3 doesn't need an app. it works more than fine without an app. the reason ao3 can allow dark and taboo fics, the reason it can allow the most disgusting and shockingly vile fics, and be completely against censorship is because it doesn't need appstore's approval. it stands on its own as a non-profit organization with functioning site and a team of lawyers protecting its platform, its users, and every single fanwork on its platform.

everybody say thank you ao3

welcome! here are what you need to know about ao3 and how it’s the complete opposite of wattpad

trigger warning for the mention of contents that are allowed on ao3 that can be triggering to some.

ao3 is a non-profit organization. it runs by fans (people like you and me), for fans.

fans donate to the site on their own free will to keep the site up and running smoothly.

ao3 is not a social media. it is an archive.

ao3 doesn’t have ads. it doesn’t have algorithms. it doesn’t have “going viral.”

everything is endlessly free on ao3. there is no “ao3 premium.” you will never see a single ad on ao3, and you can download as many fics as you want to read offline for free.

ao3 doesn’t have an app. and ao3 doesn’t need an app. any “ao3 apps” you see are third-party apps and are not affiliated with ao3, so be careful giving these shady apps your login infos or other personal information.

ao3 was built with the main purpose to 1.) be completely against censorship and 2.) host fics that are banned on other platforms like wattpad.

the reason ao3 doesn’t have an app is because for it to have its own app, appstore and google play store will have to approve it first. and due to the contents ao3 allow, chances are that it won’t get approved. which is actually a good thing. it doesn’t need an app. it works more than fine without an app.

on ao3, every single thing is allowed as long as it is fanfic or fan work (original works, fan art and video edits count as fan works, but if you want to post a video edits on ao3, you will have to post it elsewhere and then link it back to ao3 — ao3 cannot host video edits on its platform due to copyright issues)

by every single thing that is fanfic, I mean every single thing:

the filthiest smut without plot that is written purely for sexual pleasure is allowed. it has its own canonical tag called “plot what plot, porn without plot.”

fics that focus on non-consensual sexual intercourse are allowed, doesn’t matter if the fics glorify or romanticize the act, doesn’t matter if they’re written as kinks. they have their own canonical tag called “rape/non-con.”

fics about characters who are minors are allowed, even if they’re portrayed in a sexual manner, even if they’re non-consensual sexual intercourse. even if the characters they are romantically and/or sexually involved with are adults. they have their own canonical tag called “underage sex.”

fics about incest are allowed. doesn’t matter if they glorify or romanticize the relationship. they have their own canonically tag called “incest.” fun fact: the first ever fic that was posted on ao3 was a fic about an incest ship from supernatural.

fics about self-harm and suicide are allowed. doesn’t matter if they glorify or romanticize the act. they have their own canonical tags called “self-harm” and “suicide” also “suicidal ideation”, “suicide attempt”, “implied/referenced suicide”, etc.

fics about violence and gore are allowed, even if they were written for the sake of shock value. they have their own canonical tag called “violence”, “blood and gore”, “blood and injuries”, etc.

rpf is also allowed. doesn’t matter if the content of the fics are dark and taboo. they’re treated the same way as any other fics.

every single dark and taboo fic you can think of is allowed. and it has its own canonical tag. because it is the main reason why ao3 was created in the first place.

“but what do I do if I don’t wanna see fics about xyz?” you can filter out any specific tag, character and/or pairing you want.

“what do I do if I wanna find fics about xyz?” you can search for any specific tag, character and/or pairing you want.

a lot of ao3 users rely on tags to search for specific tags, pairings, characters they want. they also rely on tags to filter out and exclude specific tags, pairings, and characters that they don’t want to see.

ao3’s tagging system is by far the most efficient one I’ve ever seen.

on ao3, our main principles are “don’t like don’t read” — which means YOU have a responsibility to curate your own internet experience. yes, ao3 allows all kind of messed up fics, but they also allow you the ability to NOT see anything you don’t want to see, by filtering out specific fics, pairings and/or characters.

no. you cannot harass authors who write about things that disgust you. you can and will be reported for harassment, and ao3 takes harassment very seriously. they will not take your side. because fucked up fics are allowed on ao3—fucked up fics are the main reason ao3 was created—whereas harassment is a direct violation of their terms of service.

ao3 is a house of the freaks and the perverts (affectionate). you ARE in the house of the freaks and the perverts. so don’t think about harassing or being rude to the freaks and the perverts who built this anti-censorship house and are kind enough to let you in.

ao3 is proship, profic, and anti-censorship.

any writer can write whatever they want, however they want. the only etiquette is that you tag your stuff properly and accurately

mistagging for visibility is heavily frowned upon here, and it won’t get your works more views. people will either block or report you if you deliberately mistag things with the purpose of getting your fic more views. as I’ve said before, ao3 is an archive. it’s not a social media. it doesn’t have algorithms or going viral.

if you come across a fic that has the tag “creator chose not to use archive warnings” it means the fic may or may not contain topics that can be triggering, but the author won’t tell you what these topics are, or if there are any at all. so proceed at your own risk.

that said, because ao3 is a non-profit site that hosts millions of works about others’ copyrighted characters, you CANNOT mention any donation, commission—or anything that involves money—anywhere on ao3. that is against their terms of service.

and because ao3 is a place for fanworks, the “work section” of your post has to actually be fanwork (fanfic, original work, fan art, link to a video edit count as fanwork). anything that isn’t fanwork is not allowed.

you cannot post something on ao3 that is not fanwork. so no political statement, no call-out post, no “I’m looking for fics about xyz”.

ao3 is anti censorship as long as what you post is actually fanwork and as long as you don’t violate their terms of service that I’ve mentioned above.

last but not least, ao3 has their own team of lawyers to protect them, their users, and every fanwork that is posted on their platform.

there is a dark mode!! you have to find the setting that changes your ao3 skins, and there’s a couple that basically make it dark mode. you can also upload custom ones i believe!

don’t write your works directly into ao3, it doesn’t save. copy pasting them is the best method!!

tags are for sorting the fics, but a lot of authors like to write extra stuff in there! read all the tags of a fic you’re going to read just in case.

if a fandom is small and there’s only a few fics about it, it might not have a tag yet, but if more people write with that tag then it’ll be added

if a fic has the tag “dead dove; do not eat” or “dd;dne” give those tags a reread because that means that what you see is what you’re getting, and if you don’t like it, you’ve been warned.

LEAVE KUDOS. oh my god please leave kudos. that’s basically a like and it means so much to authors. comments are even better!! even if it’s just a simple “loved this!!” it’s always good to give on if you have the energy :))

idk if it’s the same on wattpad, but you can “bookmark” fics which basically adds them to a library for u to look thru later, and these can be public or private. i usually do this for stuff i wanna reread or stuff that has chapters to be added

i’d highly recommend getting an account instead of just using it anonymously. it takes a while to get approved but it’s much better bc then your skins will be saved and u can write and comment and stuff with ur name attached

the four squares in the top left of a fic when ur scrolling indicate some stuff abt what’s in it, its good to get to know what those mean, u can click on them to see i think