AJ | They/Them | ๐ | Official addict to saying "dude," "yippee," and "womp womp" | Please correct me on anything if I am wrong or let me know if what I am doing is irrational. I will fix it and do better next time. Just don't be a dick about it. | For my followers: Swiggity swoggity squishity squash. Your dash is now infested with endless Warcross.
A creature came to me in a dream and now I have a page in my notes app with lore I remembered and made as soon as I woke up and also now I have an entirely new story idea that is driving me insane i need to write it but i have NO FUCKING CHARACTERS BECAUSE THE ONLY CHARACTER I REMEMBER FROM MY DREAM WAS VINNIE FROM RAMSHACKLE. AGHHHHH.
Alright, to ao3's soon to be arriving Wattpad Refugees, a basic guide to general user culture:
1.) Unlike Wattpads vote system that let's you like each chapter, the ao3 equivalent kudos only allows one per work. Everyone is generally quietly annoyed about this. To engage with each chapter, you're heavily encouraged to comment. Trust me, it makes people's day.
2.) Ao3 has no algorithm. By default it's latest updated work first. You can find things to your taste through searches, filters and tags.
3.) 'No archive warnings apply' and 'user has chosen not to use archive warnings' mean two very different things. No archives warnings means the work is free from any content that could require a warning tag (character death, graphic depictions of violence, non-con, etc). User has chosen not to use archive warnings means it could contain any of the warning content, be it hasn't been explicitly tagged. Treat it like an allergen. No archive warnings apply is allergen free. User has chosen not to use archive warnings, may contain traces or whole chunks of the allergen. If you're likely to have a bad reaction, maybe don't take the risk.
4.) Speaking of warnings, ao3 has very few restrictions on the type of work that's allowed. Whatever your personal thoughts or feelings on that are, thats how the site is. You're likely to run across some dark subject matters and a lot of people are uncomfortable with reading that. You're well within your rights not like these works and have your opinion on whether they should be allowed, but harassing the authors of such works (or any works) is more likely to come back on you than them. Ao3 operates on a strong policy of 'don't like, don't read'. Use the tagging system to your full advantage to only engage with the kind of works you want to see.
We look forward to welcoming you all and seeing the fantastic works you create. Happy writing!