This is an AO3 discourse post. I don’t know why I’m whacking a bee’s nest, especially in this context, but here goes:
In 2019 I wrote a fic about Ax and Marco Animorphs’ first time, and I was too afraid to publish it. I shared it with my friends and just accepted that I would not be able to deal with it if I got backlash for writing two sixteen year olds having sex. Not just any sex, but sex with at least 3 enthusiastic consent check-ins, and fuck, basically a tutorial how to use condoms. I wrote them fumbling like real teens, clearly from a place of nostalgia and empathy and processing my own experiences through art.
It’s four years later. I stand by this fic. If I get called out, so help me god, I will make you look so stupid.
Here’s what it looks like when you use one of the Major Archive Warnings on AO3:
There is a red exclamation point. The first tag is Underage, in bold. No one is going to accidentally read this. It is completely understandable that some people don’t want to read about teens having sex. Frankly, it’s not my thing either.
The point is, I’ve done my due diligence. If you can’t even tolerate seeing the word Underage (which I also get, I can’t see words associated with my phobia, and they’re distressingly common words), filter that tag out before you browse. If you find a fic that’s not tagged properly, report it. People complain that AO3 doesn’t have enough rules, but their rules are user-enforced.
If there really is a plague of untagged major content warning fic (including rape, major character death, and graphic violence), they should all be reported. If your life’s work really is to protect kids from accidentally reading this content, you should be volunteering for the archive to get those untagged fics off the archive.
If this is truly a cause you care about genuinely, AO3 is not your enemy.
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