Correction and clarification

[peppercat]

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kkglinka:

This is a Moving Forward PSA for everyone using AO3. I am witnessing the results of a culture class and communication failure. Not a lack of communication, but a misunderstanding caused by changes in fandom culture.

Before fic tagging was common, fics weren’t tagged. You had a pairing, if applicable, an author’s note about genre or general content, and if they were feeling charitable, a vague content warning. There are even a few genres of fic where even vaguely tagging literally spoils the plot and impact (such as horror, psyche thriller, in which the likely content is implicit to the genre). As a result, there is a basic category tag that permits this, as a courtesy to “old-fashioned” writers.

“No Archive Warnings Apply” means the fic is PG13 at worst, probably fluff, totally safe.

“Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings” is the polar opposite. It’s a glaring Enter at Your Own Risk billboard. It means: a shitload of warnings apply but I ain’t telling because this story requires shock value. It’s very important to read the author’s notes for those fics because they might be using that older format from above.

But without the context of fandom culture that generated AO3, it’s understandably easy to conflate the two categories, given their similar wording.

ao3tagtips:

This is overall decent advice, but unfortunately inaccurate.

Whether a fic has Archive Warnings marked or not bears no relationship to its rating. For example, it is perfectly possible for a fic to contain character death, be marked “Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings” and be suitable for children, if the main character dies in it.

While people do often Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings to indicate that they want the reader to be able to be shocked, there are many other reasons to use that tag.

Conversely, a fic can be tagged No Archive Warnings Apply and be potentially shocking, triggering, upsetting, or otherwise adult. No Archive Warnings Apply is no guarantee of gentleness or any sort of rating.

A fic with explicit kinky consensual sex, for example, could accurately be tagged No Archive Warnings Apply. So could a fic focusing on extreme psychological abuse. Or a fic with suicidal ideation where the character doesn’t die. The possibilities are endless!

Readers should always exercise caution and pay attention the summary and other tags, and where in doubt they should thread lightly or avoid the fic entirely.

And this is why my “refers to kidnapping, massive dysfunction, and the murder of multiple probably terrified children” fic is tagged “No Archive Warnings Apply”.

(I really find it helps to think of the tags as an ingredients list, and the warnings as a kind of CONTAINS PEANUTS note. Does it mean you’ll like it if it doesn’t contain peanuts, or that it will be sweet and fluffy? No. It means that it doesn’t contain peanuts.)