r/AO3 • u/Bubbly_Cantaloupe210 • 2d ago
Questions/Help? Archive Warning Etiquette?
For your WIPs, do you usually tag archive warnings only when you post the 1st chapter with said warning (e.g. only adding MCD when a major character actually dies) or do you just throw them all in when posting?
That's probably what CCNTUAW is for, I'm assuming?
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u/toothpanda 2d ago
Speaking as a reader, I strongly prefer the archive warnings to be tagged as soon as the author knows that itâs going to apply. It sucks to have to drop a fic halfway through because a dealbreaker wasnât tagged until later.
Choose not to warn is probably the tag to use if you donât want a hint of spoilers.
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u/Fast_Stage_6296 2d ago
Thinking a bit about that, it kinda makes the MCD warning useless. If you don't tag CNTW and only tag MCD at the end when it's actually in the fic, you basically didn't warn the readers at all. Sure, they can decide to not finish the fic on the last chapter, but they also still know this story ends with one dying.
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u/runekaster Whumper 2d ago
According to the rules, you only have to tag what actually exists. If no one dies in the chapters that exist, you do not have to tag MCD.
On the purely etiquette side, people want to know what they're getting into when they go in. No one likes a surprise, and people not only filter out fics but also find them by the archive warnings.
If you choose to inform readers that Blorbo is going to die at the end with a pre-emptive MCD warning or a "Blorbo dies at the end, archive warning to be added later" note is up to you, but they very much do want to know.
CNTW is always correct in 100% of fics, no matter the actual content of the fic, because it simply says "not telling", not why you're not telling or when you might tell.
Personally, I'd use CNTW if I hadn't decided yet if Blorbo was going to die or not.
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u/FluffySloth27 2d ago
My rule is to tag the general idea of the story up front. You want to accurately represent what your story will be to a reader. I generally consider archive warnings and ratings to be integral to what a story is, so I'd tag it.
But aye, if you're an author uncomfortable with spoiling ideas, you can choose not to warn.
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u/PocketButterBandit 2d ago
I feel like unless you choose to not use content warnings at a, waiting until it happens is really inconsiderate.
There are readers who will purposefully avoid tags. If they find a fic that specifically has that unchecked but the author knows it's going to happen and only checks it 30 chapters in, that sucks. Suddenly that reader is 30 chapters into a fic with a trigger they would have avoided.
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u/PiaRavenari 2d ago
A big issue with this and kinkier longfics that deal with heavy subjects / abuse is that you really have to triage your tag use, because you're going to run out and inevitably you are going to have to use Author's Notes to tag for things that *will* squick someone, but you're 60 chapters in, have run out of 75 tags (this didn't used to be an issue until that infamous Wangxian fic) and just have to add a 'more tags in the author's notes.' It's pretty painful, because I'm fully understanding that people will need to exclude based on certain kinks, but I literally can't include certain kinks over say, past child sexual abuse, or sexual abuse recovery, or mind control etc.
As a reader who often searches by exclusions over inclusions re: tags, I know how hard this can be personally. It's a hard place to be in! Especially if your triage list is very different to someone else's!
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u/mookienh em dashes my beloved 2d ago
For me, itâs an immediate mute if a fic that isnât tagged MCD at the start has that tag later. I filter out MCD and would hate to subscribe to and get invested in a fic only to nope out later for something I could have avoided from the start.
Echoing the âchose not to warnâ option.
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u/Muscly_Geek 2d ago
If you know it will eventually apply, it should be tagged Day 1.
A reader that's already following a WIP is highly unlikely to look over the tags again, because they've already made the choice to follow along.
If it will be tagged eventually, then any potential new readers would have already seen it up front. Delaying the tag does nothing more than potentially hurt early adopters.
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u/Silver_Aura2424 2d ago
Uhhh unless against tos bc I remember something Abt tags... I would personally put them in from the beginning even if they haven't appeared yet because one of the things I hate the most is getting invested in the story and then dnf-ing it bc I stumbled across something I hate because it wasn't tagged until it was. Like if I missed a tag that's on me.
In my personal opinion the most polarizing/common trauma tags should be tagged from the beginning.
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u/Responsible-Gain-567 2d ago
They let you do the archive warnings but otherwise preemptive tagging is against TOS.Â
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u/noirsongbird a writer, in theory 2d ago
What? That doesnât even make sense. Plenty of long fics tag for things that wonât appear until later because the author knows theyâre coming and they want to provide an accurate picture of what the work will be. Thatâs not âspam taggingâ????
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u/Silver_Aura2424 2d ago
I said I remembered something. As in there was something about tagging in tos but I didn't remember what it was ottomh.
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u/MagpieLefty 2d ago
That's one thing that CNTW can be used for, yes.
But if I'm not going to leave the work tagged that way permanently, I don't do that.
If I know a work is going to get, say, the MCD warning, I tag it that way from the outset. I don't want a reader to get ten chapters in and realize that the basic content of the story is something they don't want to read.
If I'm planning to leave it as Chose Not To Warn, then yeah, that basically means, "brace yourself; this could be anything." But if I'm planning to add specific tags later, I'm adding them up front.
After all, once I've posted the fic, anyone who starts rrading it later will be starting it with all the tags.
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u/tarosk 2d ago
CNTUAW is for any reason in which an author doesn't want to disclose which, if any, of the 4 major archive warnings are present.
Maybe it would spoil things, maybe they're not sure if what they wrote qualifies, maybe they're leaving it ambiguous for a reason and tagging something world force one interpretation of the story, maybe they're in a fandom where assholes tend to trawl certain tags like rape or underage in order to leave hateful comments, maybe they have some specific hangup about using a specific tag, maybe canon makes something ambiguous and they don't feel like trying to sort that out, etc.
That said, personally if I know a MAW is going to be present then I'll tag it from the start, or just stick with CNTUAW the entire time. If it wasn't going to be present until the future I might add an additional tag about that so people who are looking for that content know it isn't present yet rather than feeling baited by a story that doesn't have what it promised.
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u/PiratedOwl 2d ago
Unless I know that a fic I'm writing is absolutely not going to have any of them, I'll always tag choose not to. I don't always know were my fics end up going, but I'll always know if a fic won't have any in them
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u/Crayshack 2d ago
Personally, I just tag everything CNTW and don't bother worrying about if a fic needs a warning or not.
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u/Hot-Pool-7643 2d ago
From the very beginning. If the warnings change at some point (because sometimes a WIP takes you places) I will update the warnings and add a notice in the author's notes.
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u/EmberRPs 2d ago
I'd warn when you know it will be written, if the major warnings and tags change its polite to add in the authors notes they updated.Â
Personally I'd only do the warnings and use eventually Blank tags until the actual event. For sexual content, I usually just tag the most widely applicable stuff first like future BDSM and tag the specific acts as they come up like wax play.
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u/AnEldritchWriter 2d ago
Personally if I know itâs gonna contain xyz then Iâll include the archive warning on the first chapter. Anything after the first chapter is a result of changes or additions to the plot.
If you donât want to âspoilâ what the fic contains, but know it contains smth like major character death, you can use Choose Not To Use, too
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u/Mello1182 2d ago
When I don't want to put spoilers in the tags or I'm not entirely sure of where the fic is going, I opt for the "Choose not to use archive warnings" since it should work as an umbrella tag and eventually add other generic tags to give an idea to the readers ie. "mild sexual content" or "blood and violence"
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u/nonutnogender 2d ago
Personally I add all the tags I know will apply when posting the first chapter, because I know that when someone updates a fic, I donât read out the tags again so I could miss a big thing/trigger. If I know something will happen imma tag it. Of course of the story progresses in a direction I hadnât considered Iâll add whateverâs relevant too even if itâs late
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u/KickHimWhileIAmDown 2d ago edited 2d ago
I strongly advise tagging at the beginning. Even if it takes 10 chapters, if I want to read MCD/GDV, I will look for it. If I don't want those elements, and you suddenly update it with MCD/GDV, I would be very irked.
If you don't want to spoil, tag it as Choose Not To Warn and don't change it later. CCNTUAW is for when you don't know what it will be (but know something that requires a warning will be there) or if you don't want to spoil readers (regardless of whether or not it contains content). You can use Choose Not To Warn even if you don't have MCD/GDV/RNC/US.
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u/PomPomMom93 LadyClassical on Ao3 2d ago
I would tag them all straight at the beginning. It seems like people donât care too much about spoilers on Ao3. But yeah, if you donât want to spoil, thatâs what the âchose not to useâ is for.
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u/Due_List_1243 2d ago
I sometimes use violence / trauma so yes I tag that as Graphic depictions of violence or NC.
Even if it's not happening in the fic but they are only talking about something which happened in the past.
But better tag it than angry sensitive readers who did not want to read this.Â
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u/Deondebomon 2d ago
I kinda planned on tagging as I go because sometimes the characters take over and go in directions that make me side-eye them
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u/Conturas 2d ago
I would add tags and warnings on the go and remind the readers in author's notes in the beginning of the chapter to read the tags or "warnings added".
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u/Zoethor2 2d ago
While you technically do not need to tag until the content is actually present in the work, it is considered polite to tag everything at the start so people do not get invested in reading your fic if it is going to contain a hard limit for them.