#tags and warnings are not a requirement

[tide-locked]

THIS IS NOT WHAT 'CHOSE NOT TO WARN' MEANS

"creator chose not to use archive warnings" means that the author isn't providing warnings. it doesn't imply anything at all about the contents of the fic, much less that there ~should~ be warnings and they're being withheld.

it might mean that there's a grey area—who counts as a major character? what counts as graphic violence? this wouldn't be considered rape where i am, but is it where you are? it might mean that they don't want to spoil the ending by giving away if someone lives or dies, or that the work itself is ambiguous on this front.

it might simply mean that the author is uninterested in litigating your experience of their work and is allowing you to interpret it as you desire rather than spoon-feeding you their intent.

this is also not what 'here be dragons' means. 'here be dragons' is a humorous reference to 'hic sunt leones' ('here be lions'), used on medieval maps to denote unexplored territory. this didn't mean that the territory in question was necessarily dangerous, but simply that any dangers present weren't included on the map.

if something has an archive warning, it's likely (though far from certain, in my experience) that it will contain content related to the warning; it may or may not contain other content that any given person will find upsetting or objectionable.

if no archive warnings apply, it's likely (though—again!—far from certain) that there won't be content about any of the archive warnings. there may or may not be other content that is upsetting or objectionable, but it's probably not rape, underage sex, graphic violence, or major character death.

if the author chose not to warn, there may be content about the archive warnings, and there might be other things that you find upsetting or objectionable. there also may not be! that's it, that's all that it means.

tags and warnings are a courtesy, not a requirement. people use them or not for all kinds of reasons and in all kinds of ways. if you open the fic and find that it has things in it that you don't want to read, click the back button and try something else.

This is a Moving Forward PSA for everyone using AO3. I am witnessing the results of a culture clash and communication failure. Not a lack of communication, but a misunderstanding caused by changes in fandom culture.

Before fic tagging was common, fics weren’t tagged. You had a pairing, if applicable, an author’s note about genre or general content, and if they were feeling charitable, a vague content warning. There are even a few genres of fic where even vaguely tagging literally spoils the plot and impact (such as horror, psyche thriller, in which the likely content is implicit to the genre). As a result, there is a basic category tag that permits this, as a courtesy to “old-fashioned” writers.

“No Archive Warnings Apply” means the fic is PG13 at worst, probably fluff, totally safe.

“Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings” is the polar opposite. It’s a glaring Enter at Your Own Risk billboard. It means: a shitload of warnings apply but I ain’t telling because this story requires shock value. It’s very important to read the author’s notes for those fics because they might be using that older format from above.

But without the context of fandom culture that generated AO3, it’s understandably easy to conflate the two categories, given their similar wording.

[ruija]

Look, it’s a box turtle! 

(I was thinking about fics with the “Someone gets buried and the others have to find and rescue them before it’s too late” -scenario.)

Anyway, if you find him, just leave him in the coffin. He looks like he needs the rest.

[room-of-lies]

Bloom

[witchstone]

they should do a study on why people on this site seem to feel the compulsive need to announce their ignorance on the posts of others

[grabby-smitten]

I understand how uncomfortable part of the fandom feels with the new trailer. It’s the same feeling I get when I see domestic life w kids posts.

[citrusinicake]

song :: Tarantula Girl by Violent Vira

minecraft screenshots :: Subz' POV | Vitalasy's POV

video overlays :: ink | blood

flowers :: tulips | dandelions

fanarts :: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 & 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 & 23 | 24 & 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40

[heyyesimtrash-whatofit]

Hey J!

Because it’s Halloween I had a good request idea…what if we drew The Headless Horseman chasing Marty on a horse in 1820?

(sorry I was rewriting the story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

just a request

I apologize for the time it took to get this done but I couldn’t just doodle this idea. No no no, I had to do a little more…

Just a quick trip to 1820, they said. The Headless Horseman isn’t real, they said. After this trip, Marty would argue otherwise…

Okay no but actually I meant to do this ask a whole lot sooner because it’s so good but ofc I couldn’t just leave it at a sketch lol. I am. So damn proud of this silly thing. From the horse, to the rendering, to all the small details, I am so incredibly proud of this Halloween piece. It might have taken a week longer than intended because of rehearsals and my seeing Beetlejuice the Musical (10/10 btw) but I have done it! Hopefully I can get back to silly sketches now I say, pointedly ignoring the other full out piece sitting in my program.

Anyway, I hope I did your idea justice! Thanks for the amazing little spooky idea

[libraryleopard]

annoys me how i've noticed this trend in recent media set in ancient rome where it'll acknowledge the normalization of male-male sexuality only through the villains–i.e. marcellus in domina, domitian in those about to die, caracalla and macrinus [separately, they're not a couple] in gladiator ii…like yes, attitudes towards homosexuality in ancient rome were very tied up with dynamics of class, age, and power so it's not inaccurate to depict male aristocrats having young male sex slaves but when this is the primary way that queerness is portrayed in a subset of media i think i'm still allowed to find this trend annoying and homophobic. i was gonna end this post like "why can't you balance this out by having a gay gladiator romance" and then i remembered that spartacus exists. dammit am i going to have to watch the spartacus show. is that where this post has lead me.

[essektheylyss]

Candela Obscura is very fun in terms of horror, because I have never been particularly bothered by horror, but when I have been, I'm always like, is this because of how I react in particular or because of how effective the visuals or the atmosphere are? And that's kind of hard to differentiate in the genre people most often consume horror in (film) and for me, who reads books very visually, it can be hard in that format as well.

With Candela it's like, this is deeply unsettling despite there being no visuals beyond the general set and the action being dictated to me while mechanics are happening, which is something that can take absolutely you out of the atmosphere of the thing. Even if you're used to the actual play format, a mechanics heavy scene especially without notable GM guiding is going to remind you that you are watching people play a game. There's a lot to say about how this show's cast have phenomenal grasp of the genre and the atmosphere, but even then, it is a hard line to manage, and they are doing it masterfully. And that's what makes it so fun as a concept! Candela has very effective storytelling, but it's also a lot easier to see the edges of the story, because the "man behind the curtain" of the story so to speak is on full display.

Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that I really have confirmed I have no issue with horror, because I passed out instantly upon going to bed and then let a lab tech take my blood this morning without even thinking of making some eldritch monster joke. Which is, not gonna lie, a little bit wild to me.

[king-midas-fortnite]

🧪

What was life like for you while trapped in the underworld?

I'd really rather not discuss this.

[He takes a short breath as a throbbing discomfort starts.]

It wasn't anything I couldn't handle--

[The breath becomes a hiss through his teeth and a hand flies up to his head as the serum's ingrediants ignite a firey pain behind his eyes.]

Fuck--Alright! It was awful, is that not enough!? I was in hell! Imprisoned there by a god who was angry that a man had evaded him for far longer than any mortal should ever be able to. 

It wasn't a full two thousand years for me thanks to the Zero Point's own timeline, but it was for him, and thats all he gave a shit about! Gods are always so god damn arrogant.

[Thankfully the words spilling out of him relieve the pressure in his mind, but they do nothing to quell the discomfort of remembering things so horrible.]

Every day. For four years. Was a fucking nightmare. Total isolation in a cell to myself was broken up by the goading voices of shades that he allowed to taunt me, or torture from the ones powerful enough to remain corporeal. 

And by the visions given to me! Whether they were from him, or from the shades, I don't know and I don't care. 

When they weren't showing me the death of my daughters over and over and over again! they'd show me escape. I'd be running out of my cell and towards freedom, towards Jules, only to wake right back where I was, sitting on the stone floor with one hand chained above my head while my other arm, useless and handless lay at my side.

I could not eat. I could not sleep. I felt nothing but pain and misery for every hour spent in that miserable place. 

[He laughs, humorlessly. Manically.]

Oh, but sometimes, he'd bless me with his company. Hades. He'd grace me with a visit himself, come to remind me that this would be my eternity. That he owned me. 

I think what was most horrendous, was I started to look forward to him dropping by. At least it was something, anything, other than the fucking shades! 

[He takes a large breath and heaves a sigh. The pain from the serum had worn off entirely, leaving him exhausted.]

There. You have your answer, and I need a drink.

[thousandstories]

WIP Game: Podcast (What Happened to Little Nathaniel?) <33

thank you!! <3 This one's from next chapter || WIP GAME

CNN

FBI declassifies Wesninski Files– everything you need to know

By Jonathan Marks, CNN

10 minute read • Published 10:25 AM EDT, Thu May 30, 2024

Editor’s note: This is a developing story. This article is subject to change.

‘The Wesninski Files’ is the informal name given to the combination of the FBI and court records regarding the Wesninski case, both of which have previously been kept classified. However, in a currently-unfolding story, the files were released just over an hour ago at the time of writing. This shock decision is all but guaranteed to rekindle the widespread interest in the case.

[ladynamida]

VXLentine's Day 2025: Prompt - Sweet Surprise

Yes, Valentine's Day 2025 is nearly over.

No, i haven't finished the fic I started planning in September 2024. Don't be so silly Nami 🙈

But anyway, here is another tiny sneak peek for my beloved VerLady nation via @verladyweek

---

Sweet Surprise

---

Approaching the door, he heard light footsteps and scuffling coming from inside the room, and was instantly on his guard. Summoning Yamato, he grasped the door knob with his other hand and angled his head toward the door, listening more closely. A quiet noise, somewhere between a huff and a sigh, reached his ears. Ahh. He opened the door into the room with a single, smooth movement, feeling a selfish thrum of satisfaction as he caught the room’s occupant off guard, leaving her flustered and reaching for her own weapon. He went in for the metaphorical kill.

“You tread lightly… I thought it might be rats.”

“Gee, thanks.” Lady relaxed her arm and placed a hand on her hip with a roll of her eyes.

“What are you doing here? Dante isn’t home.”

“Well duh,” she replied, completely failing to elucidate further in any meaningful way. “That’s why I’m here. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She walked toward the door, but he refused to stand aside and she had no choice but to draw up short.

“Ah, ah, ahhh,” he intoned with a smirk, waving Yamato in time with each syllable. “First, pay the toll.”

[ikilledamanforthisurl]

my friend threw up on me today but its okay cause he took me out side and gave me enrichment. picture unrelated

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

okay actually i want to talk about the portal malfunction thing because no one knows what i mean by that

ford being cut in half because the portal malfunctioned and closed on him? i would read the shit outta that. fuck i would write that that sounds like a great fic

however. thats not what i mean

i mean the portal is an artificial attempt to rip open a gateway between two different dimensions that probably have different laws of physics. a portal that was better than the first attempt, yes, but still made out of 'well this is the best weve got so itll work well enough for what we want it to do' materials, some of which were salvaged from a crashed spacecraft thats been buried there longer than the people there have existed

the point is that when i talk about the portal malfunctioning, im talking about the fact that there absolutely could be a physical consequence for something being pulled into a gaping wound in the fabric of reality

maybe the entities anatomy is haphazardly rewritten to fit the other world's rules better, because he would simply not be able to properly exist in this other place otherwise

maybe the entity becomes a living rift of sorts and their blood and bones and organs are replaced with interdimensional matter

maybe, in the split second the entity is caught in an in between, the separation between its mind and body blur and it reaches the other side grasping confused shards of memories in thought-soaked hands

that is what i mean when i talk about the portal malfunctioning

[strangersatellites]

trouble's always gonna find you, baby (but so am i) - CHAPTER TWO

❤️‍🔥🛠️🦷🫀⛓️

a handshake, a handbook, and a handgun

read on ao3

snippet under the cut!

After he’d spent a few minutes kicking a rock around the floor he started to get impatient. As he was about to grab his phone and call, he heard a shuffling sound from the balcony. 

His head snapped up with a shout of “Hello?”

His own voice echoed back to him so loud and clear he’d almost missed the whistle that came from the darkest corner upstairs. 

Two tones. First down, second up.

Steve’s brows furrowed in confusion and frustration.

“I didn’t drive all the way to the city for your bullshit games, man!”

He’s met with more quiet.

He mutters complaints under his breath and turns to leave. He’s spent too much of his life waiting around, and he’s not doing it anymore. 

He makes it about three steps before he hears a whistle again. This time directly behind him.

Two tones. First up, second down. 

This was the moment that Steve learned that you don’t have to have had the barrel of a gun pressed to the back of your skull before to know what it feels like. 

The thought clicks into his head in time with the click of the safety being turned off. 

That whistle. He’s heard it before. 

In the supermarket when he bought groceries last week.

The park when he was jogging before sunrise one morning.

From a passing car while he sat in traffic with his window down.

He’s heard it for weeks, he just didn’t realize it until now.

[pagingdoctorbedlam]

More practice on body types and outfits with The Lads. Including transgender Ebenholz and giving Czerny some freckles.