Contents
Fandom
You can only select fandoms that are already in the archive. To add a new fandom, use the "+" button at right when creating a work.
Always search the drop-down to check whether a fandom is already in the archive before adding a new one, to avoid creating duplicates. Type in as little as possible and wait for the drop-down, as if you put in a detailed name spelled differently to an existing fandom you may not see any options. Pasting in the AO3 version of the fandom name helps, as that should be the version here.
For fandoms with titles in non-English alphabets, the original characters plus a Romanized version of the name are usual, sometimes with the English version as well - again, use AO3 as a guide, and Wikipedia is also a source for Romanizations. e.g. 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), or バクテン!! | Bakuten!! | Backflip!! (Anime). Use of Romanization isn't essential - Thai fandoms routinely have titles in Thai script plus English.
For crossovers, separate fandoms with a comma.
Relationship(s)
This is primarily for romantic and/or sexual relationships but important "&" relationships can be added if they're a focus of the work (e.g. close friends, close family, some qpr relationships). If only "&" relationships are listed, also tick the Gen category. For sexual and/or romantic relationships between family members use a slash, e.g. dean winchester/sam winchester.
Add the main relationships only - don't add background or canon relationships that aren't the principal focus of the work.
Write relationship names alphabetically, e.g. james kirk/spock, or angel/buffy summers/spike, not buffy summers/angel/spike. Separate pairings or poly relationship clusters with commas.
Alternate names: insert brief nicknames in single quotes e.g. james ‘bucky’ barnes. For more formal or longer alt names, separate alternatives with a vertical line e.g. wèi wúxiàn | wèi yīng. Note the spaces around the "|" symbol. You can paste in AO3 tags as a guide, making them alphabetical if need be.
For characters with names in non-English alphabets, the original characters plus a Romanized version of the name are usual, sometimes with an English nickname as well - again, use AO3 as a guide, and Wikipedia is also a source for Romanizations. e.g. 蓝景仪 | Lan Jingyi, and 박지민 | Park Jimin. For characters from countries writing names in the opposite order to English, leave the name order unaltered. e.g. uzumaki (surname) naruto (first name) is written uzumaki naruto.
Category
- gen: Used for works that have no relationship focus at all, or where the primary focus is a relationship that is not romantic or sexual. A non-romantic/sexual relationship could be a friendship, a familial bond or some queerplatonic relationships
- f/f: Female-female romantic and/or sexual relationship
- f/m: Female-male romantic and/or sexual relationship
- m/m: Male-male romantic and/or sexual relationship
- nb/any: Romantic and/or sexual relationship between a nonbinary character (all identities under the nonbinary umbrella, and adjacent) and another character of any gender
- poly: Polyamorous romantic and/or sexual relationship (info here)
- other: Can be used if the romantic and/or sexual relationship is in a different category to those above. A few examples are: with a non-human alien, a monster, or for inanimate object crackfics
Rating
- Explicit: Contains explicit depictions of sex, or graphic violence etc.
- Mature: Contains adult themes (sex, violence, etc.) that are not as graphic as explicit-rated content. A great explanation of the difference for sexual descriptions is here
- Teen and up: Content may be inappropriate for audiences under 13
- General: Content is suitable for any age group
- Not rated: Can be used if the author gave no rating. You might want to rate the work yourself, but if not, use this category
Warnings
No Archive Warnings Apply: This is used if none of the the Archive warnings below apply to your work.
Graphic Depictions Of Violence: This is for gory, graphic, explicitly described violence. Exactly where to draw the line is your call, but this description may help.
Major Character Death: This is used when a major character in the work dies irreversibly. Use your best judgment about who counts as a major character. The warning is not needed for temporary or mistaken situations where the supposed death of a major character turns out not to have occurred or is somehow reversed.
Rape or Non-Con: This is for content containing non-consensual sexual activity. It should be used for all types and degrees of non-consensual sexual activity including verbal and tactile.
Underage: This is for content depicting any type of sexual activity involving any character under age 18. Use your judgement - it doesn't include dating activity like kissing, or vague references with no actual depiction. This warning generally applies to humans. If your work is about aliens who only live for a month or 1000 year old vampires with 12 year old bodies, use your best judgment - you can explain nuances in the Notes field.
Creator chooses not to warn, so any or all warnings may apply: This is used if you don't want to warn for anything. You might choose this option if you don't like warning for certain topics or dislike warnings in general, if you want to avoid spoilers, or if you aren't sure if one of the major warnings applies.
Language
This specifies the main language of your recording.
The default value is English - delete the default text to locate a different language. When searching for the language you want, enter a few characters and drop-down options will appear. You can enter English versions of language names or the original language, including non-English characters. e.g. entering "ko" will bring up Korean, as will entering 한
To add a new language, use the "+" button at right when creating a work. Before you decide that the language you want isn't in the Archive, search for the English version of its name, just to be sure.
Other Information
- Commentary: used for freetalk, chatty not!fic, DVD commentary, cold reads with asides and comments. You can tag for this whether the work has a lot of commentary or a little.
- Compilation: used for a single file containing more than one work. e.g. for anthologies, compilation files of series or collections. Not used for compilation files of the parts/chapters of a single work.
- Filk: a recorded song or sung poem within a fandom.
- Improvisation: improvised works and not!fic containing some improvisation.
- Meta: a recorded, often non-fiction fanwork which is about an aspect of fandom, or which discusses any aspect of fandom, fanworks, or canon.
- Multivoice: a work performed by two or more readers.
- Other collaboration: includes other participants than readers. e.g. podtogether, or recordings where a director, editor, translator etc. had a significant role.
- Poetry: fanpoetry. If sung, this might also be a filk.
- Vid: a podvid - a podfic illustrated by a video.