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I’m having trouble coming to terms/deciding on something.
It’s very silly in comparison to what other people write on here. But as someone who uses writing as escapism, and has always loved making up stories and expressing them—it’s pretty troubling for me.
So yeah, I’m an author on ao3–or archive of our own—the popular fanfiction sharing website. I’ve met some pretty cool people on there, and most of my fics have gained some popularity. It’s fun, and I have really enjoyed it.
There’s a problem I have with it, though. There’s people on that site that write immoral things for the very clear purpose of enjoyment. Not as a way for them to work through their past trauma or something. I’m talking shipping very underage characters with grown-ups, and writing content regarding that in a very explicit way. It upsets me, because to me, it seems that these people are endorsing things like pedophilia. Which is unspeakably horrible.
I’m sort of on a cliff’s edge of indecision here. I don’t really want to endorse that kind of content by posting on the same platform, and simply turning a blind eye to it. But I also don’t want to give up sharing my stories, and ao3 is the easiest and most popular platform for doing so.
There’s a lot of people who believe that posting that sort of content is fine, and that people who complain about it or hate it should just filter it out or ignore it.
It’s a non-profit site, so am I really benefitting anything bad by staying? Is this just a normal thing for fandoms, and you just have to sort of accept that there’s weird and messed up people in it, and move on?
How is content that contains things that would be utterly unacceptable and terrible in real life receiving so much praise and attention? What is wrong with people? This is the kind of thing that makes me want to give up on humanity.
I know a handful of other authors who only post stuff like I do, where what we write is content where characters are not engaging in any disgusting behavior. I don’t care if people write mature things about two consenting adults, but when it’s things happening to kids, it’s honestly very messed up and upsetting.
I probably will get some hate with this post. Maybe I don’t have a very thick skin, but at the moment I feel ready to just delete my account and forget about this whole thing. I have a few very dedicated readers who would be upset, and I think I would feel bad about that, but otherwise the disappointment would only be in losing my ability to creatively express myself.
I really just want somewhere to enjoy writing. Is that too much to ask?
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I don't think you should delete your account. You're not doing anything to benefit them by having an account on ao3, just don't interact with their content. Just stay away from it and keep doing your own thing. Side note: While some of those people might be pedophilic, which is disturbing, there are probably some that have an age gap kink or a grooming kink and enjoy writing and reading fictional content about it but would be absolutely against that in real life
ReplyI guess at the end of the day I’m not responsible for what other people post
ReplyThis kind of makes me feel like you should make your own fanfic website. That way, you'll have a place to write and share, and you can control the integrity of the things that are published there. I really do admire you for this.
I think you should express your dislike for this in a fanfic about a character who delivers sweet justice to the pedophiles in the other works.
Publish it there, and then leave. You can take everything you've written with you, and publish it on your site, but still leave it archived there if you want. If you decide to leave, write a letter akin to this post letting your fans know why you're leaving and where you're going.
All the best.❤
ReplyThis was a very sweet response. Thank you.
Replyive been waiting for someone to fucking speak up about this. pedophilia is fucking disgusting. anywayy what measly advice i can give you is to simply ignore those stories. dont interact with their authors. dont let what they write affect you. you can make ao3 better with your stories!! also if it doesnt bother you can i have your username? ofc if you dont want to its fine :)
ReplyNgl AO3 is sus
ReplyReplying here with my account—I’m the person who posted this.
I would have to agree with you there. I get having free speech, and I think it’s absolutely important, but having no moderation on works where such immoral things are happening is pretty horrible. If there was a better fanfiction site, I would have moved there already in a heartbeat.
ReplyYeah-but most fanfictions are absolutely disgusting. Fanfiction dot net is just as bad. Best to stick to Webtoon, because I once read an ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING fanfic about two celebrities on Wattpad. They were aged 23 and 13 at the time- and it was SMUT! Eww!
ReplyWebtoon is just for anime right? I’m not in any anime fandoms, and none of my works are :(
The fic that really caused this whole problem for me was one written about two characters very near and dear to my heart. And they’re 13 and, like, 37. 37!!! So I completely feel you!
ReplyHeyyy! I'm also an author on ao3, and I've seen so many disgusting stories about children with adults, mostly non-consensual, and it's gross, but it's best not to let it get in the way of what you enjoy. You're not responsible for what people post on ao3, it's the right decision to just ignore it because at the end of the day, it will not affect your writing. People wont click on yours and think of those disturbing stories, they'll think of yours.
Keep doing what you're doing, I'm sure you're an amazing author. <3
ReplyThanks for your response. I’m replying with my account so that I’ll have a chance at finding this easily again.
It just feels like I’m pitting two very key factors of my personality against each other—my desire to create and write, and my desire to ensure that I do not break my moral code. I’m at a pretty pivotal point in my life, where I’m sort of finding my identity and place in the world, and this is messing me up really badly. I’m just so disappointed people are looking at the same characters I love and adore and seeing them in such horrible lights. Idk how well the four letter personality type (I believe it’s called Myers Briggs psychology test or something like that?) is known, but my personality type is very famous for being completely obsessed/enthralled by fictional worlds. Which probably sounds a bit silly, but I am almost always thinking of stories and fiction. It’s how I’ve always dealt with life.
Even the people I’ve gotten to know on that platform are probably questionable. I know one of them is a supporter of one of those “ships” (assigning two characters in a relationship) where one is very clearly underage (like 13!) and the other is like 37! Just— How?!
And I can’t help but keep having thoughts about the fact that I’m just part of that community, where so much horrible stuff is written. Like looking into my family member’s eyes, or just anyone really, and thinking “Oh my God, if they knew that I was just blindly, complacently standing by and continuing to work off that platform while that stuff was happening, they would be so horrified.”
The whole thing’s just pretty much a wreck, and I really, really hope I’m gonna muster the strength to make whatever the right decision is. Because that’s the one I want to make. The right one.
Sorry for the rant. Thank you for your comment
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