wattpad really gave ao3 a huge free promo with their new policy update that makes things even worse for their users. so to all the people who are now moving to ao3 due to thisâŠ
welcome! here are what you need to know about ao3 and how itâs 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. itâs 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 doesnât have ads. it doesnât have algorithms. it doesnât have âgoing viral.â
everything is endlessly free on ao3. there is no âao3 premium.â 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 doesnât have an app. and ao3 doesnât need an app. any âao3 appsâ 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 doesnât 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 wonât get approved. which is actually a good thing. it doesnât 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 â 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 âplot what plot, porn without plot.â
fics that focus on non-consensual sexual intercourse are allowed, doesnât matter if the fics glorify or romanticize the act, doesnât matter if theyâre written as kinks. they have their own canonical tag called ârape/non-con.â
fics about characters who are minors are allowed, even if theyâre portrayed in a sexual manner, even if theyâre 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 âunderage sex.â
fics about incest are allowed. doesnât matter if they glorify or romanticize the relationship. they have their own canonically tag called âincest.â 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. doesnât matter if they glorify or romanticize the act. they have their own canonical tags called âself-harmâ and âsuicideâ also âsuicidal ideationâ, âsuicide attemptâ, âimplied/referenced suicideâ, 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 âviolenceâ, âblood and goreâ, âblood and injuriesâ, etc.
rpf is also allowed. doesnât matter if the content of the fics are dark and taboo. theyâre 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.
âbut what do I do if I donât wanna see fics about xyz?â you can filter out any specific tag, character and/or pairing you want.
âwhat do I do if I wanna find fics about xyz?â 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 donât want to see.
ao3âs tagging system is by far the most efficient one Iâve ever seen.
on ao3, our main principles are âdonât like donât readâ â 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 donât 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 ao3âfucked up fics are the main reason ao3 was createdâwhereas 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 donât 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 wonât 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 Iâve said before, ao3 is an archive. itâs not a social media. it doesnât 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 âcreator chose not to use archive warningsâ it means the fic may or may not contain topics that can be triggering, but the author wonât 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 othersâ copyrighted characters, you CANNOT link a monetization platform anywhere on ao3, you CANNOT mention any donation, commissionâor anything that involves moneyâanywhere 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 âwork sectionâ of your post has to actually be fanwork (fanfic, original work, fan art, link to a video edit count as fanwork). anything that isnât fanwork is not allowed.
you cannot post something on ao3 that is not fanwork. so no political statement, no call-out post, no âIâm looking for fics about xyzâ.
ao3 is anti censorship as long as what your post is actually fanwork and as long as you donât violate their terms of service that Iâve 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, donât write directly onto ao3. write and store your works elsewhere before copy and paste them onto ao3 once theyâre ready to post!! because ao3 does NOT autosave drafts for you, you risk losing everything youâve typed if thereâs a glitch, if the site crashes or if your device unexpectedly shuts down for whatever reason.
thatâs all for now. have fun and happy writing/reading!
