AO3 is for all kinds of fanfic

astolat:

meeedeee:

olderthannetfic:

And other fanworks, for that matter, but let’s talk about fic: When AO3 was proposed, it was in response to Strikethrough and other similar events. Livejournal deleted a lot of accounts without bothering to distinguish between actual pedophiles, survivor support groups, and 100% consensual fantasy fandom activities being done by adults with other adults (most of which involved RP accounts for 16-year-old Harry Potter characters anyway).

I helped write the first AO3 Terms of Service and set up the Abuse committee. AO3 was always intended to be welcoming to all kinds of fic, no matter how dirty, sick, socially unacceptable, bizarre, or out of fashion. During those initial TOS talks, we specifically discussed grotesque RPF snuff porn as the test case for something all of us on the committee found distasteful but would nonetheless defend because, by defending it, we created a space where all of our own favorite things were protected too.

Policing fic content is a slippery slope. Even if you only police the “worst” stuff, you create an environment where the more sensitive authors and no few of the ones “shipping to cope” are no longer comfortable posting at all. Attacking people for posting fic about rape/abuse/etc. is demanding that all survivors disclose. No amount of whining and backtracking will change this fact. It is a disgusting behavior that drives people from your fandoms and creates needless misery while adding nothing of value to the community.

If you want to kick certain kinds of content off of AO3, you do not belong on AO3 in the first place.

o/

Emphatically seconded. And I’d add, also quit tag policing and telling people that they “should” be tagging for things. Choose Not To Warn is a completely valid choice, that’s why it is THERE, and if someone chooses No Archive Warnings Apply that means only that none of the FOUR main archive warnings apply and does not guarantee you a story free from all possible warnings anyone might ever have imagined. 

AO3 creators are not obligated or even encouraged to use exhaustive tags. The tagging system is just one of the tools the archive has to help creators provide information they are comfortable providing, and to help fans find works they might want to check out based on whatever info the respective creators provide, and all AO3 users are welcome to use it in whatever way works best for them. There is not one right way to do it.