NOT Spoiler Free // Sometimes NSFW // Mostly Queued Posts // I like art & stories, creating and consuming in all forms. // Ace // She/Her // Opinionated af
there is a new scourge on AO3 that I discovered recently…
that scourge is “Placeholder fics”. This is thing, where someone posts a “fic” on AO3 with a summary and tags (and sometimes even a complete tag), but when you click on the “fic” the content of the “fic” is something like:
“coming soon” or “in progress” or “an idea I’ll write someday”
This is a scourge on AO3 tags that directly violates TOS Section IV, as it is spam (sect B) and inappropriate content (sect H) (not, strictly speaking a fanwork).
If you see these “placeholder fics” on AO3 REPORT THEM. It is easy to do.
Link the fic in report and in the description, you can write something like this:
The linked “fic” is a so-called “placeholder fic” where the author posts a work to a tag and the only content is the words “In progress”. The “fic” appears in tags, yet contains no content, so I would consider it to be spam. Thank you!
(This, btw is the actual thing that I wrote to report one of these a few weeks ago)
If you want to get jazzy you can even mention that you believe the “fic” violates TOS IV.H (which is what the AO3 mod told me in the email response to my report) or TOS IV.B.
You can report anonymously if you want afaik. Once you submit a report the AO3 moderators will get back to you at some point to update you on that report and action taken.
This is a simple way that YOU can make AO3 better today. If you see a “fic” that violates TOS in any way, REPORT IT. There are literally millions of fics on AO3 and the moderators can’t possibly go through all of them without YOUR help.
I suspect that the people who are posting these “placeholder fics” are probably very young people who are very new to fandom and fanfiction and do not know better. If you are reading this post, and you are one of these people, know that I don’t hate you, I just want you to know that what you are doing is a violation of the AO3 TOS and that it fills AO3 tags with spam, preventing readers from finding actual fic to read. There can be (and certainly are) MANY fics on AO3 with the SAME names, if that’s what is motivating this.
AO3 isn’t a social media site, it’s an ARCHIVE for fanfiction. If you want to communicate with your following that you are planning on writing a new fic, use your tumblr, your reddit, your dreamwidth, your substack, your pillowfort, your livejournal, your bird site or whatever the fuck you have to do this. Link your socials in your bio on AO3 if you must. Mention it in the author’s notes on your latest work. IDK, just don’t post empty “fics” on the ARCHIVE.
Me: “It was bullshit. It’s all bullshit. You ever heard of Smedley Butler?”
“I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as
a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps.
I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to
Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a
high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the
Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
…
I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during
that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big
Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a
gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico
safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a
decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I
helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the
benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International
Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the
Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped
make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China
in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.
Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best
he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on
three continents.”
That book, it should be noted, is called ‘War is A Racket’ (based on a speech). What is not noted in this quote is ‘The Business Plot’ of the 1930s, in which a group of wealthy businessmen plotted to install a fascist government with Butler as its head, something that irritated him greatly and he wanted no part of. What really pissed him off, though, was that no one was ever prosecuted and even if, as many later historians feel, the plot was always more of an abstraction than a real and present danger, not one person in it suffered any damage to their reputation.
In the 1930s a group of American businessmen sought to install a fascist government, or at least got really excited about the idea, and Congress - after a congressional investigation - shrugged its shoulders and said ‘its fine.’
ALT
