A guide to ao3 speak
here’s some helpful definitions generally used when talking about phanfiction or ao3, that you might not know!
ao3 = archive of our own; site incredibly popular for fanfiction of all kinds
tw: anything = the fic includes something that may trigger someone; authors tag things to warn readers ahead of time so they are not caught off guard by something that may trigger bad memories/ emotions for them (ex: tw: depression)
anything!dan / anything!phil / anything!phan = a common trope with that character/ ship (ex: punk!phil and pastel!dan)
fluff = genre that implies sort a cute/ soft/ lighthearted fic
smut = genre that implies nsfw content (sex/ sexual themes)
angst = genre that implies more serious themes. May want to check tags for trigger warnings
au = alternate universe, a fic in which the events are not based on real life
not rated = the author chose not to rate the severity of the themes in the fic, so you want to read the tags to make sure you’re okay with the content
general audience rating = the lowest rating; anyone can read / enjoy this fic
teen and up rating = teen and up (probably swearing/ themes that aren’t appropriate for some younger people)
mature rating = contains content that has ‘adult themes’ (things such as swearing, sex, violence)
explicit rating = the highest rating; graphic depictions of things such as sex or violence
wip = work in progress
kudos = you leave kudos on ao3 to tell the author you enjoyed their work, definitely recommend, it makes the author feel validation for the work they put into their fic
hits = how many people have read the fic on ao3
bookmarks = you can bookmark a fic and check your bookmarks tab to see when an author updates their fic on ao3
beta = a person who proofreads fanfiction before its uploaded to look for typos/ grammatical mistakes
