all too unwordy

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.

there's a big difference between "&" and "/" in relationship tags: "Character A & Character B" tag means the relationship between Character A and Character B is neither romantic nor sexual, whereas "Character A/Character B" tag means the relationship between Character A and Character B is romantic and/or sexual.

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.

Because apparently it needs to be spelled out, I’m writing out some of the unwritten rules of AO3:

Don't like, don't read - you can have your own opinions but if you don't like it just scroll past, it's that easy. Let it be.

Read. The. Tags. - the tags are warnings of what the story will include. That is your guide. If there is something you're not comfortable with in the tags then scroll past. The AO3 tagging system is genius and lets you filter out the things you don’t like, so you don’t even have to see the stories you might not be comfortable with if you don’t want to. Use the tags.

Do not spread the stories outside of fandom spaces - fanfiction is for the fans. Especially when it’s RPF it is not to be referenced or brought up to the people who it is about. They are all very aware that it is made but that doesn’t mean they want to read it or know about it. I don’t care what you say, it is unavoidable and as long as it is not widespread and stays in its own space it is not harmful. It is up to the fans to respect that. (That being said if the people who the RPF fics are about search them up or reference fics themselves that’s a bit different and the rules change a bit.)

Respect the authors - the authors spend their own time writing stories, many of which are genuinely incredibly written and well thought out, for absolutely nothing in return. You get to read pieces of work for free by authors who are doing it for free. Do not go to the comments and complain or say they should have done something else or report because they wrote something you’re not comfortable with. And respect the authors wishes when they say not to share their work anywhere else.

Basically just respect fandom spaces, keep them separate from reality, and mind your own business. It’s so easy.

being completely and utterly against censorship is the main core principle of ao3.

ao3 was created specifically to host and give a platform to fics that were banned on other platforms.

therefore the most disgusting and shockingly vile fanfic you find is the exact reason why ao3 was created in the first place.

here’s the list of things you need to know about ao3 if you’re new to the platform

edit: I have things I wanna add below

if you “hunt down several fics under specific tags just to report those fics” ao3 CAN consider your action an abuse of their terms of service and mark your action as harassment, then they will take action against YOUR account.

also mass reporting the same fic is impossible on ao3. if a fic has already been reported and you or someone else tries to report that same fic again, ao3 will tell you that the fic has already been reported and is under their review. therefore any new report does not go through.

“what’s the tea?” wattpad is pro censorship and driven mainly by capitalism, any work that is taboo and work that is just “smut without plot” is considered against wattpad’s rules and it can get removed if someone reports it to wattpad.

wattpad is also literally full of ads. if you want an ad-free wattpad experience, you will have to subscribe to wattpad premium. this won’t protect your works from censorship, it will just remove ads for you — so you can read fics without getting interrupted by ads every time you move to the next chapter.

also I guess wattpad premium allows you to download as many works as you want to read offline. whereas if you’re on free plan, you can only download a few works to read offline.

I believe the platform recently updates their rules. nothing changes. you still get ads and censorship. but they just make the rules more strict in regards of smut without any real plot. so basically their new policy just makes things even worse for their own users.

mind you, on ao3, there’s zero censorship. you can post the most filthy porn without plot fic on ao3. you can post the most taboo fic on ao3. ao3 was created specifically to host this exact type of fic. and also. no ads. you can download as many fics as you want to read offline. and everything is free.

ao3 is proship, profic, and anti censorship. being proship, profic, anti censorship, and hosting dark and taboo fics that were banned on other platforms are the main reasons ao3 was created in the first place.

you are welcome to join ao3. but you are NOT welcome to harass, act rude or be entitled towards the people who built this house. if the fact ao3 allows fics you find disgusting (even though it also allows you to filter out anything you don’t want to see) bothers you so much, you are free to go back to wattpad and have nearly everything censored and banned there.

From a therapeutic standpoint, all "taboo" fanfics serve a purpose, whether that be the writer processing trauma, projecting, seeking catharsis, or just getting it out of their system. Or maybe they're just writing it to write it, or putting words to their intrusive thoughts, or another reason I can't think of right now.

And that is all okay. (They also do not owe you an explanation.)

But the beauty of AO3 is that when reading, you can filter, search for, and shape your own experience. Learn to filter unwanted things out to keep your peace, and leave the doors closed to the content you aren't willing to be amicable or understanding about.

Read the ToS and stop checking the “I agree” button for it if you actually don’t. Y’all are hitting “I agree” without bothering to read what you’re agreeing to, and then trying to enact your own rules that go against the actual ToS.

cat's cradle

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Tree climbing (pt 2/?)

Uncovered pages and close ups below :3