As per AO3's Terms of Service FAQ:
"Ratings and Warnings
What kind of content do you allow?
We will not remove content from the Archive because it contains explicit material, as long as it doesn't violate any other part of the content policy (e.g., the harassment policy).
One basic consequence is that users are responsible for reading and heeding the warnings provided by the creator. Risk-averse users should keep in mind that not all content will carry full warnings. If you want to know more, you may also wish to consult the bookmarks that people other than the creator have used to categorize the fanwork.
Some creators do not want to put specific ratings or warnings on their works. Our policy aims to enable creators to choose appropriate labels or to opt not to use ratings and warnings, with the understanding that some users will avoid unrated or unwarned content.
Though creators are not required to use ratings or warnings, they are often extremely useful to users. Ratings or warnings can attract some readers who are looking for specific content, and they can also warn off readers who are trying to avoid that content. Because fanworks may deal with controversial and painful issues, we encourage creators to choose ratings and warnings that help users make decisions about what to read. The "not rated" and "choose not to use Archive warnings" options will, of course, help users make decisions as well, though without much detail."
CONTENT WARNINGS
AO3 has six different content warnings you can select from when first posting a work:
- Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings
- Graphic Depictions of Violence
- Major Character Death
- No Archive Warnings Apply
- Rape/Non-Con
- Underage
If a warning is not selected, "Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings" is the default. This means that you can come across literally anything within the work itself that might or might not squick you out or trigger you, and you do not have the right to complain about it, because "Creator Chose Not to Warn" is itself a warning. To add to this, if a fic covers dark themes or topics, some authors use the tag "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" as an additional warning: basically, "What it says on the tin; don't complain when you knew what you were getting into via the tags, rating, warnings, and author's notes".
CATEGORIES
The categories you can select for your fic are the following:
- F/F
- F/M
- Gen
- M/M
- Multi
- Other
"Gen" stands for "General"; "M/M" is slash, "F/F" is femslash, "F/M" is the equivalent to "het", "Multi" is used if your work fits within multiple categories (though you can select more than one), and "Other" is used for whichever doesn't fit within these other categories, including fics that have relationships with transgender, intersex, or nonbinary characters.
RATINGS
The ratings AO3 uses are as follows:
- Not Rated
- General Audiences
- Teen and Up Audiences
- Mature
- Explicit
"Not Rated" is the default if a specific rating is not selected. Selecting the appropriate rating for the fanwork is really up to the author, and there is no hard and fast definition for the differences between a work rated "Mature" and another rated "Explicit". On another note, AO3 does not treat slash/femslash any different than it does het in terms of ratings, so your slash fic absolutely does not have to be rated T or M or E just because there's two guys holding hands or sharing a few kisses.
Some more on Ratings and Warnings, as stated by the AO3's TOS FAQ page:
The ratings/warnings policy is really minimal. Why is this?
We believe that appropriate ratings and warnings are often in the eye of the beholder. Users who feel that a fanwork lacks an appropriate rating/warning are encouraged to try to resolve the issue with the creator. Users may also add tags of their own to on-site bookmarks of a fanwork, which other users can consult for more information. When those tags are present, you can click on the "Bookmarks" link at the top of the work to see them.
What's the difference between ratings and warnings?
Ratings are a measure of the intensity of overall content. Warnings refer to more specific subjects and can be used to complete the sentences:
I prefer not to read works that contain X
I search out and enjoy works that contain X
YOU ARE READING
A Wattpad User's Guide to AO3
De TodoTutorial/Guide for Wattpad users who are migrating to AO3, have never used it before, and/or are unfamiliar with the culture/etiquette on AO3. Written by a Fandom Old who has been using the Archive of Our Own since 2011.
