I Will Never Fully Understand Why Things Happen The Way They Do On This Planet. Too Many People Hold

y’all think that when villains poison the water supply they ever stop and remember that they need to drink too?? #onlyingotham #pleaseijustwantabreak #stoppoisoningthewater

Pandemic Gotham is pretty much the same as regular Gotham, only instead of just carrying our masks around, we wear them full time! Oh, and the bridges are down again... But compared to the case numbers in Metropolis, it's a riot! #onlycitywithnocases

Edit: I should not have used the word riot, apparently it gave the Joker an idea. #oops #sorrybatfamily

A Tag Wrangler's Guide to Tagging on AO3

Tags on AO3 can be confusing and hard when you don't know what you're doing. There are also a lot of misconceptions about how the Archive works behind the scenes, so here's a guide with tips, tricks, and explanations from a writer and tag wrangler (me)!

DISCLAIMERS:

I'm a tag wrangler volunteer, but anything I say here is my own personal experience and opinion, not that of the archive.

I am not: a coder, ao3 support, a wrangler of your fandom (probably), or responsible for that one author who annoys you.

I'm using well-known examples, not things I necessarily write or ship. Don't come at me for your shipping wars.

Image descriptions for screenshots are in the alt text!

With that out of the way, let's get started!

1. Fandoms

TL;DR - Use full words, the Archive will take care of the rest.

This is perhaps the most straightforward field. Enter the name of the fandom that your work relates to. If you start typing, the field will auto-suggest fandoms for you!

You'll have the best results with full words. The Archive doesn't know abbreviations!

If you've tried full words and nothing shows up, it might be the first work for that fandom! Congrats!! You can type the name of the fandom and press Enter or Return on your keyboard, and it'll appear just as any other fandom.

~~

2. Relationships

TL;DR - Relationships will auto-suggest based on what you enter in the Fandoms field!

Once you've entered a fandom, the "Relationships" field will auto-suggest as you type with relationships that have previously been tagged* in that fandom.

An ampersand (&) indicates that a relationship is platonic. A slash (/) indicates that a relationship is romantic or sexual.

Similar to the Fandoms field, full names are going to work best here.

Some things to note:

Tags suggest based on how closely they match what you've typed, then by how much they're used

Characters are alphabetized by last name (usually)! The order of names has no other meaning, like who tops, the Archive's favorite character, whatever. It's just the alphabet.

You can leave it blank. If there are no significant relationships, you can leave it empty!

If you want to note that a relationship is background, endgame, anything like that, you can indicate that in the Relationships field, but that's better for the Additional Tags field.

If your relationship isn't showing up, congrats! It might be the first time it's been tagged (or a wrangler hasn't gotten to it yet). Hit Enter and the tag wranglers will do the rest!

~~

3. Characters

TL;DR - Characters auto-suggest based on fandom, and tags are usually their most common name.

This field is to tag the characters who appear in the fic. Character tags will use the most common name in canon or fandom (ex. Tony Stark, not Anthony Edward Stark).

But I don't know if they're a big enough character to tag!

A good rule of thumb is: Would you be disappointed if this was your blorbo and you were looking for fics with them in it? Note: This is a rule of thumb that I, the author, use, and not an Actual Rule anywhere.

If your blorbo is a canonical character and they don't have a tag, it's not personal! They just haven't been tagged yet (or a wrangler hasn't gotten to it yet). Hit Enter and the tag wranglers will do the rest!

If your blorbo is not a canonical character, then I can't guarantee anything. Most fandoms need a non-canonical character to be tagged by at least three separate people before wranglers will make it into a tag. So recruit a friend or two!

~~

4. Additional Tags

TL;DR - Anything and everything else!

This is the field people struggle the most with. So much so that there are three archive tags for it: How Do I Tag, I'm Bad at Tagging, and Tags Are Hard!

This field can tag for anything and everything else that wasn't covered in the Fandoms, Relationships, and Characters fields. Think of it as bright colors on an animal -- it warns some away, and it entices others.

Here are some ideas:

genre/tone (fluff, angst, murder mystery, slow burn, etc)

relationship modifiers (background X & Y, endgame X/Y, X and Y are exes, etc)

character modifiers (mentioned X, werewolf Y, trans Z, etc)

tropes (there was only one bed, fake dating, etc)

any other warnings not covered by the Archive Warnings section (panic attacks, sad ending, nightmares, etc)

alternate vs canon universe?

when in canon? (missing scene, fix-it fic, pre-canon, etc)

If there's smut, any kinks

meta tags about the work (POV, verb tense, drabble, one-shot, etc)

If something doesn't show up, try a synonym; it may be phrased a little differently. And if a tag doesn't exist, make it! Wranglers will link it to where it needs to do.

~~

Wrangling FAQ!

Why do some characters have parentheses after their name and some don't?

The parentheses are used to reduce ambiguity between characters. "Steve" is just some guy, but if I type "Steve (Blue's Clues)", now we both know which Steve I'm talking about.

Why doesn't my canonical blorbo have a filterable tag yet?

If your fandom is very busy, the wrangler probably hasn't gotten to it yet. Be patient! If it's a fairly small fandom, it may not have a wrangler. There's only so many of us, and there are a truly mindboggling number of fandoms on the Archive.

Why isn't my tag "Blorbo is gay and Blorbette is trans" a filterable tag yet? They're gay and trans in canon!

Tags that have multiple concepts are almost never going to become filterable tags. That's because wranglers can only link a tag to one other tag with the same meaning. This tag would have two meanings: "Blorbo is gay" AND "Blorbette is trans".

Just because something is the case in canon doesn't mean that it automatically gets a filterable tag. Ao3 is an archive, not a wiki!

I don't want anyone changing my tags!

Then you're in luck, because we don't! Wranglers don't and can't change the tags on a work. Tag wranglers work on the backend, linking related tags to each other.

Do wranglers really see every tag?

Yup! But no need to be embarrassed. I promise you that your tag is not the weirdest thing your wrangler has seen.

I think a tag has been wrangled wrong!

Feel free to let Support know! Please don't come into my inbox and ask me to do something bc I can't if it's not my fandom.

I'm still confused! Where can I find more information?

Check out the Wrangling Guidelines! They're available for anyone to look through, and they're what guide the filterable tags that you see. They also have a lot more information and caveats for strange circumstances that I didn't cover in this post.

Hogwarts House Sub-Types

Everyone who knows Harry Potter knows by now that, while a lot of stock is put into houses, there are more than four types of people and the four houses therefore lead to some oversimplification. I came up with these sub-types for one of the stories I’m writing, but thought I’d share them outside of it because I’ve never run into anything quite like this before.

Note: Within each house, you will have people who do not fit neatly into a sub-type listed here. Those people usually have a mixture of traits from different sub-types within their house, and are often the ones viewed as most stereotypical of their house. I call these “All-Rounders”.

Ravenclaw

Lost in Thought - Ravenclaws who often get pulled away with an idea. Sometimes, these runaway-thoughts lead to the exclusion of everything else around them, and can cause the Ravenclaw to forget what they were doing. These Ravenclaws are the most likely to be labeled as ‘dreamy’ or ‘eccentric’.

Experimental Method - Ravenclaws who enjoy putting things to the test, and refuse to accept something as true if it hasn’t been appropriately supported with evidence. When someone suggests an idea as truth (like this list), these Ravenclaws may wonder if the idea would stand up to scientific rigor.

Walking Library - Ravenclaws who love to read and learn from books. They tend to have a very good memory for what they’ve read, and will often share this knowledge without prompting. 

Experts - Ravenclaws who have a particular topic they are interested in, and are learning everything they can about that topic. Often, they have knowledge in one or two areas well beyond the expected level for their age and education but are perfectly average or even below average in every other subject.

Banned Books - Ravenclaws who believe no knowledge should be forbidden, or at least not to them. These Ravenclaws aren’t afraid to study dangerous or illegal topics, even if they should be. Not every Banned Books-type Ravenclaw will end up with the wrong crowds, but this is the type of Ravenclaw most likely to go there.

Hufflepuff

Social Justice Warriors - These Hufflepuffs recognize the unfairness in the world, but don’t accept it as natural and unchangeable. When these Hufflepuffs say something isn’t fair, it isn’t an empty complaint. They want change, and will usually put in the work or organize the group to make it happen.

BFF Defense Squad - These Hufflepuffs live out the words, “If you mess with my friends, then you mess with me.” They are extremely loyal and will go to corresponding lengths to defend and life up the people they love.

Soft Slytherin - These Hufflepuffs are so ambitious that others sometimes wonder why they weren’t sorted into Slytherin. Usually, the ruthlessness associated with Slytherin is traded out for Hufflepuff’s brand of hard work. These Hufflepuffs are less likely to take advantage of shortcuts on the way to their goals than someone sorted into the house of snakes.

“I can do anything, but not everything.” - These Hufflepuffs know that with enough hard work, any goal is achievable. They prioritize well, and will likely go far in the areas they choose to develop.

“I can do EVERYTHING.” These Hufflepuffs work just as hard as the second type, but fail to prioritize or focus their work. This often leads to having many unfinished projects, or burning out from overwork. 

Gryffindor

Hero(ine) - These Gryffindors will rush into a situation where someone needs help, regardless of the context. They cannot stand by while someone else is in danger or hurting. These Gryffindors have hearts of gold, but often end up hurt or in trouble because of this tendency.

Adrenaline Junkie - These Gryffindors love to take risks of any kind. They enjoy doing things that prove or display their bravery. Often this is in front of an audience, but it can also be proof to themselves. This category of Gryffindors is likely to produce athletes and performers because of this thrill-seeking behavior. 

Strong and Silent - These Gryffindors have a quieter type of bravery. They stand up for those who need it and do the right thing without drawing attention to themselves. Often, this means they are underappreciated or not seen as brave. 

Shaking Hands - These Gryffindors are the ones who struggle, but keep trying. They are afraid, but bravely push on. The right thing to do is not obvious to them when it seems to be to others, but they do their best every day. Shaking Hands Gryffindors are related to type three in that they aren’t recognized enough for their bravery.

Big Head Boy - These Gryffindors associate themselves with the Hero-types, the well-known Adrenaline Junkies, and the other desirable types of Gryffindors, but don’t do the same level of work to back this up. This can lead to them getting arrogant, becoming irritating to those around them, or even bullying.

Slytherin

Politician - These Slytherins love the power plays and complicated dynamics often associated with Slytherin House. Usually their goals for their adult life are political in nature, whether that means working in the government or behind the scenes. These Slytherins seek understand what is happening under the surface of every major interaction and read the subtext in everything.

Knowledge is Power. These Slytherins might be accused of secretly being a Ravenclaw. They love to learn, and will study a wide range of topics or look deeply into certain ones. What differs from a Ravenclaw, however, is that these Slytherins are driven to learn by the ways their knowledge can be put to use instead of for the sake of the learning itself.

Problem Solvers - These Slytherins will find the most expedient solution for any problem they are faced with. Often, they will find several effective, quick solutions. When giving a problem to these Slytherins to solve you should always give them all of the constraints you are working within, including moral ones. These Slytherins are not immoral but they often believe that the end justifies the means, so they need to know how far you are willing to go. Regardless of the constraints you give them, these Slytherins will find you an answer.

Behind the Scenes - These Slytherins embody the cunning and sneaky portions of their House’s reputation. Often, you won’t see the work they do or know how active they are. These Slytherins may control the gossip mill in their environment, or be the brains behind a political-type Slytherin. Unless you ask them, and they bring you into their confidence, you’ll never know.

Ruthless Slytherins - These Slytherins will do anything to get what they want. They are related to problem solvers, but don’t bring your problems to them unless you’ve accepted that the solutions they give will benefit them at least as much as they benefit you. This is the type of Slytherin most likely to cause or get into trouble, and then find a way out of it again that leaves them looking squeaky clean.

So, there you have it. There aren’t four types of people - there are twenty-one.

Words to replace said, except this actually helps

I got pretty fed up with looking for words to replace said because they weren’t sorted in a way I could easily use/find them for the right time. So I did some myself.

IN RESPONSE TO Acknowledged Answered Protested

INPUT/JOIN CONVERSATION/ASK Added Implored Inquired Insisted Proposed Queried Questioned Recommended Testified

GUILTY/RELUCTANCE/SORRY Admitted Apologized Conceded Confessed Professed

FOR SOMEONE ELSE Advised Criticized Suggested

JUST CHECKING Affirmed Agreed Alleged Confirmed

LOUD Announced Chanted Crowed

LEWD/CUTE/SECRET SPY FEEL Appealed Disclosed Moaned

ANGRY FUCK OFF MATE WANNA FIGHT Argued Barked Challenged Cursed Fumed Growled Hissed Roared Swore

SMARTASS Articulated Asserted Assured Avowed Claimed Commanded Cross-examined Demanded Digressed Directed Foretold Instructed Interrupted Predicted Proclaimed Quoted Theorized

ASSHOLE Bellowed Boasted Bragged

NERVOUS TRAINWRECK Babbled Bawled Mumbled Sputtered Stammered Stuttered

SUAVE MOTHERFUCKER Bargained Divulged Disclosed Exhorted

FIRST OFF Began

LASTLY Concluded Concurred

WEAK PUSY Begged Blurted Complained Cried Faltered Fretted

HAPPY/LOL Cajoled Exclaimed Gushed Jested Joked Laughed

WEIRDLY HAPPY/EXCITED Extolled Jabbered Raved

BRUH, CHILL Cautioned Warned

ACTUALLY, YOU’RE WRONG Chided Contended Corrected Countered Debated Elaborated Objected Ranted Retorted

CHILL SAVAGE Commented Continued Observed Surmised

LISTEN BUDDY Enunciated Explained Elaborated Hinted Implied Lectured Reiterated Recited Reminded Stressed

BRUH I NEED U AND U NEED ME Confided Offered Urged

FINE Consented Decided

TOO EMO FULL OF EMOTIONS Croaked Lamented Pledged Sobbed Sympathized Wailed Whimpered

JUST SAYING Declared Decreed Mentioned Noted Pointed out Postulated Speculated Stated Told Vouched

WASN’T ME Denied Lied

EVIL SMARTASS Dictated Equivocated Ordered Reprimanded Threatened

BORED Droned Sighed

SHHHH IT’S QUIET TIME Echoed Mumbled Murmured Muttered Uttered Whispered

DRAMA QUEEN Exaggerated Panted Pleaded Prayed Preached

OH SHIT Gasped Marveled Screamed Screeched Shouted Shrieked Yelped Yelled

ANNOYED Grumbled Grunted Jeered Quipped Scolded Snapped Snarled Sneered

ANNOYING Nagged

I DON’T REALLY CARE BUT WHATEVER Guessed Ventured

I’M DRUNK OR JUST BEING WEIRDLY EXPRESSIVE FOR A POINT/SARCASM Hooted Howled Yowled

I WONDER Pondered Voiced Wondered

OH, YEAH, WHOOPS Recalled Recited Remembered

SURPRISE BITCH Revealed

IT SEEMS FAKE BUT OKAY/HA ACTUALLY FUNNY BUT I DON’T WANT TO LAUGH OUT LOUD Scoffed Snickered Snorted

BITCHY Tattled Taunted Teased

"Why can't the freaks on AO3 just go and make a site for all the gross stuff and leave AO3 alone."

Because AO3 is that site. Because AO3 was that site long before you decided AO3 was better than the sites you bullied us off of before, and I can promise you if someone somehow comes up with a fanfic site you like better specifically for the 'gross stuff' you'll try to bully us off that too so you can benefit from it.

AO3's specific core purpose is to preserve fanfiction, yes, but it was also instigated as a host site for the fanfiction that kept getting yeeted off other platforms like Wattpad. Its designed to preserve all fanfiction, not just the fanfiction you, personally, think is 'allowed' to be written.

AO3 is the site for all the gross stuff the freaks make. We've been there just as long as you. We've been funding it just as long as you have. AO3 has specifically said you have a place here. The timeline was literally:

Wattpad/FF.net/LiveJournal purge fanfics > AO3 is born > The people who's fics got purged moved over to AO3 > AO3 gains popularity as the best functioning site > The people who pushed for the fics to be purged off Wattpad move to AO3 > The same people try to push for AO3 to purge fics.

AO3's source coding is open-access. You go make a polished, strict, rigid site where nothing 'icky' is allowed. You go make a site where you can control what is hosted. We already have our space.

We're looking into some issues that are causing 503 errors for some folks, please stand by!

Posted: November 17, 2024, 11:15 UTC

I realized that the updated Tag Search function makes it way easier to attempt to parallel search relationships including a specific character.

This method works better for characters who are not glitter and shipped with every person and creature and object under the sun.

This tutorial is written for people not familiar with tag ids. If you know how tag ids work, you should read the last two paragraph of this tutorial first.

You can find the Tag Search by looking at the menu at the top of the AO3 page that’s off to the left side.

Click Search and click Tag (the third option from the top).

Type in your character. If the character only ever appears in one fandom, you also include that. If the character you want to search as a very common name, you will probably have to include a fandom to avoid pulling in unrelated tags. Do not include more than one fandom otherwise the result will only pull up any tags that exist in all the fandoms you listed.

Select Relationship for type

Select Canonical

Hit Search Tags

The results should pull up every relationship that includes that character for that specific fandom or if you did not restrict by fandom, every relationship that has character with an identical name to the character you’re searching for.

For the character I picked, “Arm”, there are 29 results.

Open the Work Search page in a new tab or window. You can find a link in the same menu as Tag Search.

Or you can also open it through button labeled Work Search beside the Tag Search heading.

On the Work Search page, find the Any Field box. 

This next part will be time-consuming but you will need to format all the relationships you want to parallel search like this: “X/Y” OR “X & A”  OR   “B & Z”.

The tags need to match how they were shown on the Tag Search page. Each relationship needs to be placed between straight quotes. Curly quotes will break this search. Between each relationship tag, there needs to be an OR in all caps, but not one at the start or end.

After you’ve formatted things like this you can paste it into the Any Field box. (You could have just composed your search in there but if you’re parallel searching many relationship tags, doing it in notepad or something may make it easier to see what you’ve already included.)

There are filter options on this page. If you want to sort by completed or such, this is the point you need to do it at this point. This kind of search does not allow you to filter after you have clicked search. Unlike filtering on a specific tag, there is no filtering sidebar. A few other caveats:

If you want to exclude tags, you will have to input them into the Any Field box alongside the relationship tags. Those excluded tags will need to be formatted like such: - “tag 1"  - ”tag 2"

Basically they just need a minus sign in front of them. You do not need to include OR between them.

If you include more than one tag in the Character, Relationship, or Additional Tag boxes, the search will only bring up results that match all of your search parameters. So if you inputted “Fluff” and “High School” into the Additional Tag field, it would only bring up works that have both the “Fluff” and “High School” tag as well as any of the relationship tags in the Any Field.

I just want search for every work that includes Arm so I have no other filtering added. It looks like something below.

Once you’ve finished setting up your search, click the search button.

In the case of my search, I only set it up to pull up any of the 29 relationship tags I found  that included Arm. When I saved this screenshot, there were 412 results.

A few important things to note. While AO3 doesn’t really restrict how many text characters you put into the Any Field box, most browsers have a limit. So if you want to parallel search a lot of relationship or any tags in fact, you may run into your browser breaking your search.

If you’re searching a high number of tags, it’s better to use tag ids instead because they’re shorter and so you’ll be able to include way more information with less text characters. The tutorial works similarly except the list will be formatted like such: filter_ids:123 OR filter_id:456

You will not need to put quotes around a tag id. To find a tag id, you can open a specific tag and look at its RSS Feed, or by using the following script: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/29917-ao3-display-tag-id  

[Image Description: Tag reading “There was a Mail Theft tag here but it was stolen before it arrived”]

The AO3 Tag of the Day is: That sudden exhale from the nose that we all pretend is equivalent to a belly laugh for some reason

sorry that you have become the sex ed blog but uhhh no one ever told us about dental dams at school so idk anything yikes. if it's your first time and someone eats you out are they meant to use a dental dam?? they can't catch anything from you if you haven't done it before, right??

Yeah, but you can catch something from them, friend. Gonorrhea, herpes, and some other STIs can live in someone's mouth. And if they have a cut in their mouth, they can also transmit bloodborne diseases to you.

Also, you should get in the habit of using protection in all your sexual encounters right now as you start to become sexual active, friend. You don't get a special exemption when you first start out. When you begin having sex, you are accepting responsibility for your own sexual health and, to some extent, the health of your partners, present and future. If you aren't ready to take that seriously, you should not be having sex.

I'm not trying to browbeat you, friend, but I'm not going to let you off the hook either. I got into the business of giving out sex ed info when I was 17, in an adolescent psych ward, and I had to help a 14 year old girl through a pregnancy scare. She was planning to handle it by drinking a lot of orange juice to prevent herself from getting pregnant, and then overdosing on her medication to induce a miscarriage if that didn't work. She could very well have accidentally killed herself. Once you've watched a situation like that unfold, you lose the ability to take this shit lightly.

Don't you take this shit lightly, friend. Don't you dare.