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’s run 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 allows, 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 minor characters are romantically and/or sexually involved with characters who are adults. even if the fics are written in ways that glorify and/or romanticize the thing. 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 link a monetization platform anywhere on ao3, you CANNOT mention any donation, commission—or anything that involves money—anywhere on ao3. no, you cannot imply donation, commission, or anything that involves money either. 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 your post is actually fanwork and as long as you don’t violate their terms of service that I’ve mentioned above.

ao3 has their own team of lawyers to protect them, their users, and every fanwork that is posted on their platform.

last but not least, don’t write directly onto ao3. write and store your works elsewhere before copy and paste them onto ao3 once they’re ready to post!! because ao3 does NOT autosave drafts for you, you risk losing everything you’ve typed if there’s a glitch, if the site crashes or if your device unexpectedly shuts down for whatever reason.

Three things before you read my thoughts if you going to

1. It's an abo but like not in a weird way I just need jasques to be villeroni's son

2. It's my chaotic thoughts translated into English

3. Please if you liked my idea don't write it as a fic because I'm possessive asf with my ideas I'm fine with them being an inspiration like I'm not going to be pissed if one day there will be a knight au hilleneuve fic it will be great but if it'll be my idea I'll find you🫵

So here are the knight au hilleneuve

Jacques who is the son of a mistress (Didier), but Gilles sent the pregnant Didier out of the palace to protect him, and he quietly lived somewhere very, very far away and raised Jacques, perhaps not telling him that he is a prince, but telling him about his father with great love and Jacques always thought, "My father was a hero, it's a pity that he died, I wonder if he would have loved me, if he would have been proud of me, am I a good enough son for him, do I take good enough care of my mother." And the only connection with the palace that Didier has is Alain, who is possibly Gilles' advisor and secretly sometimes goes to Didier because in their youth they were all friends and it's not his problem that Gilles is an eccentric idiot (for plot!) and is still angry at Didier for some quarrel from many years ago. but Jacques around of age 15 can overhear their conversation and find out whose son he is and oh wow his father is alive and his father doesn't love him and will never be proud of him and in general he doesn't care about him and Didier and here we are – Jacques' villainous arc.

And at the age of 18-19 he goes across the country to a knight's tournament at court and plans to win and instead of a victory rose, give the queen the truth that the man sitting next to her is his father and a nonentity and in general a lot of childish large-scale plans that are difficult to implement

But Jacques has one advantage, that he was taught to fight by Didier and Alain and it is not the same style of swordsmanship that is practiced in the country and especially in the capital and this is his chance to win almost by cheating but he still has another goal - to run the country (to expose gilles honestly but it's not the most important part)

and he arrives at the tournament and everything goes stupidly according to plan until, during a break between fights, he sees his older half-sister's lady-in-waiting and it's Damon, who is also a knight but from a ruined noble family and therefore the princess twists him around as she pleases and forbade him from participating in the tournament and sat him next to her in a dress (which is normal for omegas and Damon is an omega but he's still a knight etc)

and Jacques forgets a little about everything, about all the plans, and comes to his senses only when he hands the winner's rose to Damon, riding up to the stands on a horse and looking at him like he's the eighth wonder of the world, thank God you can't see it behind his helmet, and honestly, it's terrible for everyone because, well, the princess is sitting right NEARBY

But Jacques gives a rose to her disguised knight, who is still an omega, but who takes a 185cm tall omega seriously anyway, and it's terrible for Jacques too, because the abandoned prince's cool comeback didn't work out, and then he finds out that the winner of the tournament is invited to the royal ball, which is part of this whole celebration where the tournament is taking place

and yes, the route is rebuilt, he convinces himself that he will fix everything there and take revenge on everyone, and then at least half the ball is looking for Damon and can’t find him right away because now he’s a knight and stands somewhere near the wall or on guard duty

and I also thought that Damon might have taken this rose as a joke if Jacques was a local, but Jacques obviously doesn't know who he is and Damon doesn't know him either, and he puts the rose in a glass in his little room in the palace and looks at it and feels like he was little again when his father was still alive and everything was fine and his mother told him how he would debut in high society and all the knights would be in love with him

And maybe little Damon dreamed a little, and maybe he's long past 18 to debut, and he no longer believes in fairy tales about knights and princes, or about how handsome he is, or even that an omega only believes once a month when he's tossing and turning on the sheets alone, covering his mouth with his hands so that none of the knights can hear his whining, but Jacques gets surprisingly close to these fairy tales, and maybe for at least one evening Damon can foolishly and naively dream about something vague but good

*Then me and my friend talked about what may or may not happen that night so it's like a piece of thoughts without context*

And Damon probably won't lead him through the dark corridors of the palace to his small room to laugh at how Jacques' fingers tremble when he tries to unbutton his shirt and ends up kissing his shoulders, collarbones and chest just through the thin fabric and it can almost be felt more sharply than skin to skin, yes, I don't think this is about Damon either, but he will think about such a scenario tonight when he sleeps alone

And also my friend said such a crazy thing so I'm quoting her

"Jacques approaches Gilles, who recognizes him purely by Didier's eyes"

Damon is shaving

Ice hoards things with emotional value to him (even if Mav hates the letter Slider sent them)

Mav: this thing has been in a drawer for thirty years, Ice. Throw it away!

Ice: I could never. This is the first time Slider called you my trophy wife.

Part 2