ALT
to the beautiful writers that might see this, ao3 is currently being scrapped by an AI company called RIVD. this isn’t your usual AI text scrapping, they are specifically targeting ao3 to feed their own AI / “tech-orientes” fanfiction site
their “takedown form” demands that you give them your full legal name and address. they do not say what they’re doing with your personal details. there’s no proof that this form works
until ao3 comes out with a proper statement or manages to lock their scrapped, just lock your fics for registered users
For those who don’t know how to lock your fics! I spent a half hour googling it cause I didn’t fucking know, so now I’m gonna tell you and spare you the same frustration!
On your AO3 account, you’re going to go to My Works. From there, you’re going to hit Edit Works. Click on All, then Edit. Scroll down almost to the bottom and you’ll see Privacy. In the Visibility tab, select Only show to registered users. Then you just hit Update All Works, hit OK if your browser prompts you, and bam! All set!
I hate we’re having to do this, but if I can make it easier for at least one person I’m cool with that. Fuck AI.
Sigh. I’d only just gotten used to the idea of not guest-locking my works after the last big scrape. This time I’ll probably keep the settings indefinitely.
To Quote from this reddit discussion, via reddit user SicFayl:
As others in these comments have said: Report via Cloudflare, because rivd uses their service, so they’ll accept reports in rivd’s name. They’ll require way less personal info (especially unrelated info) and still accept the claim as valid. (And then they pass it on as a valid claim to rivd and rivd has to treat it as the legit claim it is, even without getting all the extra info they wanted from you.) This should be the right link https://www.cloudflare.com/trust-hub/reporting-abuse/
Yeah I enjoyed this movie a normal amount *opens ao3*
"rpf is bad" ok well picture with me, if you will, a future where 2,000 years from now the only record of Mark Zuckerberg that internet archeologists can find is the markwardo tag on AO3.
nothing pisses me off more than when i see a fic on ao3 talking about reach. "this ship isn't here but i added them for reach" "this fandom tag isn't necessary but i'm adding it for reach" "reposting for reach" STOP IT!!!! this is not tiktok this is not twitter this is an ARCHIVE this is not how it works!!!
i will not deal!!!! that is not how any of this works!!!!
if you see people doing this shit, report it. its against the terms of service.
genuinely. copy the link to the fic or series, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page:
click on policy questions & abuse reports which takes you to this page:
if you scroll down, youll be able to report the fic right there but you can also check for yourself that its against ToS
all you need to do is explain that theyre deliberately mistagging things which is just not a thing on ao3 because its an archive.
by posting your fic there, ao3, has the right to manually recategorise tags. its in the ToS:
you cant deliberately mistag stuff on ao3; it is an archive. you cant tag for reach, and this is likely gonna get pat tag wranglers because they deal mostly with form not content of tags and if theyre tagging for reach, its gonna be the more popular tags.
so report the fuck out of them for it. most likely, their fic will just have tags adjusted and their account will be fine.
and if they keep doing it and get suspended for it, its their own damn fault.
also thats not even getting into the fact that mistagging fics is kinda antithetical to their goal of reaching more people because youre not reaching the people who want to read your fic?
curious about what's in store for you for 2024? :D
(Updated from 2023: Up-to-date tag bank, opt-in tag categories, optional dark mode! As always: proceed with informed consent.)
LOLspeak.....
Good morning! I’m salty.
I think we, as a general community, need to start taking this little moment more seriously.
This, right here? This is asking for consent. It’s a legal necessity, yes, but it is also you, the reader, actively consenting to see adult content; and in doing so, saying that you are of an age to see it, and that you’re emotionally capable of handling it.
You find the content you find behind this warning disgusting, horrifying, upsetting, triggering? You consented. You said you could handle it, and you were able to back out at any time. You take responsibility for yourself when you click through this, and so long as the creator used warnings and tags correctly, you bear full responsibility for its impact on you.
“Children are going to lie about their age” is probably true, but that’s the problem of them and the people who are responsible for them, not the people that they lie to.
If you’re not prepared to see adult content, created by and for adults, don’t fucking click through this. And if you do, for all that’s holy, don’t blame anyone else for it.
This needs to be reblogged today.
Consenting to see adult content doesn’t mean you should have to see a bunch of shit romanticizing incest and pedophilia you walnut
Except this is the last line of consent before the actual work. So if you’re at this button you have already done the following:
1) chosen to go onto AO3 in the first place
2) chosen the fandom you wish to read about
3) had the chance to filter for the things you do want to see like a specific pairing or a specific AU
4) had the chance to specifically filter out any tags you don’t want to see like, oh I don’t know, incest and non-con and dub-con and paedophilia
5) had the chance to set the rating level if you wish to remove any explicit content at all
6) have read the summary of the story, which aren’t always great but are the only indicator of what the story will be like writing wise so something about it was good enough for you to click on it.
7) have read the tags of the story which will tell you what is actually in the story. If you have used filters to remove stories with things you don’t want then there shouldn’t be anything in here that’s a shock to you but maybe there is. That’s why the tags are there for you to check for yourself.
8) Then you have to actually click on the story. You cannot see anything other than the summary or the tags without personally deciding that you are going to open and read this story.
9) Only here, at step number nine, do you get to the adult content warning pictured above. You have been through eight different steps, the last six of which have also been opportunities for you to see that this has adult content. And AO3 has *STILL* stopped you to ask one last time “are you sure you want to read this because it has things that only adults should see in it”.
If after this point you are reading incest and paedophilia then it’s probably because you specifically went looking for it.
You walnut.
This is the most beautiful thing that I have seen about ao3
It's important to humble male celebrities with the fact that they are laying eggs on ao3
we need ao3 back up for this person’s grandma specifically
This post instantly broke containment, and the number of fandoms listed in the notes—quite a few with WIPs underway—is absolutely astonishing. I’ve never heard of half these pairs. Good work, fandom! Carry on!
Haha I love getting one (1) hour of sleep because I was engrossed in a 400k word fanfic and couldn’t stop reading :D
I keep seeing fic with words censored in the body of the fic like so: c*nt, f*gg*t, q-slur (seriously, come on), r*pe, *nc*st. I even saw a fic where someone was described as “sitting next to his unalived body” which was so absurd it made me laugh.
I’ve seen this trend in tags as well, which would be ACTIVELY FUCKING DANGEROUS if AO3 tag wranglers weren’t literal, actual angels who make sure that “rape” and “r*pe” (and all such transpositions) are treated like the same tag.
AO3 isn’t TikTok. Tag accurately and completely for your fic themes so people can search AND filter. Use the correct words in your fic content so people who use blacklist extensions can actually benefit from the tools that protect them.
If you don’t feel comfortable using a word without censoring it, then don’t use that word at all. Maybe consider why you’re even writing something that contains that theme.
Sincerely,
An actual real life rape and incest survivor who has actual fucking PTSD and really doesn’t want to have to stop reading fic for my ship because people think a god damn asterisk is going to somehow save people like me from being triggered.
I feel like maybe people newer to fandom don’t realize that putting asterisks in words like that is not to avoid triggering someone. Alternate words and alternate spellings are for tricking the algorithm from censoring/blocking your content from distribution (like on tiktok, not showing your video to anyone if you use the word “dead”, so you use the word “unalive”).
Tumblr and AO3 both don’t have that issue - your posts will still be seen if you use the full version of those words. And, as OP stated above, people rely on you using those words so that their blacklisted words/phrases work and they can actually avoid the things that trigger them.
The internet is vast and ever-changing and rules vary from site to site - this is good information for newer AO3/tumblr users!
It's hilarious to me when people complain about AO3 and its policies, and what they allow on the site - but it's ESPECIALLY funny when people complain like "Why can't the freaks make their own site and just go there?"
Sweetie... AO3 is the site for that. Y'all invaded our space.
Wattpad and FFN still exist. Go there. They're as shitty and G-rated as you want. You can't have the luxuries that AO3 offers if you're gonna be a little bitch about its policies. Imagine walking into a strip club and complaining about the alcohol and naked ladies when there's a god damn Dennys next door you could have gone to. Christ.
This show was literally one long fanfiction
Hey so if any of y’all are or have been volunteers for Ao3, PLEASE be careful when checking your emails
And if you know somebody who’s a volunteer I’d check in with them and see if they’re aware of this
Note: The thread clarifies that volunteers for the OTW are not being SWATted at this time. The reason to get in touch with your local police about your risk of being SWATted is that someone malicious has obtained a list of OTW volunteer emails and is sending illegal content (CSAM) to them. A person who will do that is more likely to SWAT you, or give your email to someone who will, than most people, so contacting your local police now means that if it happens you’re prepared in advance. It’s a low-effort way to increase your safety, but is a good move to make if your risk of getting SWATted ticks up above normal as it has for these people.
(CSAM = child sexual assault material. SWAT/SWATted = having a fake bomb or gun threat phoned in naming your address, causing a SWAT team to attack your house, damaging your place of living and risking injuring or killing you and people you live with.)
Additionally, if you’re an OTW volunteer, look up “[your email client] disable image loading”. The steps are specific to whichever programs and services you use, but this will reduce your risk of getting exposed to graphic & illegal images if you’re sent them. It may not catch everything (because that’s more intensive and starts to affect the client’s functioning) but it’s better than nothing and it’s another preemptive step you can take.
Christ, what monsters.
the fact that they are sending csam should hit it home for everyone that these aren't and never have been people who actually care about "the children." fuck them.
volunteers, on the other hand? thank you. you don't deserve this. if you end up exposed to this content, it is not your fault and you are not a bad person for being fucked around with by morally bankrupt fuckfaces. we stand with you. please take steps to keep yourself safe.
Ao3 writers are the strongest Avengers